About Native American Pueblos
Pueblos are one of the many kinds of housing that Native Americans of the southwest used. The name "pueblo" is Spanish in origin and meant "someone who lives in a village of stone masons." Usually, Native American pueblos were made of stone or clay and straw brick, but sometimes they have to be made of any material at hand.
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Misconceptions
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Many tribes lives in pueblos, not just the twenty-odd tribes that make up what the white man call the Pueblo Indians. Other tribes that live in pueblos include the Zuni and the Hopi.
History
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The oldest pueblos still left standing are thought to be constructed by the Anasazi, a group of ancient tribes now extinct. They used to live in a variety of housing and not just pueblos. The first pueblos were additions of mud bricks to natural caves or on top of flat mesas. Since the geography of southwest America is so dry, sandstone pueblos built hundreds of years ago are still usable today. One such city is Sky City in New Mexico.
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Significance
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These were permanent structures made by peoples who once relied on a nomadic existence. By deciding to build a house of stone or brick, the tribes had shown that they depended more on farming in order to live than following herds. The ancient Anasazi structures showed that Native Americans were quite intelligent and not the mindless savages as sometimes depicted.
Types
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There were pueblos made for individual homes and pueblos made for entire villages, looking like an ancient versions of city rowhomes. They look like big brown boxes. Since the building material was so versatile, they could make additions when necessary. Some pueblo villages were a few stories high. Ladders were attached to the walls so you could climb from one story to another.
Function
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Although the primary function of a pueblo is to give somebody a place to live, they have also become a symbol of Native American resilience. Something of their traditional way of live has survived.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Drawing of Zuni Pueblos in 1850 from Wikimedia Commons
