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Revolution in Art

Clay pots illustrate how Zuni women participated in the cultural revival that accompanied the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

Primary Source

Background

In 1680 the Northern Tiwa, Tewa, Towa, Tano, Keres, Pecos, Zuni, and Hopi communities united and killed 400 Spanish colonizers and drove the remaining 2,000 off their lands. This uprising is now known as the Pueblo Revolt. The Pueblo Revolt was so successful that it forced the Spanish colonial government to abandon the province they called Santa Fe de Nuevo México. It took the Spanish over a decade to regroup and reclaim the territory.

Images

Artifact
Revolution in Art

Unknown Artist, Ashiwi Polychrome Water Jar, ca. 1630–1690. National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, 10/1681. Photo by NMAI Photo Services.

Artifact
She-we-na (Zuni Pueblo) Polychrone water jar painted in the Ashiwi style using diagonal and alternating geometric shaped diamonds, stair step rectangles as well as feather-like red and dark motifs on with a white glazed background with a solid red base.

Unknown Artist, Ashiwi Polychrome Water Jar, ca. 1700–1750. Brooklyn Museum, Museum Expedition 1903, Museum Collection Fund, 03.325.4739. Photo by Brooklyn Museum.

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