Zuñi

Zuñi (z`nyē, z`nē), pueblo (1990 pop. 7,405), McKinley co., W N.Mex., in the Zuñi Reservation; built c.1695. Its inhabitants are Pueblo of the Zuñian linguistic family. They are a sedentary people, who farm irrigated land and are noted for basketry, pottery, turquoise jewelry, and weaving, and for the ceremonial dances of the traditional religion most still practice. The original seven Zuñi villages are usually identified with the mythical Seven Cities of Cibola, which were publicized by Marcos de Niza. In 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado attacked the villages, thinking that they had vast stores of gold. The villages were abandoned in the Pueblo revolt of 1680. The present pueblo was built on the site of one of the original seven.

Bibliography

See A. Nusbaum, The Seven Cities of Cibola (1926); The Zunis: Self-Portrayals, by the Zuñi People (tr. by A. Guam, 1972).

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Zuni

 also spelled Zuñi

North American Pueblo Indian people living in west-central New Mexico, U.S. They are believed to have descended from the prehistoric Anasazi culture. When they first encountered 16th-century Spanish conquistadors, the Zuni were living in seven separate towns thought by the explorers to be the fabled Seven Cities of Cíbola. Zuni society is organized through kinship and includes a complex religious system centring on spirit-beings called kachinas (katsinas). Most Zunis farm, and many are engaged in making high-quality silver and turquoise jewelry, baskets, beadwork, animal fetishes, or pottery. Many Zuni people prefer to maintain their own cultural traditions, eschewing much of the dominant American culture. Early 21st-century population estimates indicated some 10,000 Zuni descendants.