Tewa

In 1630, Fray Alonso de Benavides reported eight Tewa pueblos with a total population as high as six thousand.

In terms of the Pueblo population: The demographic of how many people speak the Tewa language raises shocking results.

They discovered that DNA samples taken from the Tewa's site in Colorado's Mesa Verde are similar to those from the Northern Rio Grande region, where the tribe is settled today.

The Mesa Verde region was a hub for Southwestern Puebloan society in the 13th century, but following a severe drought in 1277, the tribe's economy and social relations crashed.

This could be because of diseases introduced by the Spanish, warfare, or even the abandonment of villages because of the Tewa's desire to escape European expansion and oppression.

Later on, Apache and Navajo raids for food and captives, which were steadily increasing during this period, escalated, which led the Pueblos to take advantage of the Spanish military in terms of protection.

In 1858, when the United States gained New Mexico and other Southwestern regions, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (which gave the U.S. the previously mentioned territories) promised citizenship to all Mexican citizens who wanted it, including the Pueblos and the Tewa.

In 1920, the United States established the Pueblo Lands Board to settle disputed claims between the government and the Tewa.

Eventually, the Tewa gained full citizenship status while retaining their previous rights to land, water, and religious expression, secured only through litigation in federal courts.

They were also proficient at crushing plants and other natural flora to make herbal teas and sometimes even "potions," as their tribe believed in the shaman or works of witchcraft.

Before Spanish colonization, like most other indigenous people in the U.S., they mostly sold pottery, which accounted for most of their income but also included jewelry and woven goods as alternative ways to make money.

But following the development of the Pueblo Lands Board, most of these people depend on wage labor, Social Security, or other pensions for their income.

This trade network continued through the twentieth century, including Basketry from the Apache and Papago and feathers, shells, and beads from Mexico.

From a very young age, the Tewa tribe would create or introduce individuals to progress through stages, the last regarding becoming a “Tewa.” From birth, children are tribal members and are raised rather tolerantly.

This idea is promoted through educational grants and subsidies to private or public colleges via the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council.

Religious sodality leaders know more details of their respective systems of belief, and, to the general population, this is a sensitive aspect of Tewa life.

Some sodality environments or of worship could include: In contrast to many other tribes, the Tewa possesses a polytheist belief regarding supernatural spiritual force and entities.

Virgie Bigbee, one of the many “voices” of TewaTalk, spent countless hours recording and uploading his talking in the Tewa Language.