Existing comment:
Indians of the Southwest -- Pueblo-speaking peoples, Diné, Apache, O´odham, Yuman, and Pais -- maintained spheres of interaction within and beyond the region. Eventually these nations incorporated non-Native peoples and markets into their economic and political life. European wares appeared at Indian fairs in Taos, Pecos, and elsewhere, where southwestern textiles, pottery, turquoise, and maize had long been traded for Plains hides and dried meat.
Ancient trails linking the Southwest and Mesoamerica provided the route Europeans sought north from New Spain (Mexico). The most significant encounter took place on June 7, 1540. A:shiwi oral history describes how a small group of men on pilgrimage encountered soldiers led by the conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado. The A:shiwi laid a line of corn meal on the earth, to communicate their religious purpose. The Spanish disregarded it and attacked the village of Hawikku.
Spanish exploitation of Indian labor and forced conversion to Christianity sparked the Pueblo uprising of 1680. During the revolt, Pueblos captured the largest herd of horses ever taken by North American Indians, laying the groundwork for a new Indian trade. Spanish attempts to establish Catholic missions are evident in the A:shiwi-made altar vessels shown here, which date to between 1629, when the Franciscan church was built at Hawikku, and the year of the Pueblo uprising.
American expansion into the region after 1846 is revealed in the Akimel O´odham calendar stick, which records the coming of the railroad in 1886, and the Chiricahua Apache deer hide painting, made by Naiche during the Chiricahuas' 27-year captivity by the U.S. Army. |