Zuñi - An important tribe of the Pueblo Indians, and the only members of the Zuñian language family.  Zuñi is also the name of the village in which they lived - and still live.

A small village of Zuñi, located on the Zuñi River in New Mexico, probably was the first pueblo seen by the white man.  It was visited in 1539 by Fray Marcos of Niza, who carried back to Mexico so glowing an account that the Spanish explorer, Coronado, thinking it the fabulous "Kingdom of Cibola," rich in gold and precious stones, fitted out an expedition the following year.  However, Coronado  found the "seven cities," as they were termed, to be nothing but ordinary Indian pueblos.

The Zuñi, an agricultural people, joined with the other Pueblo tribes in a revolt against the Spaniards in 1680.  The Americans later found them to be a quiet, good natured, and industrious people.  They depended on corn and game for food, were good potters, and raised cotton, which they wove into cloth.  They had domesticated the turkey.

The men today wear their hair in bangs, with a headband of cloth, and their belts are adorned with large silver disks.  They live on their own reservation in New Mexico.  Besides the river, the name Zuñi is borne by a range of mountains in New Mexico, and places in New Mexico and Virginia.

Related Information within this Site
[ Coronado ][ Pottery ][ Pueblo Indians ]