New Mexico Office of the State Historian : Cochiti Pueblo

The pueblo of Cochiti and vicinity. Photo taken between 1890 and 1920 by Henry Brown.
A general view photographed and published at Santa Fe, N. M. View over Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico, shows adobe buildings, wooden ladders, Native Americans, and mountains.Courtesy of the Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library.

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Cochiti Pueblo

Kayeteor Ko-Chits is the traditional name for Cochiti Pueblo.

Cochiti is the northernmost Keresan Pueblo. Located 35 miles southwest of Santa Fe, the 53,779 acres of the Cochiti Reservation support approximately 1,200 tribal members. Cochiti’s elevation ranges between 5300 to 6800 feet above sea level and through tribal lands flows both the Rio Grande, and the Santa Fe River.

Agriculture has long been important at Cochiti. Sadly, the Cochiti Dam’s Reservoir (which holds 502,330 acre feet of water) has caused seepage which hurt nearby farmland. Through partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Cochiti reclaimed the use of that land in 1994.

Cochiti is also known for artist Helen Cordero’s revival of the art of the storyteller doll in 1964, which since has grown immensely in popularity.

Within the reservation is also the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, administered in partnership with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Sources Used:

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, “Cochiti Pueblo.” http://indianpueblo.org/19pueblos/cochiti.html

(accessed July 7, 2009).

New Mexico Tourism Department, “Cochiti Pueblo.” http://www.newmexico.org/native_america/pueblos/cochiti.php (accessed July 7, 2009).

Pueblo de Cochiti, “Pueblo de Cochiti.” http://www.pueblodecochiti.org/ (accessed July 7, 2009)