Tigua Indians Essays - Tiwa, Puebloan Peoples,

Tigua Indians The Saga of the Tigua Indians is an amazing one. By all reasoning they should have been wiped out long ago. There quiet defiance to change, however, has carried them through. From the height of civilization to near extinction the Tigua have remained. They endure imprisonment by the Spanish, oppression and manipulation by everyone that followed. This is the story of a people thought to extinct, that are once again learning to survive. Early histories of the Tigua Indians are conflicting and largely untrue. Since 1680 it had been believed that the Tiguas were traitors to the Pueblo Nation, and had chose sides with the Spanish during the Pueblo Revolt. Upon the Spanish retreat south it was believed that the Tiguas chose to flea with the Spanish Military. The truth of their migration south is somewhat different. The Tigua are direct descendants of the Pueblo Indians of Isleta, New Mexico. There name Tigua, or Tiwa, refers to the dialect that they speak. Long before they founded Isleta, however, they were the inhabitants of a much more spectacular home; the fabled city of Gran Quivira, the golden city that drew the interest of Coronado. By 800 A.D. the city covered seventeen acres. T its height it had twenty housing projects built in the form of towering apartments, when most of Europe was nothing but primitive tribes. Terraces, garden apartments, churches, workshops and kitchens separated these projects. The masons w ere so skilled that the stones required no cement, and the carpenters cut wood in a way that the beams required no nails. When the Spanish finally found this city of legends they ere so impressed that they called it Pueblo de los Humanas, or the City of Human Beings. Then they went about destroying the city and the people forcing them into exile. This marked the beginning of centuries of abuse. From relocation to theft the Tiguas were to become the plaything of Europeans and Americans alike. In 1680 the majority of the Pueblo Indians in New Mexico staged a revolt against the Spanish. On the whole the Tigua did not join the revolt. Some believe this is an indication that the Tigua were loyal to the cross and to Spain. This is not entirely accurate. As the southernmost pueblo, location probably had more to do with the fate of the Tigua then anything. The news of this revolt led by an Indian named Pope had not yet reached Isleta. By the time it had the Tigua were overrun by retreating Spaniards. Being the southernmost city it was the natural regrouping ground for Otermin and his troops. With such a large presence of Spanish soldiers it would have been foolish for the Indians of Isleta to resist them. After failed attempts to recapture lands lost to the north, Governor Otermin finally decided to give up and proceeded south to greater safety of the Mission of Guadalupe at Juarez. The Spanish were accompanied by a group of Indians from mixed tribes, including a few Tigua. One in Juarez three camps for the Indians were established. Alvaro de Zualata was the first priest of the Sacramento camp was located on the present day site of the Mission Church at Ysleta, Texas. Ysleta, Texas, or Ysleta del Sur is the current location of the remaining Tigua Indians. Two other camps were also formed; St. Pedro de Alcantarra and Seneca del Sur. The present Church of Ysleta has an interesting record from this time stating that in addition to these camps set up by the Spanish, a few Tigua try to found Ysleta del Sur in a nearby place. In 1681 Otermin was determined to recapture the lost territories in New Mexico. He mounted an expedition to the north and was successful in surprising the Pueblo of Isleta under the cover of darkness. He was able to capture nearly all of the inhabitants. The Spanish continued to move north. The Pueblo forces were successful again, however, in repulsing the Spanish. Thus forcing the Spanish back south toward El Paso. As many as 100 Isleta Pueblo escaped from the Spanish on their journey southward. It is believed that these along with a few others that escaped the initial attack fled