Living with the Zuni: Part I of a Journey with our Edmunds Friends (January - June 2003)
This web page will be dedicated to learning from an Edmunds family who will be spending 6 months living on the Zuni Indian Reservation. What is it like to live in a Native American community in the desert Southwest? What is the school like? What kinds of traditions do Zuni families have? What do the kids like to do when they are not in school?
We look forward getting these and other questions answered from our friends. We will post pictures and stories from them, and learn about Zuni culture through them. We will send them questions you all have about their new community, and will post questions and answers on this web page.
If you give your questions to your teacher or have your parents send your questions to the e-mail address below, you will be a part of this growing web site.
Meanwhile, you may want to start learning about the Native American group called the Zuni. Here is some background information about the Zuni.
Learn from Zuni Elementary School Students.
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center -- History and Tribal Information
Internet
Public Library -- New Mexico
Here are our friend Curtis' (Grade 4) answers to the first 3 questions we sent to him:
1) Describe your
day.
A typical day for me here in Zuni
is to get up in the morning and go to school. If my parents didn't give
me a ride to school, I'd have to catch the bus by 7:30. We live in Blackrock.
Its part of Zuni, but just outside of the main part of Zuni. We live near
the hosptial. About 99% of the kids at A:shiwi (our school) eat breakfast
at school. At school we get a fruit or vegetable snack in the morning and
in the afternoon. Everyone eats free lunch at school. The school lunch
is good. They have all sorts of stuff like hamburgers, hot dogs, corn dogs,
turkey sandwiches, burritos, and other good stuff. There aren't very many
non-Zuni kids at school. At recess, the kids play football, basketball,
and tag and other rough games. Also, there's a big field and a play structure.
After school I ride the bus home. We're the third stop. Theres a bus driver
and another adult on the bus to make sure that everyone's okay. Theres
about 10 or 15 busses that all go to different places. I ride the bus with
my brother, Griffin, unless I have basektball practice. If I have
basketball practice my mom picks
me up at 4 or 4:30. After we get home, I usually go outside and play a
little. My friend Adrianne lives near by. He's a fifth grader. We play
basketball together. Lots of kids have chores here like
chopping wood and running errands
and getting the mail. A lot of people have wood burning stoves for heat.
2) What do
you live in?
We live in a 3 bedroom mobile
home. There are a bunch of other mobile homes near us. Our kitchen, living
room and dining room are pretty much combined. In front of our house there's
a big airstrip. On the other side of that there's a very pretty mesa. Its
called Dowa Yallanne. Some people call it DY. It's considered sacred because
it's the place where the Zuni used to hide from the Spanish and other Indian
tribes. We can't pick up any pottery or we'd get asked to leave Zuni because
they think that the pottery are symbols of God or they are gifts to God.
There's about a 30 foot high ladder that goes to the top of DY. The airstrip
is used for planes to land or to take off to take patients to bigger hospitals.
We hear or see a few planes a week. Other people in Zuni live in one-story
houses. Rarely do you see a 2 story house here. Some people live in old
stone houses. The houses blend in with the natural color of the surroundings
-brown. The mesas are a pretty pink and brown with white stripes. That's
also the color of my school.
3. Are there
sports on the reservation? What kinds?
The kids here really like to play
football, basketball, and a game like tag. Basketball's the biggest sport
here by far. Our school has a basketball team (4/5). I'm on it. The altitude
here is 7000 feet sea level so it took our lungs some time to get used
to the altitude. Because it's so high here, there is less oxygen (it's
higher than MT. Mansfield here). Our bodies have had to make extra blood
cells to take more oxygen out of the air. We're used to it now. Soon we'll
be playing baseball here. We hear that the kids like baseball, too.
**
Don't forget to ask your local librarian for more information about the
Zuni !! **