Further Content Exploration

Although the Moundville community appears to have been wealthy and powerful in its heyday, it experienced a gradual decline that left it largely abandoned by the 1500s. High atop a rocky mesa in what is now New Mexico, however, the Pueblo of Ácoma stands as living testimony to an ancient American culture that has survived. Despite revolting against Spanish conquistadores, the Ácoma peoples adapted to contact with Europeans and survived in the face of centuries of conquest.

How has Ácoma accommodated change while maintaining a deep connection to the past? Explore the Surviving Conquest interactive activity, then discuss the questions with your colleagues or reflect on them in your journal. You may also want to explore the Gallery of Ácoma Images in the Something More section below the interactive activity.

1. Does this short history of Ácoma make you think differently about Native Americans?
2. How do cultures survive the processes of contact and conquest?
3. How do natural landscapes affect the changes over time in cultures?
4. What does the act of cutting off a statue's foot represent here?

Note: If you need to refresh your understanding of the Columbian Exchange -- the trans-continental movement of people, animals, plants, food, and diseases -- check out the following: