THE REGRESSIVE AND HISTORIC-PUEBLO PERIODS
The period which followed the Great-Pueblo era and which lasted until historic times was called Pueblo IV under the Pecos Classification. It was defined as “the stage characterized by contraction of area occupied; by the gradual disappearance of corrugated wares; and, in general, by decline from the preceding cultural peak.”[74] At the present time it is often referred to as the Regressive-Pueblo period.[110] This term is not really satisfactory. Admittedly, the latter part of the thirteenth and the beginning of the fourteenth century was a period of great instability, migrations occurred, and centers of population shifted. Once the shift had been made, however, important new communities developed in the drainages of the Little Colorado and the Rio Grande, and a renaissance began. It seems entirely possible that the Pueblo people might have achieved another remarkably high cultural stage had it not been for the arrival of the Spaniards in 1540.
Even after Europeans arrived in the Southwest, the native [culture] was far from being completely submerged, and, while aboriginal progress was retarded, it was not entirely stopped. Since the first advent of white men in the Southwest until the present day, the Pueblos have fought what sometimes appears to be a losing battle against the encroachment of European, and later, of American culture. Actually the battle has not yet been entirely lost. We shall never know how the Pueblo people might have developed, and what heights they might have reached had they been left to their own devices. At least, though, they have not been entirely assimilated by the civilization which has engulfed them, and they have succeeded in retaining some of their old way of life.
It might seem that as soon as written records become available for a period it should be classed as historic rather than prehistoric. The Pueblo Indians, however, were sufficiently successful in withstanding outside influences that the terminal date for the Regressive-Pueblo period is usually given as 1700, and only the period from 1700 to the present is called the Historic-Pueblo period.
The trend during Regressive-Pueblo times was toward larger houses. In the Hopi area the early houses were characterized by fine masonry and covered about an acre of ground. Later they became much larger and, in some cases, covered from ten to twelve acres of ground. These houses were sometimes made up of long rows of buildings with plazas between them. Kivas were rectangular, with a niche at one end of the room containing a bench. The normal size was about ten or fourteen feet square. On the floor, which was usually paved with stones, are found loom blocks. These are sandstone blocks with depressions designed to hold poles on which the warp threads are wound. The finding of these loom blocks in prehistoric kivas is most interesting, for, among the Hopi even today, the weaving is done by the men in the kivas. The use of commercially woven fabrics for most clothing has naturally curtailed the practice of this craft, but ceremonial clothing and fine white blankets which serve as wedding robes are still woven in the kivas.
The early pottery was largely black-on-yellow, but some polychrome ware was made, and there was also plain cooking pottery and some corrugated. The latter became progressively less widely used, and later cooking ware is almost entirely plain. In some later sites some of the black-on-yellow ware is marked by a distinctive stippling technique as black paint was splattered over the yellow background. During the period from 1400 to 1625 some of the most beautiful pottery ever made in the Southwest was being produced in the Hopi country. This is a polychrome ware which bears exceptionally fine designs, which include geometric and life forms and particularly graceful patterns, applied in red and black paint on a yellow background. Over forty years ago, archaeologists were excavating ancient villages in the Hopi country and finding examples of this beautiful ware. A woman of the village of Walpi, named Nampeyo, was the wife of one of the workmen employed by the expedition. She was already a fine potter, and she recognized the great artistry represented by these ancient vessels. She began to use similar designs and continued to produce remarkably fine pottery for over thirty years, although, for much of that time, her sight was failing and eventually she became blind, and the final painting of the graceful vessels which she had shaped had to be entrusted to others. The influence of this talented woman can still be seen in the fine pottery made by Hopi women of the First Mesa.
Fig. 36—Cavate dwellings and talus houses at Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. (Courtesy National Park Service.)
In the Zuñi district houses and kivas were much like those of the Hopi country. Pottery in this area was largely decorated with glaze paints. These are vitreous mixtures obtained by the use of lead in the paint. Glaze paints were difficult to apply and had a tendency to run or settle in masses. As a result, designs were poor, but the use of glazes was confined to decorations and entire vessels were not covered.
In the Rio Grande drainage, people with an earlier Pueblo [culture] were just beginning to come together into large communities when this period began. Doubtless, the advent of people from other parts of the Plateau province did much to intensify this trend. As time went by, houses became larger and fewer in number. [Tuff] blocks and adobe were widely used in their construction and there was some use of cavate dwellings. These are rooms, excavated into the back walls of caves, which have porchlike chambers in front.
Two famous Regressive-Pueblo sites in this region, which are known to many tourists, are Puye,[62] on the Pajarito Plateau, and Tyuonyi in El Rito de los Frijoles.[60] Beams from Puye have yielded tree-ring dates ranging from 1507 to 1565. This settlement, perched on a huge mass of yellowish gray [tuff], consists of two aggregations of buildings. Forming a quadrangle on top of the mesa, were four, terraced community houses built around a court. There were also houses built in and against the cliff walls, usually at the top of the talus slope. At Tyuoni, whose dates range between about 1423 and 1513, there is a great communal house which was, in part, two stories high and roughly circular in form. It was made of tuff blocks. Three small kivas were built in the center court or [plaza]. A few hundred yards to the east of the ruin lies a large [kiva]. For a little over a mile along the canyon wall were cave rooms dug into the cliff and rows of small houses built of tuff blocks. Some of the cave rooms had porchlike structures erected in front of them, but others did not.
The largest and strongest pueblo during this period was Pecos, which lay at the headwaters of the Pecos River in northern New Mexico.[73] The first buildings were erected shortly before 1300, and final abandonment did not come until 1838. Such a long record is, of course, of tremendous archaeological importance, and it is indeed fortunate that some of the most extensive and painstaking excavations ever undertaken in the Southwest were at this site. There was evidence of at least six distinct towns. Great masses of pottery have been excavated, with careful attention being paid to stratigraphy, and very detailed studies have been made.[75][77] Well over a thousand skeletons have been obtained and given careful study.
Fig. 37—Tyuonyi, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. (Courtesy National Park Service.)
Throughout the Rio Grande area, glazed wares were widely made. The earlier forms had glazed designs applied on red vessels. Later, light colored vessels were used. A series of six different types of glazed wares, which were chronologically sequent, have been identified. By 1540 decorations were very carelessly applied and glazed wares were not of a high quality. It was not, however, until the latter part of the seventeenth century that they disappeared altogether and were replaced by light colored vessels, with designs in dull red and black paint, much like those made by the many present-day Indians.
Fig. 38—Glazed ware from the Rio Grande area. Regressive-Pueblo period. (Courtesy School of American Research.)
In the northern Rio Grande area black-on-white pottery died out to a great extent and was largely replaced by what we know as Biscuit Ware.[90] This name is derived from the resemblance of this pottery to china in the “biscuit stage” of manufacture. Biscuit ware is a thick pottery with a soft crumbly paste tempered with volcanic [tuff]. The background is a light gray or tan, and somewhat coarse designs are applied in black paint. Corrugated culinary ware was replaced by plain black pottery.
In southeastern New Mexico, and extending into Texas, a distinctive ware made during this period is found. This has a brown [slip]. Bowl exteriors are undecorated, but the interiors have designs applied in red and black. Associated with it, is a plain brick-red ware.
The story of the Spanish conquest of the Southwest, which was interrupted by a revolt of the Pueblos in 1680, is as dramatic a tale as history can produce. Although 1540 is the date usually given for the first meeting between the Pueblo Indians and the Spaniards, it was actually in 1539 that the first contact occurred. In that year a Franciscan monk, Fray Marcos de Niza, accompanied by a Moor named Esteban, started north from Mexico to investigate tales of large and wealthy cities which were rumored to lie in that direction. Esteban went on ahead, and, reaching what is now New Mexico, was slain by the Indians. Fray Marcos did not dare to proceed, but caught a glimpse of one of the pueblos of Zuñi from a distance, and returned with tales of great cities.
Fig. 39—Biscuit ware from the Rio Grande area. Regressive-Pueblo period. (Courtesy School of American Research.)
In 1540 an expedition was organized under the leadership of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado to search for the fabulous “Seven Cities of Cibola” in the north. After a long and difficult journey the expedition reached Hawikuh, one of the Zuñi villages. The disappointment of the adventurers may well be imagined, for here was no city of gold, ready to yield its wealth to the invaders, but a community of simple farmers who, not only had no riches, but had little conception of the role that wealth could play in society. Later, Coronado moved his forces to Tiguex on the Rio Grande, another Pueblo town. Trouble soon developed, and the Indians were massacred. The Spaniards then moved on to the Pueblo of Pecos, and there followed an expedition into the Plains as the search continued for the fabulous and mythical golden cities. In 1542, Coronado and his men withdrew to New Spain, and the Pueblos were left in peace for forty years. After 1580, various expeditions entered the Pueblo domain, and in 1598 it became a part of the Spanish dominions. In 1609 the city of Santa Fe was founded.
From the beginning there was a clash between the two cultures. The Pueblos resisted as best they could, but they were no match for the more highly organized Spaniards with their superior weapons and their inestimable advantage of being mounted. The colonizers and missionaries who entered the country looked upon the Indians as a subject people; there were abuses and many excesses, and the Indians were shamefully exploited. Corn, the all-important staple of the Indians, was requisitioned, and Spanish horses trampled Pueblo corn fields. Every effort was made to break down the prevailing form of government. Missionaries were determined to destroy the old religion and make converts among the natives. The principle, that the end justifies the means, was developed in its most pernicious form. There were floggings and hangings, and Indians were sold into slavery. All in all, it is a disgraceful page in history. Even the most cursory glance at our own record of dealings with various Indian groups, however, suggests that we are hardly in a position to “cast the first stone.” Under the circumstances, even the smallest pebble would be excessive.
The presence of the Spaniards had other far-reaching and disastrous effects on the Pueblos. They had no immunity to European diseases, and many died. Worst of all, however, was the increasing pressure of fierce nomadic tribes. Tribes, such as the Utes, the Comanches, the Navajos and the Apaches, had been something of a menace before, but, as they acquired horses, stolen from the Spaniards, their mobility was greatly increased, and they became a scourge, sweeping over the Southwest, killing, pillaging, and destroying.
In 1642, there was a mild revolt of the Pueblo Indians against the Spaniards in which the Governor of the territory was killed, but they were not well organized and the revolt was soon put down. It was not until 1680 that a successful revolt took place. This dramatic episode in Southwestern history has been called “the first American Revolution.” The success of the undertaking was largely due to Popé, an old medicine man of the Pueblo of San Juan. When the Spaniards first appeared there were some seventy villages. By 1680 the number had been greatly reduced. Added to the difficulties imposed by the lack of a common language, was the separation of the Pueblos, not only as regards distance, but in another and more important sense. As has already been pointed out, each of the pueblos was essentially a separate city-state with its own government, and, to some extent, its own [culture]. Popé, however, succeeded in interesting the people of the scattered communities in the common cause. First, the people of Taos were enlisted and then, one by one the other pueblos were added to the list, until all were united, including even the far off and peaceful Hopi.
At last, all was in readiness and a knotted cord was sent throughout the Pueblo domain, each knot representing one day which was to elapse before the warriors were to arise and cast out the invaders. Somehow the Spaniards learned of the plot, and the revolt took place a little earlier than had been planned. None the less, some four hundred people were killed, and the survivors fled to the garrison at Santa Fe. Santa Fe continued under siege until supplies and water were exhausted. When the town could no longer be held, troops and civilians marched away, without opposition from the Indians, and took refuge in the vicinity of what is now the city of El Paso, Texas.
For twelve years the Spaniards were kept out of the Pueblo country, although various attempts were made to retake the area. Even with the removal of the hated Spaniards, these were not happy times for the Pueblos. Mounted nomads as well as Spanish troops were a constant threat, and many groups were forced to move to mesa tops where defense was somewhat easier. As if all this were not enough, there came a severe drought which, to such people, can mean only suffering and starvation. At last in 1692, the land of the Pueblos again became a part of the Spanish domain. This time the conquest was bloodless. Don Diego de Vargas accomplished this remarkable feat largely by a display of force, coupled with a policy of turning the suspicions of the Pueblos against each other. United they had been able to drive out the invaders; divided they were powerless to prevent their return. It is a story to ponder carefully in these times.
Fig. 40—Hopi maiden. Similar hair dresses are shown on figures in Developmental-Pueblo pictographs and on Mimbres pottery. (Courtesy Museum of Northern Arizona.)
Some Indians refused to accept Spanish domination and moved to the almost inaccessible Governador country of northern New Mexico where they lived among their traditional enemies, the Navajo, for some fifty years. Many Pueblo traits which appear in Navajo [culture] may stem from this contact. Other refugees joined the Hopis who were never reconquered. The reconquest did not by any means mark the end of all trouble. There continued to be periodic uprisings in the Rio Grande area, and the Spaniards did not have an easy time. In addition to their troubles with the Indians of the Pueblos, there was a constant threat from various wild predatory tribes. There was also much internal dissension as a result of a conflict between church and state. In 1821 the Pueblo homeland became part of the Republic of Mexico, and then, in 1848, New Mexico became a territory of the United States.
Throughout the period from 1540 until the present day, the Pueblos have been subjected to the influences of alien cultures. Some traits of these cultures they have accepted, others they have rejected. They have learned to keep livestock, they cultivate many fruits and vegetables unknown to their ancestors, they use metal tools and machinery. Machine-made fabrics are widely used, and there is an ever increasing trend toward wearing the white man’s apparel. Pottery is still made, and interesting new wares have been developed, but it is made to be sold and, in Indian homes, most of the beautiful old vessels have been replaced by metal and china containers.
Nominally the people of the Pueblos are Christians, and there is no village without a chapel in which the people worship. There are kivas too, however, and sometimes openly, sometimes secretly, the old rites are practiced and the old gods are worshiped. Houses may have windows and galvanized roofs, but basically the architecture is the same. There is some dissension in various villages, but in many there is still a remarkable group unity. On the surface, there is an ever growing tendency for the Pueblo Indians to become more like the white neighbors who surround them, but it would be naive to believe that the old [culture] has disappeared completely. Perhaps some day it will, but the end is not yet. Those who know and understand the way of the “ancient ones” admit the inevitability of change, but they feel that there is much to be learned from the old way of life.