by Terry Lidral
The settlements of the Pueblo People of the American Southwest are thought to have been originally established perhaps as early as 2000 BC. Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico was said to have been established around 1100 AD, making it the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America.
A Pueblo is a Native American community in the Southwestern United States consisting of stone and adobe houses, often multi-storied, built by the Pueblo People. The word “Pueblo” is a Spanish word for “town” or “village.” The name originated from the Spaniards’ first encounters with the communities of Native Southwestern people in the mid-1500’s.
Ancestral Pueblo people resided in the Four Corners region which is where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona meet today. They are credited with farming the region upon their settlement around that 2000 BC timeline, producing an abundance of corn for a thriving population.
The ancient Pueblo People also created a trade center that they connected to neighboring communities by building 400 miles of road. Turquoise, seashells, exotic birds, minerals and gems were brought from far distances for trade in the Pueblo markets. The Four Corners communities thrived until around 1350 to 1380 AD when a drought was said to have ruined their crops and badly diminished their source of food.
Drifting to the Southwest, these ancient Pueblo people became intermingled with other pueblo house dwellers, the Mogollon and Hohokam People in New Mexico and Arizona. They all had farming in common and each group lived a communal life where men and women shared in the day-to-day duties.
In the mid-1500’s, Spaniards arrived in the Southwest and found the descendants of these early Pueblo People. Today, descendants of those ancestors live predominantly in New Mexico and Arizona.
