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Sandia Pueblo is perhaps the least known and understood of the dozens of pueblo cultures that once dominated the Rio Grande Valley. Yet, it has been a bustling and thriving community dating centuries before Europeans entered the area and Sandian ruins in the area date to a time before Charlemagne ruled Europe as "Emperor of the West."
The Tiguex Province, as it is known, once included as many as 20 pueblo cultures, with Sandia being the largest. Juan de Onate in 1598 referred to Sandia as "Napeya," a corruption of the native name "Nafiathe." The full native name for Sandia is "Tuf Shurn Tia" or "Green Reed Place." Sandia Pueblo, located 15 miles north of modern-day Albuquerque and three miles south of Bernalillo, has been in existence at its present site since 1300. It was first "discovered" by Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, who camped with his Conquistadors along the banks of the Rio Grande in 1539.
Sandia became a settlement for Spanish explorers in 1617 when it was established as the seat of the mission of San Francisco. Less than five decades later, Sandia participated in the Pueblo Revolt, a bloddy rebellion that exploded simultaneously among the northern pueblos on Auguat 10, 1680. The revolt culminated decades of resentment of religious persecution, demands for tribute payment, involuntary labor, and conflicts between religious and civil authorities who demanded obedience from Pueblo Indians.
Antonio de Otermin, Spain's governor of what is now New Mexico, ordered the burning of the Pueblo of Sandia several times during the Pueblo Revolt. The Spanish repeatedly attempted to reconquer the Tiguex Province in 1681, 1688, and 1692. During each attempt, Sandians abandoned their pueblo and eventually fled to Hopi lands in Arizona where they resettled in the village of Payupki. Their requests for resettlement were ignored until Father Menchero petitioned Spain's governor to allow settlement at Sandia and permission for resettlement was granted in 1748. On May 24, 1762, Governor Tomas Cachupin ordered the Pueblo of Sandia be completely rebuilt and that the Indians were not to be worked as laborers for Spanish farmers until the pueblo and church were reconstructed.
Sandians were allowed to resettle in their original pueblo to create a buffer against raiding tribes, such as Navajos and Commanches. In 1775, Sandia acting as that "buffer," lost 30 sons in an attack from the Commanche. Sandia was constantly raided by Apaches, Navajos and Commanches until a truce was struck near "Poi P'a Huth" or Friendship Arroyo" in the Placitas area. During the peace ceremony, a hole was dug to the depth of an elbow. The representatives spat and dropped half-smoked cigarettes into the hole and vowed never to fight one another.
Sandia's boundaries were designated by Lt. General Bernado de Bustamante to be a minimum of one league, or about three miles, in each direction from the pueblo's church, which is now the area of the cemetary. That edict established the Rio Grande as the western boundary, which measured only 1,440 varas from the church. As one league equaled 5,000 varas, General Bustamante compensated for the western shortage by increasing the distance of the north and south boundaries equally. The east boundary is the "Sierra Madre, called Sandia," which translates the entire mountain.
The original boundaries contained 24,034 acres. Today, the pueblo's acreage is 22,877 as land has been lost to encroachment and condemnation. The Pueblo is now repurchasing its land and has 1,700 acres in farming and 1,900 acres for grazing. It also leases areas for sand and gravel mining operations and other businesses to more fully utilize land within the pueblo's historical boundaries.
"Mountain arid" characterizes the climate of Sandia and the surrounding
vicinity. Community water is pumped from a 530 foot well and another is used for
backup. Water for irrigation of crops is stored at El Vado Lake and ultimately
flows into the Rio Grande River where it is fed into irrigation ditches or
"acequias" for use by farmers.
Business Enterprises
The 22,000 acres of tribal land that stretch from the Rio Grande River to the
Sandia Mountain has a tremendous economic potential that tribal leaders are
committed to use for the benefit of their community. In addition to agriculture,
the pueblo has a diverse economy featuring four major enterprises:
Sandia Pueblo was the seat of a mission known as San Francisco de Sandia in
1630 and, later, as seat of Nuestra Senora de Los Dolores y San Antonio de
Sandia in 1760. Today the mission's seat is in nearby Bernalillo at Our Lady of
Sorrows. Sandia is part of a parish known as San Antonio de Padua and celebrates
Catholic Feast Day on June 13.
Religion is very important to Sandia people and is a primary means of
retaining their tribal identity. A major feast day is June 13, celebrating St.
Anthony of Padua with a Corn Dance. Another major feast day is Feast of the
Three Kings on January 6. Sandia Pueblo is one of four pueblos to speak the Tiwa language. Taos and
Picuris are the northern Tiwas, Isleta, Ysleta del Sur and Sandia are the
southern Tiwas. Tiwa is a branch of the Kiowa/Tanoan language. While many of the
pueblo's younger generations no longer speak the Tiwa language, due to marriages
with non-pueblo spouses, older residents are tri-lingual, fluently speaking
Tiwa, Spanish and English. When Coronado arrived in 1540, Sandia had a population of 3,000, a number
declining to 350 by 1748 and further falling to 74 by 1900. Sandia's current
population is 481, with other tribal members residing in other cities or states
due to economic conditions and non-tribal marriages. There are 90 children under
the age of 16 years. Sandia has a very low student dropout rate and the average pueblo resident
has completed high school. A growing number of students go on to attend college,
with many attaining masters' degrees in their chosen fields from colleges and
universities across the nation. Most children attend schools in the Bernalillo
or Albuquerque public school systems or private schools. The Pueblo also has an
Early Childhood program for children from the pueblo three years old and older.
We also have infant daycare. We are now in a pilot program called High Focus for
our children three years and older. Sandia has a communal government with a governor, lieutenant governor and
staff. The day-to-day government operation is assisted by a professional
administrative and planning staff. The pueblo also is governed by a warchief and
lieutenant warchief who are responsible for all religious activities and
traditional dances. Sandia is an acculturated society that includes both modern and traditional
traits. Traditional dress, including mantas, moccasins and shawls, still are
worn by pueblo women and residents of both sexes wear hair in traditional
styles. Yet, Sandia people adopt modern styles of the dominent society to their
benefit.
Electricity came to the Pueblo in 1952. Natural gas, indoor plumbing,
electronic appliances and automobiles are in use at most homes. Sandia people
have been able to use outside influences while retaining their pueblo's
organization, values and identity. Structures of archaeological or historic interest are within the jurisdiction
of state and national park services. Kuawa or Coronado State Monument is
approximately 3 miles from the pueblo's present-day site. Abo, Quarai and Gran
Quivira Monuments to the southeast are under the jurisdiction of the Salinas
National Monument.
Sun-dried mud bricks, called "adobes" or "terones" were the materials
primarily used to build the main part of the pueblo. Adobes are clay mud mixed
with straw, tamped into forms and allowed to dry into uniform size while terones
are dried mud cut from water bogs and shaped into blocks. Most structures are
flat-roofed.
Traditional materials and construction techniques that are aptly suited for
the area's climate remain in use today. The sun-dried adobe brick houses have
stood for generations and remain warm in the winter and cool in summer. By
comparison, homes built of cement blocks and mortar under a Department of
Housing and Urban Development program in 1970 have not endured as well as
structures built with traditional materials. Many of Sandia's unique artistic techniques were lost for a period of time
but have been revived and are thriving. Traditional Sandia crafts include:
Seat of the Mission
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