Prehistoric Indians of the Southwest

by H. M. Wormington

There are many theories as to the route which they followed. Recent finds, in the Colorado Rockies, of circular structures of dry-laid masonry which are non-Pueblo in character and which resemble certain Navajo houses or hogans, suggest that at least some of the migrants may have followed the main mountain ranges.[68] It is also possible that they may have moved south through the Great Basin west of the Rocky Mountains, or along the High Plains east of the mountains. Pottery finds give 1100 A. D. as the earliest date for the hoganlike structures in the Colorado mountains. It is not certain that these houses were built by Athapaskan people, however, and there is no definite knowledge as to just when the Athapaskans reached the Southwest and first came into contact with the Pueblo Indians. The earliest tree-ring date yet obtained in the Pueblo area from any site which we may be sure is Navajo is from the Governador area and falls in the middle of the sixteenth century.[40] If the Navajos arrived as early as 1200 A.D. they may have influenced the Largo-Gallina people and have been influenced by them, but this is still a moot question. A relatively early arrival might also aid in explaining the withdrawal of the Pueblos from the northern area.

SUMMARY

We may summarize the Great-Pueblo period as follows. It was the period in which the Anasazi [culture] attained its highest development, and it was marked by intense local specialization. Most of the basic aspects of the culture had already been well established, but there was tremendous improvement and amplification. Unit houses continued to be occupied throughout the period but there was a general coalescence of the population. The trend was toward concentration in great, terraced communal houses, up to five stories in height, and large enough to shelter hundreds of people. Some were built in the open and others in large natural caverns in cliffs. Small kivas, presumably used by small groups such as clans, were incorporated in the houses or placed in the central court. There were also Great Kivas, larger and more elaborate structures, believed to have served an entire community. There was local variation in architectural details, both as regards masonry types and house structures.

Pottery was remarkably fine and designs were often quite elaborate. There was such specialization that the products of various centers are readily distinguished. Culinary ware was corrugated. Among the decorated types, black-on-white predominated but there was some black-on-red ware and some black bowls with red interiors, and in the Kayenta district and farther south [polychrome pottery] was widely made. Late in the period black-on-orange wares became important in the Little Colorado drainage.

Much progress was made in the weaving of cotton cloth. Ornaments were highly developed and turquoise was widely used. Remarkable mosaics as well as beads and pendants were manufactured. Some coiled baskets were still made but yucca ring baskets were the leading type.

Although it is only in the realm of material [culture] that we have concrete evidence, there can be little doubt that the heights reached in the production of material things must have been reflected in the whole life of the people. There is every reason to believe that an essentially democratic form of government prevailed, but communal living must have required a high degree of organization. Doubtless religion played a great part in the life of the community and had far-reaching influences.

In the latter part of the thirteenth century, the Southwest seems to have had a dry period, marked by arroyo cutting that destroyed farmland, which was followed by a disastrous drought. These factors, with possible raids by nomadic warriors, internal discord, and probably others of which we are ignorant, led to a general withdrawal of population from many areas and a concentration in the central portion of the Plateau.

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.