Pojoaque, New Mexico
The Pojoaque Pueblo Indians are and speak Tewa, a language from the Kiowa - Tanoan language family. They live in the southwestern United States on the Rio Grande, about 40 km northwest of Santa Fe in New Mexico. The name is a Spanish alienation of the proper name Posunwage and means place of drinking water.
Early History
Probably the Anasazi ancestors of today Pojoaque lived towards the end of the first millennium AD in the area where the four states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah meet (English Four Corners region). They built and lived in cliff dwellings (English Cliff Dwelling ) in Mesa Verde and one or more villages in the Montezuma Valley in southwestern Colorado.
The indigenous people were threatened by many dangers. There were periodic droughts, locust plagues, pestilence and the penetration of the Apache and Navajo tribes in the 15th century, of which they were often attacked and involved in wars. In times of hunger their supplies were looted of food by neighbors. It is believed that these constant threats were the catalyst for their migration into the valley of the Rio Grande.
History after 1540
Against this background, the invasion and the subsequent suppression by the Spaniards from 1540 must be seen. The Spaniards introduced a new threat that had to survive, and the people you met with the same pragmatism as all other hazards. They took over that of the invaders that they were as well, and rejected all the things that they saw as a threat to their cultural integrity.
Decades of religious persecution and cultural oppression by the Spaniards in 1680 triggered a general revolt of all the bloody Pueblo Indians. After the victory of the Indian repression against the religion of the natives were loosened and the Catholic Church apparently accepted coexistence with the indigenous religion.
Like their Tewa neighbors took over the Pojoaque much of the Spaniards, which they saw as beneficial to their daily lives. The Spaniards brought horses and other pets, along with a variety of fruits and vegetables to New Mexico. In return, the Spaniards took over from the Pojoaque corn, beans and pumpkins, the knowledge of medicinal plants and hunting techniques of the Indians.
The Pojoaque had to struggle to survive a few times. A particularly difficult period began after the Pueblo Revolt, when severe epidemics decimated the population. In the early 20th century, the Pueblo should be dissolved, as it were hardly any people. But it came back many Pojoaque and thus saved the existence of the Pueblos.
1946, a reserve was established for the descendants of the original pueblo. There are currently no Native American ceremonies in Pojoaque, but some of its inhabitants take part in dances in the neighboring Tewa -speaking pueblos. In 2000 there were 211, of which 60 are permanent residents in the approximately 47 -acre reserve.