LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Zuni Indians: People
built 640 days ago
The ancient homelands of the Zunis are along the middle reaches of the Zuni River where their cultural ancestors lived for centuries. Near the settlements and villages left by the ancient people, the Zuni Indians built compact villages of multi-storied houses. These were the towns seen by Coronado and his men and called them "Seven Cities" in the land of Cibola. The mythical Seven Cities of Cibola (Spanish word for "buffalo") lured Coronado to the southwest in 1540, in a treasure quest.
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In Zuni belief, the people who inhabit the world are of two kinds: ‘raw people’ and ‘cooked people’ or ‘daylight people’. The earth, awitelin citta ‘Earth Mother’ the sun, Yatokka tachu, ‘Sun Father’; his wife, the Moon Mother; and his sister ‘Old Lady Salt’ who lives in a lake to the south of Zuni are among the prominent raw beings. The cooked or daylight people — the humans — depend on cooked food, while the raw people eat food that is either raw or has been sacrificed to them by daylight people (See Bunzel, 1932: 498). Raw people can change their forms; they are ‘people’ in the sense that one of their potential forms is anthropomorphic, and in the sense that they and daylight people — the humans — should behave as kinsmen toward one another.
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The Zuni people are, in a way, a mysterious tribe. The Zuni Reservation is isolated from the outside world which allows the people to go about their existence relatively unencumbered by modern western civilization. They still live a peaceful, deeply religious existence. The reliance on corn as a mainstay of their economy has been replaced... by the tourist trade in pottery and jewelry.
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Out of all the Seven Cities of Cibola Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was looking for in his search for gold, Zuni is the only one left. Many of the ancient rites and dances are still performed today in Zuni. These ceremonies are open to the public, but people are asked to obey strict rules of respect for them. The Zuni Indians were especially known for their inlaid jewelry of turquoise and silver and ... for their intricate carvings
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Following the ways of their ancestors, the Zuni people practice rituals to bring medicine, peace, fertility, rain and good crops. The carved animal fetish plays a traditional role in many Zuni rituals. In addition to ceremony, the modern Zuni now carves for collectors.
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Best Known Features: The Zuni people are, in a way, a mysterious tribe. Their culture is very reclusive and isolated much as is their city and their language. They are a very interesting people who are well known for their beautiful artwork, sculpture and dishware. The Zuni are one of the few fortunate tribes who have managed to keep their ways of life the same throughout the years despite the westward push of the European immigrant settlers, the Mexican-American war, and the rough treatment they endured during all of the conflicts that they dealt with.
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