Puebloan peoples

The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who have in common their style of living in towns constructed of adobe, stone and other local materials; their buildings are constructed as complex apartments with numerous rooms, often built in strategic defensive positions. The Pueblo peoples speak languages from several different groups and are also divided culturally by their kinship systems and agricultural practices, although all cultivate varieties of corn.

In addition to differing kinship systems, the peoples have differing marriage practices: exogamous (or outside connections) or endogamous (within the clan or band). Those who have a matrilineal system, in which children are considered born into the mother's clan and her line is used for inheritance and descent, are the Hopi, Keres, Towa and Zuni. The non-Towa Tanoan have a patrilineal system, with clan membership, inheritance and descent all passed through the father's line. All the Pueblo peoples have traditional economies based on agriculture and trade.

At the time of Spanish encounter beginning in the 16th century, these peoples were living in complex, multi-story villages often built around a central courtyard. The Spanish called these pueblos, meaning "towns," and applied the name to all the peoples living in such complexes. In the 21st century there are 21 surviving pueblos in the Southwest of the United States. Taos, Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi are the best-known. The main pueblos are located primarily in the present-day states of New Mexico and Arizona.

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