White] THE PUEBLO OF SIA, NEW MEXICO 19 
Site 377 is a “group of mounds that mark the site of a small pueblo. 
Two occupations are indicated, one during the life of Group A (13th 
and 14th centuries) and another during F”’ (late 17th and 18th cen- 
turies, see Mera, 1940, p. 25). The Sias call this site opacuti (‘round 
ball cactus’’) tsinaotice (‘“‘point’’). 
Site 374 was occupied from the 13th to the 16th century. Its Sia 
name is ckac ka’m, ‘fish home.”’ 
Site 102 is described by Mera (1940, p. 24) as ‘‘a sherd area which is 
said by the Indians of Tsia Pueblo to be all that is left of a ruin which 
has been undermined and washed away... [within] the last century.”’ 
Sherds of group A (13th and 14th centuries) and D (A.D. 1490-1515) 
were identified. Bandelier (1892, p. 196) and Mera (1940, p. 27) 
call this site Kakan-atza-tia; I did not confirm this name. 
It may well be that these sites are the ruins of the ‘‘five pueblos of 
the Punames’”’ mentioned by Espejo, 1583, of which Sia was the prin- 
cipal village (Bolton, 1916, pp. 181-182). Mera (1940, p. 25) believed 
that site 374 “is probably one of the several Tsia settlements men- 
tioned by Spanish historians,’’ but he does not speculate about any 
others. It would appear from his estimates of occupancy, however, 
that only three sites, namely, Nos. 241, 384, and 374, were inhabited 
in the latter half of the 16th century. But these three, plus the 
dubious site 102, together with the present Sia, would have made 
five pueblos, the number given by Espejo. Site 499 is “a good-sized 
ruin” with sherds ‘‘of all groups from A to KE” (Mera, 1940, p. 26), 
i.e., 13th to late 16th century, but this pueblo probably was in the 
“province of the Xemes” in Espejo’s time. 
Is the modern pueblo of Sia located upon the site that it occupied 
when the Spaniards first visited it in the 16th century? Bandelier 
(1892, p. 196) doubted that it is, presumably because of the presence 
of ruins near Sia and possibly because of discussions with some of the 
Sias. I believe, however, that it is very probable that the present 
pueblo of Sia occupies the site that it did in Coronado’s day. In the 
first place, we know of no specific evidence to the contrary. Secondly, 
‘“‘the present pueblo of Tsia has been built partially over the remains 
of amore ancient structure. This is one of the few inhabited villages,” 
says Mera (1940, pp. 24, 28), ‘‘where a collection from old middens 
was countenanced. Sherds illustrating all glaze-paint groups (A—F) 
[13th to end of 18th century] were secured.’”? The pueblo was par- 
tially destroyed by Cruzate in 1688, but it was reoccupied in 1692 or 
1693 after De Vargas had effected a reconciliation with the Sia, as we 
shall see shortly. There is no evidence that more than one Catholic 
mission was ever built at Sia; the mission was only damaged in 1688, 
and De Vargas ordered it repaired and provided the Sia with tools 
