NW New Mexico News

From March 19, 2023 post.

The women who lived at Aztec 900 years ago were crucial to the survival of the pueblo here. Ancestral Pueblo culture, and some modern Pueblo cultures, are matriarchal -- that is, clans are organized by the mother's line, not the father's. When a man marries, he joins his wife's clan. Women also helped govern the pueblo; their voices were equal to the voices of men.

Much of what we know about the daily lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people is based on the objects they left behind, and women produced most of these cultural items, especially pottery. Women made pots to cook in, pots to store food in, cups and bowls to serve food in, and special pottery figurines used in sacred rituals. 

While the men were tending to tasks outside the pueblo, women were in charge of making sure the pueblo was fed. They helped with the planting, tending, and harvesting of the crops grown in the fields surrounding the great house. The Pueblo farmers at Aztec successfully grew corn, beans, and squash -- The Three Sisters -- for almost 200 years. 

About 50% of the Puebloan diet was corn-based; most was processed by being ground on manos and metates. Women would grind corn 3-5 hours a day, and only women were permitted to grind the corn. The communal mealing bins suggest that women came together to perform this daily task. They considered this process a form of worship or prayer, and it also gave them control over the food supply.

This Women's History Month, we recognize the many contributions of Pueblo women and the continual importance of Indigenous women today. 

#WomensHistoryMonth #AZRU #Pueblo #WomensHistory

All photos retrieved from the Library of Congress. Image descriptions: (1) Women grinding corn, Laguna Pueblo. (2) Two women walking with baskets and a baby, Isleta Pueblo. (3) Two women posed by a ladder, Nambe Pueblo. (4)  A woman making pottery, Santa Clara Pueblo.

Original source can be found here.