People and Native Cultures of the Southwest PDF

The People: Native Cultures of the Southwest Native Cultures of the Southwest || Language Families || Major Southwestern Families || Major Lifeways of the Southwest || Readings This lecture reviews th...

The People: Native Cultures of the Southwest Native Cultures of the Southwest || Language Families || Major Southwestern Families || Major Lifeways of the Southwest || Readings This lecture reviews the contemporary Native cultures of the Southwest. It is important to know about the diversity and distribution of Native cultures because the prehistoric cultures we study in this course were ancestral to modern cultures. In many cases, we can trace prehistoric cultures directly through time to modern Native American tribes and nations. Some prehistoric groups cannot be readily linked to modern peoples. The following table gives a few of the relationships that seem most likely to archaeologists. For example, archaeologists believe that the modern Hopi are directly descended from prehistoric Ancestral Puebloan (specifically, the “Kayenta Branch”), Mogollon, and Sinagua prehistoric cultures, but also were partly descended from the Salado and Hohokam. The modern Pima are descended from the Hohokam and Salado cultures, etc. However, please keep in mind that this is only a partial list of cultural affiliations and the chart given below does not necessarily reflect official tribal positions or beliefs of Native Americans. Many Indian tribes and nations have a more inclusive view of their ancestral relations with archaeological cultures. The Navajo Nation, for example, recognizes an affiliation with ancient “Anasazi” (Ancestral Puebloan) cultures. Native Cultures of the Southwest Modern Group Affiliated Archaeological Groups Navajo Dine (Early Navajo) Hopi Ancestral Puebloan, Mogollon, and Sinagua, with ties to Salado and Hohokam Zuni Ancestral Puebloan and Mogollon, with ties to Sinagua, Salado, and Hohokam Acoma/Laguna Ancestral Puebloan and Mogollon Rio Grande Pueblos Ancestral Puebloan, especially Chaco Canyon Upland Yumans (Havasupai, Sinagua and Cerbat, with ties to Ancestral Puebloan Hualapai, Yavapai) Pima Hohokam and Salado Tohono O’odham Hohokam and Salado Western Apache Indeh (or "Ndee"; early Apache) Understanding contemporary Native American groups is also important because of the exceptional importance that the prehistoric past has for living Native Americans. The archaeological sites of the Southwest are sacred places to Native peoples, and they testify to struggles, hopes, and achievements of their ancestors. Archaeological sites show the paths of ancient migrations, the roots of modern traditions, and the connections that Native people had with a landscape far more extensive than the limited reservations now occupied. Many Native people in the Southwest do not regard archaeological sites as having been “abandoned,” but instead think of them as places that are still fulfilling the purpose of providing tangible “footprints” of the ancestors. Many sites are quite literally the resting places of ancestors, and even if no physical human remains are present, the spirits of ancestors still reside there. I cannot emphasize enough the spiritual significance of archaeological places to Native peoples, and as we study Southwestern archaeology we should keep in mind the important connections that archaeological sites have with living peoples. Finally, I also want to impart a bit of the human dimension of the prehistoric past. It is easy to lose track of the human dimension when we employ scientific terms such as site, artifact, feature, subsistence, period, phase, and all the other specialized language that archaeologists use. In this introductory module, I want to include at least some basic information on the living Native peoples of the Southwest, and present some images of traditional life and pictures of the people who were the original residents of this region. For further information on Native peoples of the Southwest, here are a few websites: www.navajo.org Official web site of the Navajo Nation http://www.nau.edu/~hcpo-p/ Web site of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, an official tribal organization. This site contains some useful basic information on Hopi culture. http://www.americanindian.net/links12hopi.html A compendium of sources on Hopi culture, contains lots of links to other web sites. http://www.wmat.nsn.us/ Web site for White Mountain Apache Tribe. Language Families A very basic way to classify the Native peoples of the Southwest is by the languages that they speak. The Southwest has numerous languages that are unrelated to each other, that is, these languages have developed separately over a very long period of time. At the highest level of classification is the language “family,” made up of a group of related languages. The Native Southwest has seven major language families, with numerous individual languages within each family. Language families have evolved separately from other language families over thousands of years. The different language families thus represent thousands of years of linguistic change and evolution, mostly due to geographic separation of populations. In some cases, it appears that individual language families have evolved separately from other families for 12,000 or more years. Within anthropology, the sub-discipline of linguistic anthropology is devoted to the study of languages; a particular set of methods known as glottochronology is used to estimate the time depth of languages. The individual languages within the larger language families also have evolved along separate tracks. Individual languages within families have been separated for a few hundred to several thousand years. Major Language Families of the Southwest Major language families in the Southwest are: Uto-Aztecan Kiowa-Tanoan Southern Athabaskan Yuman Keresan Zuni Seri Uto-Aztecan This language family has an enormous geographic distribution, stretching from Idaho to Central Mexico. Within this family, individual languages from one end of the distribution to another have been separated from one another for about 5,000 years. In the Southwest, Uto-Aztecan speakers include: Hopi Young Hopi woman, photograph taken through window of pueblo room at Oriabi, 1902. Piman languages, including the (Tohono O’odham (Papago) and the Pima Pima man, wearing summer clothing, photo taken around 1900.  Pima Medicine Man, 1900. Taracahitan Huichol Several extinct languages of northern Mexico Kiowa-Tanoan The Kiowa-Tanoa language family consists of closely related languages spoken by people who live in some of the Rio Grande Pueblos in New Mexico. This language family consists of languages that have been separated by only two or three thousand years at most. The Rio Grande Pueblos that speak Kiowa-Tanoan languages are: Taos Picuris Sandia Isleta Santa Clara San Juan San Ildefonso Tesuque Nambe Pojoaque  Girl from San Ildefonso, photo taken in 1905. Within Kiowa-Tanoan, there are three “branches” or groups of closely related languages: Tiwa (Taos and Picuris Pueblos) Tewa (Santa Clara, San Juan, San Idelfonso, Nambe, Tesuque, and Pojoaque Pueblos) Towa (Jemez Pueblo) Taos woman, photo taken in 1899. In Arizona, there is a group of Tewa speakers who live at Hano (or Tewa Village) at the base of First Mesa. These Tewa speakers migrated to the Hopi Mesas in the 17th century. Southern Athabaskan Southern Athabaskan is one of three Athabaskan families spoken in North America. The others (Northern and Pacific Coast) are located far to the north, along the Pacific Coast of the American Northwest and along the west coast of Canada. Southern Athabaskan and the northern Athabaskan speakers have been separated by perhaps 600 to 1,300 years or so. Southern Athabaskan speakers in the Southwest are Navajo Western Apache Western Apache baby in cradle, photo taken in 1903. Navajo woman and child, 1930s.  Navajo couple, Pedro and Anselina, photo taken in the 1880s. Navajo and Western Apache languages have been separated by only a few hundred years. Yuman The Yuman family consists of several very closely related languages, separated by no more than 2,000 years. Yuman languages are split into two major divisions in the Southwest: Upland Yumans (Walapai, Havasupai, Yavapai) River Yumans (Mohave, Maricopa, Yuma, Delta, Paipai, others) There is good evidence that the River Yumans and Pima were in close contact with each other around 1,000 years ago, as indicated by the borrowing of words between the two languages. Hualapai woman (with facial tattoos), photo taken in 1900.  Maricopa woman, photo taken in 1890s. Keresan Keresan languages are very closely related and have been separated by only a few hundred years, probably no more than 500 years or so. The Keresan speakers in the Southwest are split into two groups: Rio Grande pueblos (Zia, Santa Ana, San Felipe, Santo Domingo, Cochiti) Western Keresans (Acoma and Laguna) Group of men from Laguna, 1880s. Zuni Zuni is a language isolate, not closely related to any other known language. It has been suggested that Zuni might be related to Penutian languages in California, but this is disputed. If true, the Zuni have evolved a separate language over the course of at least 7,000 years and probably more. Zuni language today is spoken only at Zuni Pueblo Zuni girl and her brother, 1911. The Seri Language Family A final language family of the Southwest is Seri, another language isolate, spoken by people living along the west coast of Sonora in Mexico and on Tiburon Island in the Gulf of California. In historic times there were six major geographic groups of Seri who spoke three dialects, Today the Seri are amalgamated into a single linguistic group. Group of Seri men, photo taken in Guaymas, Sonora around 1880. Major Lifeways of the Southwest Another way to consider the native peoples of the Southwest is by their lifeways. Southwestern cultures can be grouped according to several criteria: Settlement Pattern: Pattern of residence and movement across the landscape during a given year Subsistence: Ways in which food and other necessities are obtained Social organization: Primarily, family, kinship, and ceremonial organizations Based on these considerations, early Spanish explorers recognized three major patterns of lifeway in the Southwest: Pueblo Rancheria Nomads (Querechos) The Pueblo Lifeway View of Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico, photo taken around 1885  View across Acoma Pueblo, photo taken in 1888. Pueblo people consist of two major geographic divisions: Western Pueblos: Hopi, Zuni, Acoma and Laguna Eastern Pueblos: Kiowa-Tanoan and Keresan speakers along the Rio Grande and its tributaries Both the Eastern and Western pueblos share some important characteristics: Settlement in permanent, multi-room, multi-story masonry structures (pueblos – “stone apartment buildings”) Metates and manos arranged into mealing bins in ancient pueblo. These facilities would have been used by women working side-by-side to grind corn.  Emphasis on food storage and preparation, w/specialized grinding tools (mano and metate) and storage rooms Subsistence based primarily on maize agriculture, supplemented with beans, squash, and gathered/hunted foods Complex social organization with some degree of hierarchy and social stratification Some form of subterranean chamber, a special room set apart from other structures, known to archaeologists as a kiva Woman gathering corn at Zuni, photo taken about 1935. Differences among Eastern and Western Pueblos include: Western: Emphasize the importance of social units known as clans and sodalities Eastern: Villages organized into moieties, with alternating leadership Western: Emphasis on rain-making, harmony insured by the assistance of Kachina spirits Eastern: Some emphasis on rain-making, but more emphasis on harvest ceremonials, hunting societies, curing ceremonies For all pueblo people, there is great continuity with the prehistoric past. Settlments (pueblos) have been located in the same places for hundreds of years, and the same general areas have been inhabited for thousands of years. Sometime around A.D. 1300, there was a great concentration of pueblo populations into a few selected locations where most Pueblo people still live today. Beginning in 1540, Europeans began to interact with Pueblo people, bringing about changes that were often devastating to life and culture. Generally, Spanish and other European influence is greatest in the east, and diminishes in the Western Pueblos. The Rancheria Lifeway During their early explorations, the Spanish encountered several groups across the Southwest who practiced agriculture and lived a mostly settled life, but who were not grouped into compact stone or adobe “pueblos.” The settlements of these groups were referred to as “rancherias.” Rancheria peoples include Piman speakers (Pima and Tohono O’odham) River Yumans  Traditional Pima house, photo taken in 1912. River Yuman (Quechan) house in Rancheria-style settlement, photo taken about 1900. Most practitioners of the Rancheria lifeway lived in low desert settings. Characteristics of the Rancheria lifeway include: Settlement pattern consisting of relatively permanent (wood, brush, and mud) structures Structures detached and dispersed across a village Many activities – such as cooking and pottery making – pursued outdoors or in relatively insubstantial structures For some groups, seasonal movement – also referred to as a “two village pattern” – to exploit distant farmlands during the summer monsoon season (practiced by the Tohono O’odham, for example) Variable mixes of crops and wild plant and animal foods -- agriculture always practiced but to varying degrees depending on the environment Emphasis on shamanism, curing, and individually-oriented religious rites, with much less emphasis on public ritual and ceremonies The early phases of the prehistoric Hohokam culture has many characteristics of the Rancheria lifeway. Nomadic Peoples (Querechos) The Spanish explorers also described a group of highly mobile peoples (“Querechos") who inhabited seasonal settlements with portable or impermanent dwellings. In some cases it is not entirely clear who the Spanish encountered, but at least some of the encounters describe the Navajo Apache Upland Yumans Navajo family at Hogan, early 20th century. These groups have quite a bit of diversity among them and are not easily characterized. Cultural changes brought by European contact also cloud the picture. Many contemporary cultural practices, such as raising livestock and herding sheep, are historical developments. Many groups, especially the Upland Yumans and Western Apache, have had their territorial ranges severely curtailed by confinement onto Indian Reservations. Nonetheless, these characteristics of a mobile lifeway can be listed: A wide range of mobility strategies, with some groups moving hundreds of miles in the course of a single year Hunter-gatherer subsistence, based on seasonal movements between environmental zones to exploit available resources Exploitation of a broad spectrum of wild plant and animal resources Regular exchange relationships with more settled groups For some groups (Navajo, for example) a pattern of bi-seasonal residence, with separate winter and summer camps or homes At least some of the characteristics of historically-documented nomadic groups provide a useful analog for understanding prehistoric groups, especially those of the Archaic period. Many of the technological and organizational aspects of historic nomadic groups and prehistoric groups are related to the demands imposed by seasonal mobility and long-range movements across the landscape. For example, a high premium is placed on having tool kits that are lightweight and portable. Groups need to be organized in such a way that if food shortages arise, they can disperse into smaller groups that are more widely spread across the landscape. As we will see when we study the earliest hunter-gatherers in the Southwest, mobility is a powerful determinant of material culture, settlement pattern, and organization. Navajo summer shelter (brush shade), photo taken in 1901. Apache hunters, photo taken in 1888.