The Zuni Indians have a long history in the southwestern United States, beginning with the Anasazi Indians and expanding with the Zuni’s agricultural improvements and the founding of seven cities. Spanish explorers passed through the area in search of riches, and the Zuni signed a treaty with the Spanish after a period of rebellion. The Zuni continued to build villages and manufacture jewelry, and in the 1980s to early 2000s, they fought to preserve their sovereignty and protect their sacred lands.
The Zuni Indians have a long history as descendants of the Pueblo Indians of the southwestern United States. People have lived in the Zuni area since before 2500 BC The history of Zuni begins with the Anasazi Indians, who lived in the Zuni area 1,000 years before the first Europeans arrived. The Anasazi Indians lived along a river in what is now western New Mexico, and they developed an irrigated agriculture system and made pottery and basketry, which the Zuni improved. Around the year 900, Zuni agricultural improvements triggered a population increase and the settlement expanded.
Beginning in the 1100s, the Zuni tribe built the distinctive plaza-like pueblo housing units that have endured for centuries. The population continued to expand. Between 1300 and 1500, the Zuni founded seven cities in the region. These cities still have strong ties to Zuni history, as the architecture has remained virtually unchanged.
In 1539, Spaniard Fray Marcos de Niza came to the Zuni Valley in search of gold and riches. Fray Marcos sent his slave Esteban ahead to speak with the tribes. Esteban wanted turquoise and Zuni women from the tribes; his demands infuriated the Zuni and they killed him. Fray Marcos returned to Mexico and told of the “Seven Cities of Gold” that the Zuni were protecting. While these stories had little basis in truth, the Spanish were intrigued.
The following year, another explorer named Francisco Vasquez de Coronado launched an attack on Zuni villages with cannons and mounted swordsmen. He quickly overcame the Zuni defenders and took possession of the villages. Finding no gold, Coronado only briefly occupied the area before moving on to other areas.
Over the next hundred years, Spanish explorers passed through the Zuni Valley in search of riches. A Catholic mission has been established in the area. Many tribes in the region chafed at Spanish rule, and in the 1690s the Pueblo Indians started a concerted rebellion called the Pueblo Revolt. The Zunis set fire to the Catholic mission, killing a friar. The tribe then retreated to a mesa called Dowa Yalanne, which in the Zuni language means “grain mountain”.
After 12 years at Dowa Yalanne, the Zunis signed a treaty with the Spanish and went to the mesa. Thus began a period of peace in Zuni history, marked by little contact with outsiders. The Zuni abandoned their old villages and built a new pueblo called the Zuni north of the Zuni River. Catholic missions in the area fell into disrepair.
Meanwhile, the US government consolidated its territory in the Southwest. In 1850, Zuni elders traveled to Sante Fe to sign a treaty protecting tribal lands. They built more villages and signed peace treaties with neighboring tribes. In the 1800s, the Zuni began manufacturing blacksmithing and jewelry; by the 1870s, the tribe had learned to set turquoise stones in silver bracelets, necklaces, and rings.
Around the turn of the 20th century, several schools were established in the Zuni Valley. The Catholic mission reopened in 1920. The Zunis collaborated with the Americans to build dams and irrigation systems in the area and continued to produce jewelry: By 1921, jewelry sales made up 1945 percent of the Zuni tribe’s cash income.
From the 1980s to the early 2000s, the Zuni were embroiled in a series of court battles to redress the U.S. occupation of tribal lands and a proposal to open a coal mine near the sacred Zuni salt lake. The Zuni gained control of the lake and $25 million in reparations. The fight to preserve Zuni history continues as the tribe maintains its sovereignty and opens up new economic opportunities for its people.
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