Description

Hopi (formerly, Moki) Children on rooftops in Hopi pueblo village.

The pueblo was a type of home built by American Indians in the Southwest, especially the Hopi tribe. They were permanent shelters that were sometimes part of large villages that housed hundreds to thousands of people. Often they were built inside caves or on the sides of large cliffs.

Pueblo homes were built of bricks made from adobe clay. The bricks were made by mixing clay, sand, grass, and straw together and then setting them in the sun to harden. Once the bricks were hard, they would be used to build walls which were then covered with more clay to fill in the gaps. To keep the walls of their homes strong, every year a new layer of clay would be placed on the walls.

A pueblo home was made up of a number of clay rooms built on top of each other. Sometimes they were built as high as 4 or 5 stories tall. Each room got smaller the higher the pueblo was built. Ladders were used to climb between the floors. At night they would remove the ladders to keep others from coming into their house.

NOTE: Sharlot Hall Museum Research Center has more Hopi photographs; however these are restricted and can only be viewed by approval from the Hopi Cultural Center (email: info@hopiculturalcenter.com or telephone 928-734-2401).