EncyclopediaZuñi
Zuñi (zOO'nyē, zOO'nē) [key], pueblo (1990 pop. 7,405), McKinley co., W N.Mex., in the Zuñi Reservation; built c.1695. Its inhabitants are Pueblo of the Zuñian linguistic family. They are a sedentary people, who farm irrigated land and are noted for basketry, pottery, turquoise jewelry, and weaving, and for the ceremonial dances of the traditional religion most still practice. The original seven Zuñi villages are usually identified with the mythical Seven Cities of Cibola, which were publicized by Marcos de Niza. In 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado attacked the villages, thinking that they had vast stores of gold. The villages were abandoned in the Pueblo revolt of 1680. The present pueblo was built on the site of one of the original seven.
See A. Nusbaum, The Seven Cities of Cibola (1926); The Zunis: Self-Portrayals, by the Zuñi People (tr. by A. Guam, 1972).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
