80 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 184 
1696, Sia, Santa Ana, and San Felipe alone remained loyal to the 
Spaniards. At this time the Indians of Jemez, aided by the Acoma, 
Zui, and Navaho, threatened the Sia for their betrayal of the Indian 
cause. In 1728-29, Sia joined Jemez, Santa Ana, and Cochiti, first 
in rebelling against the Spaniards, and then fleeing their homes to a 
mountain refuge. One can only speculate about the effect of these 
divisions and alliances upon Sia’s relations to her neighbors. 
The Sia have been looked down upon by their neighbors in the 
past chiefly, it seems, because of their dire poverty and their tiny 
population. ‘The Poore report (1894, p. 431) states that in 1876 the 
Indians of Jemez, “‘out of good fellowship,”’ sent a labor force of more 
than 100 men to Sia to help ‘in the construction of an acequia [irriga- 
tion ditch]. This was allowed to fall into decay, and is now over- 
grown.” The Poore report also touches upon Sia-Santa Ana relations: 
the Sia complained ‘‘to the agent that much of their property was 
damaged by marauding bands of cattle, especially from Santa Ana.” 
Also, when the Sia needed help ‘in a time of starvation,” they sent 
to Santa Ana for help, ‘‘offering them ready money obtained by 
selling their trinkets, [but] the Santa Anas refused them supplies, 
saying it was time they perished from the earth” (ibid., p. 431). 
Stevenson (1894, p. 11) states that “the Sia are regarded with con- 
tempt by the Santa Ana and the Jemez Indians, who never omit an 
opportunity to give expression to their scorn, feeling assured that 
this handful of people must submit to insult without hope of redress.” 
One of Sia’s closest neighbors is the little Mexican community of 
San Ysidro, about 4 miles to the northwest. And there are numerous 
other Mexican households or small communities in the region nearby. 
Sia’s contacts with the descendants of the early Spanish colonists 
have, therefore, been quite close for a long time. As we noted ear- 
lier, most of the Sia could talk Spanish a generation ago; the recent 
trend has been away from Spanish toward English, however (see 
section on “Language,” p. 34). The relationship between the Sia 
and their Mexican neighbors has been, in general, friendly but not 
intimate. The Sia are inclined to look down on Mexicans, and the 
latter probably regard Indians as inferior. Many Mexicans come to 
Sia for fiestas, and some eat at the homes of their friends there. The 
Sia do not return these visits, not from lack of friendliness, probably, 
but from want of occasion. There is some buying and selling of 
livestock and field and garden produce between the two groups. We 
know of two Mexican women who have married Sia and have gone 
there to live (see ‘‘Marriage,’”’ p. 212). 
Another index of Sia’s relationships with her neighbors is marriage 
with non-Sias. The Hopi, Navaho, Acoma, and Indians from Jemez 
have married into Sia; even one white man lived there as the husband 
