IV.

Present-Day Life

The communal building of a present-day pueblo is a solid structure of adobe bricks or stone set in clay and mortar. The rooms are square, with thick flat roofs. They are built in terraced stories, and the roof of one level is reached by a movable ladder from the level below. Traditionally, access to the interiors is by ladders to trapdoors in the roofs, and the outer walls have neither windows nor doors (originally a precaution against attackers). Modern buildings, however, often have glass windows and hinged doors. Rooms are added to the original structure as needed, and a whole village often lives in a single complex building. Each village has at least two, and usually several, kivas.

Social organization is in clans and lineages. Descent is matrilineal, and women own the houses. Marriage is monogamous and must be to someone outside the clan or group of related clans; divorce can occur at will. Although nominally Christianized, all Pueblo maintain—some to a great extent—their ancient beliefs. The principal ceremonies, arranged by the secret societies that use the kivas, are held between crop seasons and consist of prayers and thanksgivings for rain and good crops. Particularly among the western Pueblo, ancestral and other benevolent spirits called kachinas are revered as bringers of rain and social good. Their spirits are believed to possess the masked dancers who impersonate them in rituals, and dolls depicting them are given to children. Some of the eastern Pueblos divide their villages into Summer and Winter People, who alternate responsibility for rituals. See Snake Dance.

The Pueblo economy is based on agriculture, supplemented by raising livestock and, often, by the sale of handicrafts. Each village cultivates fields in common. The crops include corn, beans, cotton, melon, squash, and chili peppers. Men generally work the fields, weave, build houses, and conduct ceremonies; women prepare food, care for children, make baskets and pottery, and transport water. They often help with gardening (as they did in ancient times when hunting was important) and in building the houses.

Each community has an individual style and technique of basketry. Pueblo pottery is characterized by a beauty of decoration and shape that is unique among modern Native Americans; the work of Pueblo potters such as Maria Martinez is prized by art collectors. Pueblo men continue to be skilled weavers, producing cotton and woolen clothing and fine woolen blankets.

In the 2000 U.S. census about 60,000 people identified themselves as Pueblo only; an additional 15,000 people reported being part Pueblo. Today, low incomes, poor health care, poor schooling, and in some pueblos, unemployment, together with a clash of values with the dominant white culture, have led to significant anger and social distress. Most Pueblo who have left their villages return from time to time to regain contact with the social and religious values of their tradition.