Isleta Pueblo Pottery. Lucero.
Pueblo of Isleta (or Isleta Pueblo), is known as Shiewhibak in their Isletan Tiwa language, meaning "flint kick-stick place". It is an unincorporated community Tanoan pueblo in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States, originally established around the 14th century. Its people are federally recognized as a Native American tribe.
Pueblo of Isleta is located in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, 13 miles (21 km) south of Albuquerque. It is adjacent to and east of the main section of Laguna Pueblo. The pueblo was built on a knife-shaped reef of lava running across an ancient Rio Grande channel. The Isleta Pueblo Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
On January 15, 2016, the tribe's officials and federal government representatives held a ceremony to mark the government's taking into federal trust some 90,151 acres of land, 140 square miles, which the Pueblo had purchased. It enlarged their communal territory by 50%. The tribe had worked for more than 20 years to acquire this land, once part of their homeland. It is so far the largest such acquisition handled under the President Barack Obama administration.
The population of Pueblo of Isleta consists of mostly the Southern Tiwa ethnic group (Spanish: Tigua.). They speak Isletan Tiwa, one of the two varieties or dialects of the Southern Tiwa language, part of the Tanoan language family. The other variety is spoken at Sandia Pueblo. In August 2015, the tribe announced that the Tiwa language would be taught to children at Isleta Elementary School, following the school's transfer from federal to tribal control.
Isleta (and the Sandia) have matrilineal endogamous corn groups, with descent traced through the mother's family; children are considered born to her people. These kinship and cultural divisions are connected with sacred directions and colors, as well as tribal [[Kinship#Lineages, clans, phratries, moieties, and a matrimonial sides|moiety]] system (one moiety connected with the winter, the other with the summer). The tribe also has a kiva system.
In the early 20th century, the tribe was headed by a cacique, selected by elders from a clan with hereditary rights. In addition, the tribe elected a governor and assistants. The grand council was made up of chiefs, respected leaders of the pueblo. There were distinctions between peace chiefs and those leaders appointed in war.
Kachina cults are found in Isleta. They may have adopted this cult from Laguna people of the Western Pueblos, which have historically practiced such cults for a longer period.
Isleta, or Shiewip, is situated on the Rio Grande at what once was the intersection of important north-south and east-west Pueblo roads. The north-south route later became the Spanish Camino Real, or “Royal Road,” making Isleta an important settlement at the crossroads of both Pueblo and Spanish trade routes. As a large town, Isleta was also a central gathering place for the surrounding smaller villages in the area, servicing as a cultural capital for other Tiwa communities and the Piro and Tompiro-speaking villages to the south and east. As most of these smaller communities collapsed during the early Spanish Colonial period, many of their residents resettled at Isleta.
Over the course of 3,000 years, the Pueblo peoples developed agricultural practices suitable to the harsh environment of the American Southwest. In later centuries, Isleta irrigated land along the Rio Grande, where they grew maize, beans, squash and cotton. These practices continued throughout the 250 years of Spanish rule, which began in 1598, and survived through the beginning of the American acquisition of New Mexico.
By the 19th century, visitors to Isleta found a prosperous farming community with well-tended agricultural fields, irrigation canals, vineyards and orchards. In addition, the people of Isleta developed a wide trading network, regularly engaged in hunting buffalo and other game and gathered plants and minerals over a vast region. During this time, a number of community members became quite affluent.
The Pueblo of Isleta became a favored destination of many 19th century American travelers, scientists and linguists. As a result, Isletan ritual observances and ways of life were documented, with varying degrees of success. Individuals who were to become the vanguards of anthropology and archaeology began to appear at the Pueblo. Among them, Adolph Bandelier, one of the founders of Southwestern archeology, as well as a precise and avid historian, was a frequent visitor. Another important contributor to the historic record of Isleta was Charles Fletcher Lummis, an early champion of Native American rights. He arrived at Isleta in 1889 and resided there until 1892.
The Pueblo of Isleta remains a traditional society today. The town of Isleta, located 13 miles south of present day Albuquerque, has a resident population of almost 5,000. They continue to speak their native language, Southern Tiwa, as well as English, and adhere to and participate in the yearly cycle of ceremonial events. They continue ancient practices at home. They live as Americans in the outside world and connect with our ancestors in our village. www.wikipedia.com, www.isleta.com
LAMAT
Kin 108: Yellow Self-Existing Star
I define in order to beautify
Measuring art
I seal the store of elegance
With the self-existing store of form
I am guided by the power of flowering
I am a galactic activation portal
Enter me.
With practice you can discipline yourself in order to make your spiritual nature more evident.*
*Star Traveler's 13 Moon Almanac of Synchronicity, Galactic Research Institute, Law of Time Press, Ashland, Oregon, 2015-2016.
The Sacred Tzolk'in
Ajna Chakra (Gamma Plasma)
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