General Characteristics.

Pueblo peoples constituted a distinctive culture in present-day Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Although speaking languages of diverse affiliation, all Pueblo Indians typically lived (and live) in multistoried stone or adobe buildings, sometimes on the top of high mesas. Each town contained anywhere from fifty to five hundred houses grouped around a central plaza. In the sixteenth century Pueblo society generally had matrilineal kinship patterns, and women owned the plots on which corn and other foodstuffs grew. Women owned the homes also, requiring men to move in with their wives upon marriage. Large portions of a mother's day were spent preparing meals for her household. As with other horticultural peoples, corn, beans, and squash were the main staples. Together, these crops contributed more than 50 percent of the Pueblo diet. The male domain existed outside the home. Aside from engaging in...