Rio Grande, Sandoval County
Current Population: 4,000
Language: Isletan Tiwa (a dialect of Southern Tiwa)
Location: 211,000 acres in Valencia and Bernalillo Counties, 13 miles south of Albuquerque
Early Social Structure: Agrarian, Exogamous, Matrilineal Clans with Ritual Moieties & multiple Kivas
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Isleta is located south of Albuquerque, on a low lava flow and gravel bench on the west bank of the Rio Grande. Tsugwevaga is also the name of a popular game.
Isleta was established in the 1300's. During the 18th and 19th centuries Isleta became one of the largest and most prosperous pueblos in New Mexico and was noted for its crops and orchards. They remain one of the largest Eastern Pueblo towns in New Mexico. The Isleta Pueblo Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
When the Spanish arrived in the late 1500s they named the village Isleta, Spanish for "little island." They built the Mission of San Agustín de la Isleta in the pueblo in 1613, where the Franciscan friar Juan de Salas tried to convert them to Catholicism.
At the time of the Pueblo Revolt, Isleta Pueblo was hosting their relatives, the Tigua who had to depart their lands due to drought. (They eventually became Ysleta del Sur.) Isleta and the Tigua are among the four Pueblos that did not participate in the Pueblo Revolt. As the Spanish were fleeing, they stayed with Isleta.
Some say that that the Tigua left with the Spanish. The Ysleta del Sur say they were abducted. When the Spanish left, the people of Isleta departed their land and stayed with the Hopi. When they returned, many came with Hopi spouses.
In the 1800s, friction with members of Laguna Pueblo and Acoma Pueblo led to the founding of the satellite settlement of Oraibi. This name was likely chosen because Oraibi is the name of a Hopi village on Third Mesa
Culture
Up until the early 20th century, the tribe was headed by a cacique, a man selected by elders from a clan with hereditary rights. In addition, the tribe annually elected a governor and assistants. The governor acted as a judge in civil cases; criminal cases were turned over to the federal government. The grand council was made up of all the chiefs, leaders of the pueblo who had gained popular respect. There were distinctions between peace chiefs and those leaders appointed in war. As of the 1940s, the Pueblo of Isleta has democratically elected tribal leaders.
Art of Isleta
Also called the Pueblo Cross, the Isleta Cross is a very old Pueblo design associated with the Isleta Pueblo. The double-bar cross design is said to have originated with the Moors and Spaniards. The double-bar cross was very similar to the dragonfly symbol of their culture, so many Puebloans incorporated the Isleta cross in their jewelry. The dragonfly inspires spiritually and creatively and helps us on the path of discovery and enlightenment. It spiritually embodies the stripping away all negativity that holds us back, helping us to achieve our dreams and goals.
Regaining Land
On January 15, 2016, the tribe's officials and federal government representatives held a ceremony to mark the government's taking into federal trust some 90,151 acres of land (140 square miles) which the Pueblo had then purchased. It enlarged their communal territory by 50%. The tribe had worked for more than 20 years to acquire this land, once part of their ancestral homeland.
