Indians 101: Pueblo astronomy

The Pueblos are the village agriculturalists of New Mexico and Northern Arizona. Pueblo people have been farmers for thousands of years and much of their life revolves around the challenges and ceremonies associated with agriculture.

It should be noted that while the Pueblos are usually lumped together in both the anthropological and historical writings as though they are a single cultural group, they are linguistically and culturally divergent. When the Spanish first entered New Mexico, they found the Indian people living in settled villages made of stone. The Spanish called these communities “pueblos”, their word for town or village, and the name was later applied to the people living in these villages. In his chapter in North American Indian Anthropology: Essays on Society and Culture, Alfonso Ortiz writes:

“…we must consider whether the term Pueblo, like the term Indian, only denotes an artificial category invented by the Spanish invaders of the sixteenth century for their own purposes and perpetuated in our time by anthropologists and other non-Indians for their own, presumably more exalted, purposes.”

Among Pueblo people corn has been the most important agricultural crop and at one time it may have formed 80% of their diet. In addition to corn, the Pueblo people also raised squash, kidney beans, tepary beans, sunflowers, gourds, and cotton.

As an agricultural people, the Pueblos have had to pay close attention to the seasons to make sure that their crops are planted at the correct time. In addition, astronomical observations are important for providing the correct dates for ceremonies. Most Pueblo communities had at least one person who practiced sun-watching. According to archaeologist J. McKim Malville, in his report on Anasazi astronomy in the Proceedings of the Anasazi Symposium 1991:

“…the standard technique of the historic Pueblo was to observe the position of the rising or setting sun relative to irregularities of the horizon, as seen from an observing station inside or close to a settlement.”

Astronomer Michael Zeilik, writing about Hopi and Zuni in New Light at Chaco Canyon, says:

“The seasonal cycle of the sun sets the ritual calendar and determines the times of specific crop plantings.”

In his book Tapestries in Sand: The Spirit of Indian Sandpainting, David Villaseñor reports:

“Found in some of the ancient and still well-preserved Pueblo buildings were small round strategically located openings. The principal ‘sun ray hole’ was a small round aperture in the wall, placed in such a position that when the sun reached the zenith of the winter or summer solstice a sunbeam would pierce the opening. When this shaft of light, like a golden arrow, fell upon the sacred symbol, thus marking the sign of the changing time upon the land, it was then an occasion for thanksgiving, feasting and celebration.”

Solar observation is the job of the Sun Priest who watches the sun carefully each day from a special place within the pueblo or close to it. From this place, the Sun Priest notes the position of the sunrise or sunset relative to certain features on the horizon. According to Michael Zeilik:

“He knows from experience which horizon points mark the summer and winter solstices and the times to plant the crops. These he announces within the pueblo, usually ahead of time so that ritual and planting preparations can be carried out.”

Anthropologist Ruth Underhill, in her 1946 book Work a Day Life of the Pueblos, describes the Sun Watcher this way:

“This man observed the sunrise every morning and when it took place exactly behind a certain gap in the hills he knew that warm weather had come to stay. Then the news was cried out to the village.”

The winter solstice is an important time as the sun may delay its return north unless the appropriate ceremonies are performed. In some of the Pueblos, such as Acoma, Zuni, and Oraibi the entire community may participate in sun-related activities on the day of the winter solstice.

According to Pueblo traditions, at the summer solstice the sun is stationary for four days, that is, it appears to rise and set at the same place on the horizon. According to astronomer Ray Williamson, in his book The Living Sky: The Cosmos of the American Indian:

“The summer solstice is a time of ritual dances for the Pueblo, part of the object being to celebrate the turning of the sun and to encourage him to remain northward and high in the sky for a long period in order to provide warmth and light for the crops.”

In addition to the sun, Pueblo people also paid attention to the moon, marking not only the 29.5-day cycle, but also the longer 18.61-year cycle. The longer cycle, which is based on the lunar standstill, requires tracking the rising of the full moon on the horizon. Gradually the moon rises farther north, then returns to the south. In his book House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest, Craig Childs writes:

“At the winter solstice during the standstill, the full moon reaches its highest possible position in the sky, and during the summer solstice it reaches its lowest possible position.”

Unlike many other tribes in other culture areas, some of the Pueblos, such as the Hopi and Zuni, do not give importance to the four cardinal directions: north, east, south, west. Instead, they refer to southwest, southeast, northwest, and northeast—the points where the sun appears to stand still at the solstice.