Tewa
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The Tewa are a linguistic group of Pueblo American Indians who speak the Tewa language and share the Pueblo culture. Their homelands are on or near the Rio Grande in New Mexico north of Santa Fe. They comprise the following communities:
- Nambé Pueblo
- Pojoaque Pueblo
- San Ildefonso Pueblo
- Ohkay Owingeh (formerly known as San Juan Pueblo)
- Santa Clara Pueblo
- Tesuque Pueblo
The Arizona Tewa live on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona on the First Mesa. Contrary to popular belief, the Tewa people of First Mesa relocated there at the request of the Hopi people and were not fleeing any revolt or backlash from the Spanish as many would lead you to believe. The Hopi, who had already inhabited the area, invited the Tewa people to live side by side with them as a means of protection from surrounding tribes who raided and made war with the peaceful Hopi.
Tewa (also known as Tano) is one of five Kiowa-Tanoan languages spoken by the Pueblo people of New Mexico. Though these five languages are closely related, speakers of one cannot fully understand speakers of another (similar to German and English speakers). The six Tewa-speaking pueblos are Nambe, Pojoaque, San Ildefonso, San Juan, Santa Clara, and Tesuque.
As with Tiwa, Towa and Keres, there is some disagreement among the Tewa people as to whether Tewa should be a written language or not. Some Pueblo elders feel that their languages should be preserved by oral traditions alone. However, many Tewa speakers have decided that Tewa literacy is important for passing the language on to the children. The Tewa pueblos developed their own orthography (spelling system) for their language, San Juan Pueblo has published a dictionary of Tewa, and today there are Tewa language programs teaching children to read and write in most of the Tewa-speaking pueblos. see Esther Martinez
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