GLOSSARY
(Continued)
Kachina phenomenon
First appearing in 1325 or before, a religion that some believe
integrated Puebloan society at a time when droughts and, possibly,
warfare were making the traditional Anasazi lands untenable. May
have firmed the Anasazi resolve to migrate to Hopi, Zuni and the
Río Grande Valley. Kachinas are still central to Pueblo religion.
Kachinas
1. Benevolent spiritual intermediaries between certain
Southwestern peoples and the gods. Kachinas bring good health,
fertility, rain, abundance and other blessings. 2. (Modern days) Dolls or images of the supernatural beings.
Kayenta
(kah-YEN-tah) Regional group of the
Anasazi, named for the region around Kayenta in northeastern Arizona. Area includes ruins
of Betatakin, Keet Seel
and other Anasazi communities. The Kayenta Anasazi are ancestors of the Hopi, who prefer
to call the area "Wunuqa."
See KAYENTA REGION
Keet Seel
[Navajo for "broken pottery"] An ancient Anasazi pueblo at
Navajo National Monument. The Hopi name is Tokonavi ("place
of the black rock"). See KAYENTA REGION
Keresan
One of the languages of the Anasazi and descendants, including
the people of Acoma, Cochiti, Laguna, Santa Ana, Santo
Domingo, San Felipe and Zia Pueblos in New Mexico. See TEWA,
TOWA and TIWA
kiva
(KEE-vuh) [Hopi] 1. A square, above-ground room used by modern
day Hopi for religious and spiritual ceremonies. 2. A subterranean room — usually
round, but sometimes square, rectangular or D-shaped — generally believed to have
been used by Anasazi men for religious and spiritual purposes. See Architecture: Kivas.
Kokopelli
["Kachina hump, " probably of Hopi/Zuni origin] A well-known
mythological hump-backed flute player in most Southwestern
Pueblo cultures. Among other things, this spiritual figure
represents fertility and rain. Also known as Kokopilau,
Kokopeltiyo and Kokopele.
maize
(Mayz) Corn. [Spanish maíz]
mano
(MAH-no) [Spanish for hand] Grinding stone. A hand-held stone used to grind grain, nuts
and seeds on the larger metate.
matrilineal blood lines
Clan ties are traced through the mother's blood lines, not the
father's (as is done in most of the U.S. and European culture)
Mesa Verde
(MAY-suh VAIR-day) [Spanish for "green plateau"] 1. National park in
southwestern Colorado, site of many Anasazi cliff dwellings. 2. The Anasazi region around
Mesa Verde.
See NORTHERN SAN JUAN REGION
metate
(meh-TAH-tay) A flat or slightly concave stone base on which
grain, nuts and seeds were ground using the smaller mano.
[Spanish]
Mogollon
(moh-goh-YONE or moh-goh-LONE) [Spanish for "hanger-on" or "sponger."]
A separate culture which coexisted and had commerce with the Anasazi. These ancient
farmers lived in what is now southern Arizona-New Mexico and northern Sonora and Chihuahua
states in Mexico. Named for the Mogollon Plateau.
See SOUTHWEST CULTURES MAP
Moki
See Moqui.
Moqui
(MOH-kee) A Hopi word meaning "the dead" which is often used to identify their
ancestors. Preferred by the Hopi to the Diné
Navajo word, "Anasazi".
Palulukon
See Avanyu.
Pe-Kush
[Towa for "the people"] See Pecos
Pecos
(PAY-kohs) [from Towa Pe-Kush, "the people"] 1. An abandoned
pueblo east of Santa Fe, New Mexico. 2. The Towa-speaking
people who lived there and relocated to the existing Jemez Pueblo
in 1838. See RÍO GRANDE REGION
Pecos Classification
A chronology of the Anasazi eras established.in the 1920s by a
group of archaeologists who meet annually at Pecos National
Historical Park, near Santa Fe, New Mexico.
petroglyph
Rock carving or rock "art" made by "pecking" the surface with
another rock. See pictograph.
pictograph
Pictures or picture-like symbols that represent an idea or tell a story. Pictographs can
be found in the works of many ancient cultures on papyrus or wood, on cloth, on pottery
and jewelry, painted on walls. Sometimes used to describe pictures or symbols
carved or chipped in rock (petroglyphs).
pigweed
Member of the Amaranthus
family with dense, bristly clusters of
small green flowers.
piñon
(pee-NYOHN) Small pine tree with large edible nuts. The nuts
themselves. Also spelled pinyon. [Spanish for "pine nut"]
pithouse
A house built substantially underground. Used by many early
cultures, including the Anasazi. Consisted of a pit, often lined with
rocks, and a roof of branches, mud, etc., held up by vertical
timbers, usually four.
See ARCHITECTURE
potsherd
Fragment or piece of broken pottery. Also "shard."
pueblo
(PWEB-loh) [Spanish for "town," "village," "settlement,"
"people" or "nation"] Indian village in the American Southwest.
Probably derives from the practice of most ancient Southwestern cultures and many modern
American Indian tribes to call themselves "the people" in their own language.
Pueblo Bonito
(PWEB-loh boh-NEE-toh) [Spanish for "pretty village"] the most
famous Great House at Chaco Canyon. See CHACO REGION
Pueblo Revolt
In 1680, after years of Spanish demands for goods and services,
religious persecution, instability and brutality, about 20 New
Mexico and Arizona pueblos coordinated an attack on the Spanish
and drove them back to Mexico. Twelve years later, Captain
General Diego de Vargas led a bloodless reconquest.
Puebloan
(PWEB-loh-uhn) 1. Modern Native American Indian peoples,
including those living at Hopi, Zuni, Acoma, Laguna, Jemez and
Zia pueblos and the 14 Río Grande pueblos. 2. Anasazi ancestors
of the modern Puebloans (sometimes referred to as Ancestral
Puebloan Peoples).
Puye Cliffs
(POOH-yay) Puye Cliff Dwellings, near Española, New Mexico.
See RÍO GRANDE REGION
Río Grande
(REE-oh GRAHN-day) ["large river" in Spanish] 1. A river more
than 1,800 miles long, originating in the mountains of Colorado,
forming the border between Texas and Mexico, and emptying into
the Gulf of Mexico. 2. Called the Río Bravo [Spanish for savage,
wild, or fierce river] in Mexico. 3. Anasazi region. Río Grande
River is actually redundant (large river river).
See RÍO GRANDE REGION
Salado
(sah-LAH-doh). [Spanish for "salty"] Another regional culture within the larger Southwest Tradition grouping. They migrated to the Salt
River in southeastern Arizona.
See SOUTHWEST CULTURES MAP
Salinas
(sah-LEEN-us) [Spanish for saline or salty lagoons] Salinas
Pueblo Missions National Monument, New Mexico.
See RÍO GRANDE REGION
Sea of Cortés
1. Gulf of California. 2. An arm of the Pacific Ocean separating
Baja California from the Mexican mainland. Originally named for
the Spanish conqueror of Mexico, Hernán Cortés.
Sinagua
(SEEN-ah-gwa) Spanish for "without water." See Hakataya.
See SOUTHWEST CULTURES MAP
sipapu
(SEE-pah-puh) [Hopi] 1. The navel of the Earth from which distant Puebloan ancestors are
said to have emerged as they entered the present world. 2. The small hole or indentation
in the floor of a kiva which symbolizes the people's Earthly origin.
Southwest Tradition
The name given by scholars to the mix of cultures, including the Anasazi, that existed in the Four Corners Area.
See SOUTHWEST CULTURES MAP
spindle whorl
In hand spinning, the spindle is a rounded wooden rod for twisting
cotton fibers into thread. The whorl is a sort of flywheel that
regulates the speed of the spinning wheel.
teosinte
(TEE-oh-SIN-tee) Tall grass-like native of Mexico with tassel and
small, hard ears. Believed to be ancestor of maize.
[Spanish,
originally from the Nahuatl language]
Tewa
(TAY-wah) Along with Tiwa and Towa, a dialect of the Tanoan
language. Spoken by modern day residents of Nambe, Pojoaque,
San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Clara and Tesuque Pueblos in New
Mexico.
Tiwa
(TEE-wah) Along with Tewa and Towa, a dialect of the Tanoan
language. Spoken by modern day residents of Isleta, Picuris,
Sandia and Taos Pueblos in New Mexico.
Towa
(TOE-wah) Along with Tiwa and Tewa, a dialect of the Tanoan
language. Spoken by modern day residents of the Jemez Pueblo,
including descendants of residents of the abandoned Pecos Pueblo.
tree-ring dating
Scientific technique of comparing a cut timber to a master calendar
of tree-ring growth from about 6,700 B.C. to the present. Based
on the fact that a tree grows a ring each year and the rings are
narrower in dry years and wider in wet years.
See HOW DO WE
KNOW?
Tsegi Canyon
(tSAY-gee ) Area within Navajo National Monument occupied by
the Anasazi. Includes Betatakin cliff dwelling ruins. See
KAYENTA REGION
tuff
Relatively soft rock created by the compaction of very small
volcanic rock fragments.
Wetherill
A 19th century Mancos, Colorado, ranching family responsible for
more Anasazi site finds than anyone else. Richard Wetherill is
generally credited with the "discovery" of Mesa Verde, and was
the first to identify the Basketmaker Anasazi as distinct from the
"Cliff Dwellers" or Pueblo Anasazi. See See
NORTHERN SAN
JUAN REGION
yucca
Member of the agave family with stiff green sword-like leaves and
white flowers on a tall stalk.
Previous
Page
|
