The Walpi Pueblo above which is even today inhabited was built about 1680. You can find it on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona.

The Pueblo culture arose from the Anasazi civilisation who had itīs golden ages between 1200 - 1400. The Pueblo people speaks 4 languages and many dialects and they comprise about 20 tribes or so to say villages in the states of Arizona and New Mexico. For example Hopi, Zuni, Keres and the Tano tribes belong to the Pueblo people. Already about year 700 they started to build Pueblo villages, close groups of houses made of stones, tree and clay or adobe with flat roofs. They could be built up to 5 storey-houses and on the first flat there were no doors and windows, but the only way to enter the house was on a ladder.

The photo above is from the cliff-dwelling at Canyon de Chelly, Arizona, which was a home to the Anasazi people. These villages were built high up on the cliffs as a shelter against hostile tribes in the area. In the villages there were cirkel shaped religious rooms s.c. "Kivas", where a deep hole in the floor, "sipapu," reminded the people that their ancestors came from inside the earth. Anasazi means basketmaker and these people developed a great skill in making woven baskets and also farming as early as year 100.

Above is Pueblo Bonito in New Mexico, built between the years 900 and 1130, is considered as one of the greatest examples of pre historic house building. In the beginning the village had 800 rooms and could take 300 families.

By using such technics as terracing and irrigation via canals the desert plateaus changed to fertile earth. The Anasazi were farmers who planted corn, beans, pumpkins, tobacco and squash. Cotton was also very important to weave blankets and clothes. After the arrival of the Spanish the farming changed. Wheat, pepper, melons and tomatoes and even appels and peaches came to the Anasazi. By the Pueblo people the men are farming and the women are weaving. They also had a skill in art and crafts and were great potmakers. The potmaking is done in old manners without any potterīs wheel. The clay is knead into circels and put on each other and then worked together as one unit. The pots are painted and burned. The making of baskets is also superb.

The Pueblo people were among few Native people in North America that didīnt practice plural marriage, but on the other hand it was fairly easy to get a divorce. In the 17th century the Spanish brought the christianity, forced labour and heavy taxes of corn and cotton. The smallest refusal or resistance was punished with an incredible cruelty. The Native traditions became forbidden but in 1680 the patience of the indians shattered and a violent revolt drew the intruders away from the whole Rio Grande valley for a period of 12 years. The Spanish however came back and the bloody act of reprisal made many indians to escape from the area. Fortunately it became calmer and donkeys, sheep and goats were also welcome animals that the Spanish brought with them.

The Taos pueblo above is located by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Taos, New Mexico, and has been inhabited since the middle of the 15th century. From Taos the Pueblo people planned the revolt against the Spanish in 1680, conducted by the Tiwa Medicinman Pope.

The most important ceremonies among the Hopi tribe are the antelop and the snake dance. They are connected to the growth of plants and the necessary rain. Most attentive is the snake dance which take place every other year at the end of Aaugust during 9 days. The dramatic high point is when the antelop and the snake priests are standing opposite to each other on the village square. After an opening song the snake priests are deployed three to three, and one in each group is kneeling and receives a snake that he holds in his mouth. The indians are dancing with jumpy steps four times around the square, and after that the snake is taking care off and the carrier receives a new snake in his mouth. The dancers are dressed in their traditional clothes with kilt, moccasins and a fantastic headdress, and further more neckless, armlinks and footrings. A rattle made of turtle shell is attached by every dancers knee. Women and girls dressed for festival are standing on one side of the square and sprinkle the dancers with holy flour from there baskets. At the end of the ceremony the priests are running down the hills with the snakes in their hands, and then releases them in several different places. The task of the snakes is to tell the Gods about the Hopi peoples prayer for rain.

The Hopis call their rain or cloud spirits "Kachinas." Men dressed like these spirits are dancing to receive rain and a good crop. The Hopi children receives Kachina dolls made of wood to learn to know the different spirits.