World View of Tewa and Cahuilla Encourage Adaptation to Place and Resounds in Song

Abstract

In my separate studies in the contextualization of the songs of the Southern Califomian Cahuilla and the New Mexican San Juan Pueblo Tewa, differences in environrnental conditions of the two theocracies took on growing significance. In particular, the Cahuilla, known for digging deep water wells into the earth, had always lived in an earthquake zone. Earthquakes often had the result of changing underground waterways, rendering wells dry. The San Juan Tewa, on the other hand, could mostly rely on the Rio Grande for irrigation waters. Wild game was also abundant. This paper explores the effects of the relative levels of environmental stability and instability on the worldviews, and therefore the music, of the two tribes. The Southwest, as a particular American Indian culture area centers on Arizona and New Mexico. It includes the Athabascan-speaking Navajo and Apache, who arrived around 1000 C.E., and the Pueblo Indians, who have lived in this arsa for thousands of years. The Hopi live in Arizona and nineteen Pueblos survive in New Mexico, divided into the eastern linguistically-related groups along the Rio Grande, and the western Keres-speaking Pueblos and Zuni, which is not linguistically related to the rest. All of the Pueblo groups were advanced agricultural peoples who built multiple apartments of adobe and stone masonry and developed their arts and crafts. Overall, Pueblo traditions have been maintained, while those of the California Cahuilla have been largely disrupted. The Tewa-speakers maintain six different Pueblos, with the center of the Tewa world in San Juan Pueblo, which also has the largest population (1,487 in 1979 according to Simmons). The other Tewa pueblos include Santa Clara, Tesuque, Narnbe, San Ildefonso, and Pojoaque, which has the smallest population (107 in 1979). All of these pueblos lie along the Rio Grande and its tributaries, within a twenty-mile stretch of land north of Santa Fe. They divide themselves internally into the Summer and Winter moieties. The Tewa are friendly with the surrounding Tiwa (Taos and Picuris), Towa (Jemez), and Keresan, eastern pueblos (Acoma, Santo Domingo, and so forth). They are traditional enemies of the Apache and Navajo, although nowadays some of their members have intermarried into these groups as well. The Tewa came into contact with the Spanish almost four hundred years ago, and following the Puebh Revolt of 1680 were treated with greater respect by the Spanish. Their masked dance traditions were suppressed as they were forced to accept Catholicism, but the Tewa have maintained their ritual cycle to the present day. The Tewa ritual cycle revolves around life cycle events; its most important function is perpetuating the needed rainfall and corn. The abundance of water from the Rio Grande has always provided the Tewa a strong agricultural base. The corn crop was traditionally complemented by an abundant supply of large and small game animals, especially the deer and the rabbit. Today some still farm and hunt, but most depend on wage work or the sale of arts and crafts. Many Tewas commute to Santa Fe to work, or they attend colleges and universities, often returning as professionals to their own villages. They still occupy their beautiful traditional adobe houses, but new HUD housing developments in American ranch styles have appeared on the outer parts of the pueblos. Alongside, however, one still sees the traditional outdoor adobe ovens, a contribution from the Moors to New World cultures. Traditional ritual areas, such as a large, unpaved central plaza and other smaller ones, are maintained for ritual dancing and ceremonies. There are also religious buildings, which include the kivas as well as a Catholic church in every Tewa village. The Tewa's