Colonialism and Culture Change at Zuni Pueblo, 1300 – Present

Recent archaeological excavations in Zuni Pueblo have resulted in an unprecedented window into the processes of colonialism and culture change at Zuni over a 700 year period. These extensive excavations in the oldest part of the village, called the Middle Village, were conducted by the Pueblo of Zuni over the past several years. The recovered material provides an opportunity to evaluate when Zuni Pueblo was founded and to look at culture change over a long period of time that bridges the late prehistoric period, initial European contact, Spanish colonization, and the Mexican and American periods. Participants addressed several important questions including: When was Zuni Pueblo founded and what is the evidence for occupational continuity from the late prehistoric period to the present? What new technologies were adopted, when, and how does this adoption relate to current theories on colonialism, such as resistance and accommodation? What evidence is there for environmental change as a result of Zuni’s entry into the colonial and post-colonial worlds? How and when did Zuni cuisine change with colonialism? What were the changes in domestic labor and household practice that accompanied the imposition of colonial institutions? How was Zuni identify reconfigured through periods of migration in the late prehistoric period, resistance during the Pueblo Revolt, and subsequent consolidation of all Zuni villages at Zuni Pueblo? How is this reconfiguration expressed in material culture? How was the process of colonialism different from or similar to other Pueblos in the Southwest?