The Pueblo kiva hidden inside a Spanish convent in New Mexico

Hidden Kivas Inside Spanish Mission Walls at Abó

The Tompiro and Tiwa Pueblo people lived under Spanish rule from 1598 when Juan de Oñate made them bow to Spain. At first, priests let them keep their kivas next to new missions.

But by the 1660s, things got tough. Missionaries burned sacred objects and banned their dances.

Still, the Pueblo found ways to fight back. They built hidden kivas inside church walls at Gran Quivira and Abó while forced to haul stone and timber for massive Spanish churches.

Their secret rooms kept old ways alive until the 1680 Pueblo Revolt kicked out the Spanish for twelve years. The Salinas Pueblo Missions now stand as proof of their quiet but fierce resistance.

Spanish Priests Allowed Sacred Spaces When They First Arrived

Juan de Oñate marched into New Mexico in 1598 and forced the Tompiro and Tiwa Pueblo people to swear loyalty to Spain. Pueblo people had to sign papers promising to obey Spain or face harsh punishment.

Early Spanish priests took a softer approach to religious conversion. They let Pueblo people keep their ceremonial kivas next to the new mission buildings.

The priests thought this gradual approach would make conversion easier.

Trade grew between the groups, and Pueblo communities kept practicing their traditions while adjusting to Spanish presence.

Pueblo Workers Built Churches With Their Own Hands

Between 1625 and 1632, Franciscan friars set up missions at Abó, Quarai, and Gran Quivira. Spanish leaders forced Pueblo workers to build huge stone churches using traditional Pueblo building skills.

Women and children hauled heavy pine beams from forests in the Manzano Mountains, sometimes from 20 miles away.

The Spanish built these mission complexes directly on top of existing Pueblo villages to physically assert Catholic control over Pueblo sacred spaces and community centers.

Sacred Kivas Appeared Inside Mission Walls

Pueblo builders cleverly added their sacred spaces into mission designs during the 1630s-1650s. They built kivas in the center of mission courtyards at Abó and Quarai.

At Quarai, they made an unusual square kiva, possibly mixing Spanish rectangular buildings with traditional round Pueblo kivas.

These sacred spaces let Pueblo people keep their religious practices even as they worked on Christian buildings.

Archaeologists found signs that Pueblo builders purposely included traditional elements throughout the missions.

The Church Cracked Down On Native Practices

By the 1650s, Spanish attitudes toward Pueblo religion changed from tolerance to harsh control.

Fray Estévan de Perea set up Spanish Inquisition headquarters at Quarai from 1633-1639, bringing formal religious punishment to the region.

Priests started destroying kivas, masks, prayer sticks, and other sacred objects they found. Pueblo people faced a tough choice: pretend to become Catholic or suffer severe punishment.

Many chose to look like converts while secretly keeping their true beliefs.

Masks And Sacred Objects Went Up In Flames

Fray Alonso de Posada came to New Mexico in 1656 and quickly banned Kachina dances. He told missionaries to take and burn all Pueblo ceremonial masks, prayer sticks, and religious items they could find.

Workers partly tore down the kivas at Abó and Quarai and filled them in during new building projects. Pueblo communities created secret networks to save their traditions.

They hid sacred objects in caves, remote locations, and even inside their home walls to keep them safe from Spanish destruction.

Hidden Rooms Kept Traditions Alive

At Gran Quivira in the 1660s, Pueblo people turned rectangular rooms in Mound 7 into hidden kivas. They built secret ceremonial spaces inside existing structures to avoid Spanish detection.

Traditional religious practices continued in these hidden spots while Pueblo people publicly acted Catholic.

Community leaders ran these secret preservation efforts, teaching sacred knowledge and rituals to younger generations despite Spanish watching closely and punishing those caught practicing traditional ways.

Three Disasters Hit The Pueblos At Once

The 1660s and 1670s brought multiple crises that hurt the Salinas pueblos badly. A severe drought lasted for years, killing crops and causing widespread hunger.

Apache raids grew more frequent and violent as drought forced all groups to compete for limited resources. European diseases, especially smallpox, spread through communities with terrible results.

Through it all, Spanish authorities kept demanding work and tribute from the starving Pueblo communities.

Hunger Drove People From Their Homes

The winter of 1669-1670 proved deadly when famine killed 480 people in Gran Quivira alone. The Tompiro people started leaving their settlements to find safety with relatives along the Rio Grande.

Residents of Las Humanas moved to Abó in 1670 as communities joined together to survive. Spanish missionaries tried to help by sending armed grain wagons, but these efforts came too late.

The missions that once held hundreds of people emptied as survivors fled the region looking for food and safety.

The Last Families Left Their Stone Churches Behind

By 1678, all three Salinas pueblo missions stood completely empty.

The surviving Tompiro and Tiwa people joined other Pueblo communities along the Rio Grande, bringing their hidden religious knowledge with them.

Spanish colonial authorities left the region, leaving the massive stone churches abandoned. The empty missions marked the end of nearly 80 years of cultural clash in the Salinas Basin.

The stone walls remained, but the people who built them carried their traditions to new homes.

Pueblo People Drove Out The Spanish In 1680

A Tewa religious leader named Po’pay organized a revolt across all Pueblo communities on August 10-11, 1680. Rebels killed 21 Franciscan missionaries and forced out Spanish colonists in just days.

For the first time in 82 years, Pueblo communities openly fixed their kivas, started traditional ceremonies again, and practiced ancestral religions without fear.

The Spanish ran south to El Paso, leaving New Mexico under Pueblo control for 12 years.

Secret Traditions Survived Against All Odds

The hidden preservation methods developed at Salinas missions proved crucial to Pueblo cultural survival. Traditional ceremonies maintained through secret resistance networks emerged openly during the revolt years.

When the Spanish returned in 1692, they adopted a more tolerant approach, recognizing that force alone couldn’t eliminate Pueblo traditions.

Archaeological evidence at Abó, Quarai, and Gran Quivira shows how Pueblo people developed sophisticated strategies for cultural persistence under colonial oppression.

These sites stand today as monuments to the resilience of Pueblo religious practices that continue in modern communities.

Visiting Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, New Mexico

You can explore how Pueblo people maintained their sacred traditions while building Spanish missions at three free sites within 26 miles of the main visitor center at 105 South Ripley Avenue in Mountainair.

Gran Quivira has a 0. 75-mile paved trail through pueblo ruins and two missions.

Quarai shows red sandstone Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción with a square kiva. Abó preserves a circular kiva next to San Gregorio mission ruins.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• The ancient Puebloan salt eempire that ruled new Mexico for 600 years
• These ancient cliff dwellings once housed atomic bomb scientists in New Mexico
• America’s bizarre military camel experiment led by a retired Navy lieutenant