By tradition, the Tewa people moved here from the north, perhaps from the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado, part of a great migration spanning into the Pueblo IV Era.

[3] In March 1598, conquistador Oñate traveled north from Nueva Galicia accompanied by a caravan of Catholic missionaries, a thousand soldiers, colonists, and Tlaxcalans.

The expedition included cattle, sheep, goats, oxen, and horses, and arrived at Yungeh (place of the mockingbird) in present-day Ohkay Owingeh on July 11, 1598.

[8] It was recorded that the people who met him that day were hospitable and offered Yuque Yunque pueblo as guest quarters to Oñate and his party.

[9] On July 12, 1598, he baptized and renamed Caypa pueblo (present-day Ohkay Owingeh) San Juan de los Caballeros, after his patron saint John the Baptist.

[13] The tribe owns the Ohkay Casino and the Oke-Oweenge Crafts Cooperative, which showcases redware pottery, weaving, painting, and other artwork from the eight northern pueblos.