Jemez Oral Traditions and Ancestral Landscpaes

Summary

Ethnographic research with cultural advisors and research partners from the Pueblo of Jemez on fire ecology, use of plant resources, and landscape within the Jemez Mountains in northern New Mexico reveals significant ongoing connections to Jemez ancestral places. The ancestral places within the Jemez Province that archaeologists define primarily through the distribution of Jemez Black-on-white ceramics, which dates between approximately A.D. 1250 to A.D.1750, reflect an intensively occupied locus within a vast cultural landscape. The oral traditions among the community at the Pueblo of Jemez encode historical information, commemorate significant events, and provide geographical context for historic land use from time immemorial. The network of Jemez ancestral places, which can be conceived of as a "footprint", illustrates a high degree of mobility among Jemez ancestors. We examine defining elements of a Jemez ancestral landscape, draw comparisons with archaeologically defined cultural areas, and consider the continued role of cultural landscapes within contemporary tribal society and traditions.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Fire and Humans in Resilient Ecosystems in the American Southwest

Keywords

Spatial Coverage