Document+K+Pueblo+Women


 * Document K: Pueblo Women **

Traditionally, Pueblo women gathered, prepared, and preserved food, cared for the children and tamed animals, like the turkey and dog, constructed walls, and created pottery. Men, on the other hand, hunted and grew crops. Once the Spanish colonized, the women were also expected to provide labor under the encomienda system. Some women also worked for wages and helped with the construction of mission churches. Another occupation of Pueblo women was as domestic servants, where they were often sexually abused. In the Pueblo Taos, a murder charge was brought against a priest for the “crime of forcing a woman, cutting her throat, and burying her in an office or cell.”[|[1]]

Additionally, in the testimony after the Pueblo revolt, one Pueblo captive stated that many and “particularly the women” had pushed to “be done with all the Spanish and put all our strength toward killing them.”[|[2]] Click here to return to the Pueblo Women Main Page.

[|[1]] Foote, C.F. & Schackel, S,K. (1986). Indian women of New Mexico 1535-1680. In J.M.  Jensen & D.A. Miller (Eds.), //New Mexico// //women: Intercultural perspectives//. (pp. 17-40). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. p.29.

[|[2]] Foote & Schackel p. 30.