The Zuni --  (pronounced ZOO-nee)
Zuni native name : A:shiwi

LOCATION: Today the Zuni live on the Zuni Reservation in west-central New Mexico, 35 miles south of Gallup.  Since at least 700 AD, the Zuni have lived in the Zuni River Valley in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona.

POPULATION: 6,000 in 1540; 8,000 in the late 1990s

LANGUAGE: The Zuni language is a unique, distinct  language, unlike any other Pueblo Indian language.

TRADITIONAL HOUSES: Like other Pueblo, the Zuni lived in multi-storied houses that were interconnected by ladders. These houses were made of stone covered with plaster and were different from other pueblos that were made of adobe bricks.

TRADITIONAL FOOD SOURCES: Farming was the primary food source for the Zuni.  They also hunted, fished, and gathered wild plants.

From: Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Facts on File, Inc., 1999.
         The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, Volume 2. Gale Research, Inc., 1998.

Created and last updated on: 12/6/02
Send comments to: lkutner@zoo.uvm.edu