Sandia Pueblo (; Tiwa: Tuf Shur Tia) is a federally recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people inhabiting a reservation of the same name in the eastern Rio Grande Rift of central New Mexico. It is one of 19 of New Mexico's Native American pueblos, considered one of the state's Eastern Pueblos. The population was 427 as of the 2010 census. The people are traditionally Tiwa speakers, a language of the Tanoan group, although retention of the traditional language has waned with later generations. They have a tribal government that operates Sandia Casino, Bien Mur Indian Market Center, and Sandia Lakes Recreation Area, as well as representing the will of the Pueblo in business and political matters.
Name
The Tiwa name for the pueblo is Tuf Shur Tia, or "Green Reed Place", in reference to the green bosque (). However, older documents claim that the original name of the pueblo was Nafiat, (Tiwa: "Place Where the Wind Blows Dust").
It became known as Sandía (Spanish: "watermelon") in the early 17th century, and possibilities abound as to why. Some claim that a type of squash cultivated there reminded the Spaniards of the melons they knew from the Eastern hemisphere. Others suggest that explorers found an herb called sandía de culebra, or possibly another called sandía de la pasión there.
But the most convincing and most-cited explanation is that the Spanish called the mountain Sandía after viewing it illuminated by the setting sun. The Sandia Mountains have a red appearance to them, and the layer of vegetation gives it a luminous "rind" of green when backlit, giving it the appearance of a sliced watermelon. The village closest to the range took on the name of the mountain, changing from throughout the years from San Francisco de Sandía to Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Sandía to Nuestra Señora de los Dolores y San Antonio de Sandía before ending up as simply Sandia Pueblo or Pueblo of Sandia.
Geography
The pueblo is located three miles south of Bernalillo off Highway 85 in southern Sandoval County and northern Bernalillo County, at . It is bounded by the city of Albuquerque to the south and by the foothills of the Sandia Mountains, a landform the people hold sacred and which was central to the traditional economy and remains important in the spiritual life of the community, to the east. A forested area known as the bosque surrounds the rest of the reservation, and serves as a source of firewood and wild game. A resident population of 4,414 was reported as of the 2000 census. Two communities located on its territory are Pueblo of Sandia Village and part (population 3,235) of the town of Bernalillo.
In 2014, the United States Congress passed the Sandia Pueblo Settlement Technical Amendment Act (S. 611; 113th Congress). by which the federal government would transfer of land to the Sandia Pueblo.
History
Antiquity
The Pueblo culture developed from 700 to 1100, characterized by its distinctive religious beliefs and practices and a large growth in population. The period from 1100 to 1300 CE is known as the Great Pueblo Period, and is marked by cooperation between the Pueblo peoples and the communal Great Kiva ritual. The Sandia Pueblo has resided in its current location since the 14th century, when they comprised over 20 pueblos. They were a thriving community, numbering 3,000 at the time of the arrival of Coronado in 1539 (in the Pueblo IV Era).
Encounter with Westerners and life under New Spain
Spanish conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado "discovered" the Pueblo of Sandía in 1539 while on an expedition to discover the Seven Cities of Cíbola.
In 1610, Fray Esteban de Perea arrived. A descendant of a distinguished Spanish family, he was Guardian, Commissary, and Custodian of the friars in New Mexico, and was responsible for the implementation of the Inquisition in the territories under his authority.