TY - JOUR
T1 - Laguna Sheepherding
AU - Hopkins, Maren P.
AU - Colwell, Chip
AU - Ferguson, T. J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This article presents a case study of Laguna sheepherding practices around Mount Taylor in west-central New Mexico. Specifically, it draws from research conducted on the Pueblo of Laguna Reservation and the El Segundo Mine in the nearby San Mateo Basin (Hopkins et al. 2014) (Figure 1). The project was jointly developed as a three-part study with Southwest Archaeological Consultants, under the direction of Cherie Scheick and Glenda Deyloff, and supported by Peabody Coal Company, LLC, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy Group Saint Louis.
Funding Information:
We are very grateful to the Laguna tribal members who participated in this study: Curtis Francisco, Eldon Francisco, Robert Mooney, Victor Sarracino, Harold Tso, and Gilbert Waconda. We are also appreciative of the Laguna cultural advisory board, and the generous assistance of Gaylord Siow and Roland Johnson at the Pueblo of Laguna in reviewing a draft of the article. Two anonymous reviewers provided very helpful feedback. This project was made possible by Peabody Coal Company, LLC, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy Group Saint Louis. We could not have developed or completed this work without the collaboration with Southwest Archaeological Consultants, and most especially the tireless efforts of Glenda Deyloff and Cherie Scheick.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, © 2016 Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society. All rights reserved.
PY - 2016/7/2
Y1 - 2016/7/2
N2 - In the U.S. Southwest, the introduction of domesticated animals in 1540 dramatically changed Native American subsistence strategies and cultural practices. Pueblo communities across the Southwest quickly adopted sheep into their diet and became dedicated sheepherders within a century, coming to hold herds numbering into the thousands. The Pueblo of Laguna, in west-central New Mexico, became especially focused on sheepherding in the mid-1800s, and by the early 1900s were more pastorally oriented than any other Pueblo. This article examines Laguna sheepherding practices around Mount Taylor, focusing especially in the San Mateo Basin. Synthesizing archaeological, ethnographic, and documentary sources, we investigate the apex of Laguna sheepherding, from 1862 to 1940, to provide a detailed description of Laguna sheepherding practices. With the foundation of a broad understanding of Laguna sheepherding, we also explore whether the material remnants of sheepherding can be archaeologically linked with particular tribes. We conclude that associating specific sheepherding sites with the Laguna solely on the basis of archaeological data is extremely difficult. As a result, archaeologists should be cautious in culturally labeling sites, and must use collaborative ethnographic and historical methods to more fully illuminate the remnants of sheepherding heritage that persist in New Mexico and beyond.
AB - In the U.S. Southwest, the introduction of domesticated animals in 1540 dramatically changed Native American subsistence strategies and cultural practices. Pueblo communities across the Southwest quickly adopted sheep into their diet and became dedicated sheepherders within a century, coming to hold herds numbering into the thousands. The Pueblo of Laguna, in west-central New Mexico, became especially focused on sheepherding in the mid-1800s, and by the early 1900s were more pastorally oriented than any other Pueblo. This article examines Laguna sheepherding practices around Mount Taylor, focusing especially in the San Mateo Basin. Synthesizing archaeological, ethnographic, and documentary sources, we investigate the apex of Laguna sheepherding, from 1862 to 1940, to provide a detailed description of Laguna sheepherding practices. With the foundation of a broad understanding of Laguna sheepherding, we also explore whether the material remnants of sheepherding can be archaeologically linked with particular tribes. We conclude that associating specific sheepherding sites with the Laguna solely on the basis of archaeological data is extremely difficult. As a result, archaeologists should be cautious in culturally labeling sites, and must use collaborative ethnographic and historical methods to more fully illuminate the remnants of sheepherding heritage that persist in New Mexico and beyond.
KW - Homesteads
KW - Laguna Pueblo
KW - Mount Taylor
KW - Pastoralism
KW - Sheepherding
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U2 - 10.1080/00231940.2016.1220773
DO - 10.1080/00231940.2016.1220773
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85016009782
SN - 0023-1940
VL - 82
SP - 278
EP - 322
JO - KIVA
JF - KIVA
IS - 3
ER -