Pueblo

The Pueblo Indians lived in cliff dwellings known as adobe buildings. The buildings were made from clay bricks that were baked in the sun. These bricks are called adobe. Since the climate of the southwest was so dry, these bricks lasted for many years. The adobe bricks were laid like regular bricks. People would use ladders to get into their homes. In times of danger, they pulled up the ladders and no enemy could get inside.

The Pueblo clothing was made mainly from cotton fibers. Some robes were made for the cold weather by intertwining yucca fibers wrapped with strips of rabbit fur or turkey feathers. Animal hides were used for blankets, breechcloths and aprons. Weaving on large looms was done mostly by men. They wove blankets, shirts, robes, aprons, kilts, breechcloths and belts from vegetable fibers, animal and human hair, and cotton they got from trading.

Footwear included sandals, moccasins, and snowshoes. Sandals, usually made of woven yucca fibers, came in many styles.

Necklaces, earrings, bracelets, arm bands, hair combs and pins, were made from wood, bone, shell and stones including turquoise.

Corn was dried and stored on the cob. Strips of dried squash hung in the storage rooms. Wild plant foods were also stored and prepared for cooking. Piñon nuts, sunflower and other seeds had to be cracked, hulled, winnowed and parched before they could be cooked and eaten.

Women spent hours each day grinding corn into flour. Beans were soaked and cooked in large jars. These jars were not placed directly over fires; instead, hot rocks were dropped into the jars for boiling. Corn was also put in jars which lay on their sides near the fire.

There weren't many animals for them to hunt. But when they were able to kill a large animal, they were butchered at the kill site. Back at home the pieces were prepared for cooking, bones were cracked to get the marrow, and hides were cured for other uses.

Art

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