THE ETHNOGEOCRAPHY OF THE TEWA INDIANS 



By John Peabody Harrington 



INTEODUCTION 



THIS paper presents the geographical knowledge of the Tewa 

 Indians of the upper Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico. These 

 Indians speak a language of the Tanoan stock, related to the Jenicz 

 and Pecos languages, and again to those of Taos, Picuris, Sandia, 

 Isleta, and the Piro. The Tewa inhabit at present five villages 

 by the Rio Grande: San Juan, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Namb6, 

 and Tesuque; and one, Hano, among the Hojii pueblos of north- 

 eastern Arizona. The range of subjects is about the same as that 

 covered by a school textbook on geography. The information was 

 gathered chiefly in 1910, partly by systematic questioning, partly as 

 mcidental to other infonnation. 



The difficulties encountered have been many. The Tewa are 

 reticent and secretive with regard to religious matters, and then- cos- 

 mographical ideas and much of their knowledge about place-names 

 are hard to obtain. Then- country is rugged and arid. Most of the 

 places visited were reached on foot in company with one or more 

 Indian informants whose names for obvious reasons are not here 

 given. The region has never been accurately mapped. All of the 

 maps at the -wTiter's disposal are full of errors, many of the features 

 shown being wi'ongly ]ilaced or named, while others are omitted 

 altogether, and still others given where they do not exist. The 

 occurrence of many of the names in a number of dialects or languages 

 has not facilitated the work. 



As in a school geography, cosmographical and meteorological 

 information is presented first. An alphabetically arranged list of 

 terms denoting the geographical concepts of the Tewa is next given. 

 The treatment of place-names follows. The region m which Tewa 

 place-names are more or less numerous has been divided into 29 

 areas, each of which is shown on a map. The places are indicated 

 on the maps b}^ numbers which refer to the adjacent text. Thus 

 arranged, maps and names wUl be found convenient for reference. 

 Names of places m Spanish, English, and various non-Tewa Indian 

 languages have been included. A list of tribal names and one of 

 names of minerals known to the Tewa conclude the paper. 



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