Tompiro Indians facts for kids
The Tompiro Indians were a group of Pueblo people who lived in New Mexico. They built their homes in several adobe villages. These villages were located east of the Rio Grande Valley, in an area called the Salinas region. The Tompiro people left their settlements in the 1670s. They joined other Pueblo groups at that time.
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Who Were the Tompiro People?
Not much is known about where the Tompiro people originally came from. They spoke a language that was very similar to the Piro Indians. The Piro people lived to the west of the Tompiro, in the Rio Grande Valley. Most experts believe that both the Piro and Tompiro languages are part of the Tanoan language family.
In the 1500s, the Tompiro lived in nine villages in the Salinas area. These villages were close to what is now the town of Mountainair. Today, you can still see the ruins of three important Tompiro villages: Quarai, Abó, and Gran Quivira. These sites are now part of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.
Gran Quivira: A Major Tompiro Village
The largest Tompiro village was known as Gran Quivira today. However, during Spanish times, it was called Las Humanas. This village might have had as many as 2,000 people living there. Las Humanas and the other Tompiro villages likely started around the year 1300. Over time, their culture became similar to other Pueblo groups in the Rio Grande Valley.
The Tompiro name for Las Humanas was probably Cueloze. But when Juan de Oñate visited in 1598, he named it the "Great Pueblo of the Humanas." This name came from the people's custom of painting stripes or tattooing their faces. The Jumano Indians, who lived on the Plains, were called by the same name. Experts are not sure if the Tompiro and Jumano were related. It might just be that the Spanish gave them similar names.
Life in the Tompiro Villages
The Tompiro were Pueblo Indians, meaning they lived in villages and stayed in one place. Their region was over 6,000 feet high. This was a challenging climate for growing corn. They had little surface water for watering crops. Rainfall was light and did not happen often. Winters were also long and cold.
What made the Tompiro villages successful was their location. They were close to salt deposits in the Salinas area. They were also near the bison herds of the Great Plains. This made the Tompiro important traders. They acted as middlemen, trading salt and bison skins and meat between the Plains Indians and the Pueblos of the Rio Grande Valley. The Tompiro also hunted animals like deer, pronghorn, and rabbits. They gathered wild foods too, such as pinyon pine nuts.
Tompiro and the Spanish
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado did not visit the Tompiro people during his trip in 1539–1542. The first Spanish report about the Tompiro came from Antonio de Espejo in 1582–1583. The Tompiro people were suspicious of Espejo when he arrived. In 1601, Juan de Oñate, who started the New Mexico colony, attacked the Tompiro. This was in response to a conflict where two Spaniards were killed. One report says 900 Indians died and three villages were destroyed, but this number might be exaggerated.
Catholic Missions and Conflicts
The Tompiro were far from the early Spanish settlements in the Rio Grande Valley. A Catholic mission was not built at Las Humanas until 1627. This mission was led by the Franciscan Fray Alonso de Benavides. This began a long period of disagreement between the Spanish missionaries and the Tompiro about religion.
At first, Catholicism and the Tompiro's native Kiva religion existed side by side. But by 1660, the Franciscans started to stop the native religion. The early days of Spanish settlement in New Mexico also had many disputes. The civil leaders and the missionaries often fought over who controlled the Pueblo Indians. Both groups tried to use the Indians for their own benefit.
This dispute became very clear among the Tompiro. In 1659, Governor Bernardo López de Mendizábal chose Nicolás de Aguilar to be the main leader (Alcalde Mayor) of the Tompiro villages. Aguilar was a Mestizo soldier, meaning he was part Indian. He strongly followed Governor López's rules. These rules said that no Indian had to work for the Franciscan priests without pay. They also said that Indians had the right to practice their own religion. The Governor even allowed the Pueblos to perform their religious dances in his palace in Santa Fe. This was a big change, as these dances had been banned for 30 years.
Aguilar made sure the Governor's rules were followed among the Tompiro. He did this even though the Franciscans were against it. Aguilar even had Indians whipped if they helped the priests without pay. During a very cold winter, the Franciscans asked Indians to help gather firewood. Aguilar told them to burn the 600 wooden crosses they had collected for ceremonies instead. Aguilar said it was too dangerous for the Indians to gather wood because of Apache raiders. Aguilar also allowed Indian dances and told Christian Indians to take part.
The Franciscans complained to the leaders in Mexico City. López and Aguilar were accused of stopping the spread of the Catholic faith. Both were arrested. López died during his trial. Aguilar defended himself, but after a long trial, he was found guilty and sent away. The Church had won this fight. Its power in New Mexico would not be challenged again until 1680. That year, the Pueblos rose up and forced the Spanish out. This dispute had lasting effects. One of the main reasons for the Pueblo Revolt was how much the Franciscans tried to stop the traditional religions.
The End of the Tompiro People
The problems for the Tompiro grew worse in the 1660s. European diseases likely caused many deaths among the Tompiro, just as they did for other Pueblos. Also, a long period of dry weather (drought) made it hard for the Tompiro to survive. A priest wrote in 1669, "For three years no crop has been harvested." He added that many Indians died of hunger, "lying dead along the roads, in the ravines, and in their huts." He said that in some villages, like Las Humanas, over 450 people died from hunger.
The work required of the Tompiro to build churches and take part in Catholic ceremonies took time away. This was time they needed to find food and survive in their difficult environment. Weakened by drought and disease, and divided by religious arguments, the Tompiro were also the closest and most open to attacks from Apache raiders.
The Tompiro people, now much smaller in number, began to leave their villages. They sought safety among their Piro relatives to the west, near the Rio Grande. In 1670, the people of Las Humanas moved to Abó. Within a few years, all the Salinas Pueblo villages were empty. The Tompiro people no longer existed as a separate group.
