Santa Clara (people)
The residents of Santa Clara are Pueblo Indians and speak Tewa , a language from the Kiowa-Tano language family . Santa Clara is the Spanish name for Sankta Klara . The Spaniards named their missions after saints of the Catholic Church . The Indian proper name is Ka'po , the meaning is unknown. The pueblo is located in the southwest of the USA , near Los Alamos in northern New Mexico .
history
According to tradition, the Tewa came from the underworld and appeared in Sip-ophe , a small lake in the land of the sand dunes near Alamosa in Colorado . Before they settled in what is now the area, the Tewa claim, they lived in various villages in the Ojo Caliente area and also inhabited cliff houses in Puye . Santa Clara is one of six Tewa-speaking pueblos in New Mexico and was built in the 14th century. The Spaniards built a church in the village around 1620. The current church from 1918 stands on the site of the old building.
During the pueblo uprising of 1680, the residents attacked a small division of Spanish soldiers in the pueblo, fortified their pueblo against possible raids by the Spaniards and then together with their allies besieged Santa Fe . They later moved to the fortified Black Mesa with other Tewa . Some went west to the Zuni and Hopi ; After the Spanish retook New Mexico, many returned to rebuild their village.
In the late 19th century, Santa Clara split into opposing camps because of disagreements over the acceptance of government programs. Proponents were accused of betraying the traditions and slander for witchcraft was commonplace.
The adoption of a tribal constitution in 1935 went a long way towards resolving these disputes. The ceremonial life of the village is now ruled by religious leadership, while secular affairs are in the hands of progressive, educated young women and men. This settlement was so successful that many of the young people without civil rights from the neighboring pueblos of Santa Clara cited as an example of how things could go if the religious leaders of their villages stayed out of worldly affairs.
Culture and way of life
Santa Clara and San Ildefonso are famous for their polished black pottery. An estimated seventy-five potters make large quantities of bowls, pots, plates, and a seemingly endless variety of figurines. There are also polished red and colored ceramics.
As in most pueblos, agriculture has been replaced by wage labor as the main source of income. Many Santa Clara residents work in Los Alamos.
The tribe gets money from doing business with Española and the low entrance fees paid by visitors to Santa Clara Canyon and Puye Cliffs . The US census from 2000 resulted in 1,104, 750 of them permanent residents, in the approximately 185 km² large reservation .
See also
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 1997
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tom Bathi: Southwestern Indian Tribes. Page 24. KC Publications, Las Vegas, 1997 ISBN 0-916122-01-8