Picuris
The Picuris are an Indian people of the North American Southwest and belong to the Pueblo Indians . They speak Tiwa , a language from the Kiowa-Tano language family . The name Picuris is a Spanish alienation of the name Pekuria from the Keres language. Its own name is Piwwetha and means pass in the mountains . The pueblo is located in the southwest of the USA on a tributary of the Rio Grande , about 50 km northeast of Santa Fe in New Mexico .
history
The Picuris and Taos descend from the same ancestors, who settled around 900 AD in what is now the residential area. Sometime in the 12th century, these people split up and formed two separate groups. Like the Taos, the Picuris had repeated contacts with the Plains tribes, especially with the Jicarilla Apache, with mixed marriages sometimes occurring.
The original pueblo, now partially excavated, is located on the northern edge of today's village. It dates from AD 1250 and was first visited by Spaniards in the early 1540s. They called him San Lorenzo and established a mission there in 1621 .
Luis Tupato , one of the leaders of the Pueblo uprising , was the governor of Pecuris. The pueblo had a population of 3,000 at the time and played an important role in the rebellion because it was able to raise a strong force of warriors to fight the Spaniards.
In 1692 they again submitted to Spanish authority, but there were three more revolts over the next five years. After the last uprising in 1696, the Pecuris left their pueblo to seek refuge in the Jicarilla Apache settlement of El Cuartelejo in western Kansas . In 1706 they returned to their pueblo, considerably decimated by disease and wars. The current church was built around 1770 after the village was rebuilt.
Culture
Picuris is currently in a state of decay. The lack of local income opportunities forces those with manual skills or training to leave the pueblo, thus depriving the village of the chance to develop into an independent community. The Picuris living in the village supplement their seasonal wages with agriculture, animal husbandry and handicraft work. The micaceous clay pottery of the Picuris has been traded to remote areas for hundreds of years. Half a dozen women are still making these unpainted cooking vessels, which are in great demand with Indians and Americans. They are one of the few pieces of Pueblo pottery that still serve practical purposes. In 2000 there were 254, including 85 permanent residents, in the approximately 60 km² large reserve .
literature
- William C. Sturtevant (Ed.): Handbook of North American Indians , Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC
- Alfonso Ortiz (Ed.): Southwest Vol. 9, 1979 ISBN 0-16004-577-0
- Alfonso Ortiz (Ed.): Southwest Vol. 10, 1983 ISBN 0-16004-579-7
- Tom Bathi: Southwestern Indian Tribes , KC Publications, Las Vegas 1995
Web links
- Indian Pueblo Cultural Center: Picuris Pueblo
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tom Bathi: Southwestern Indian Tribes. Page 14f. KC Publications, Las Vegas, 1997 ISBN 0-916122-01-8