The Coyotes of the Ancient Arroyo Hondo Pueblo
Come back with me in time and space. The time is the 14th century CE, and the place is the Arroyo Hondo Pueblo. Six miles north was Ogapogee, or “The White Shell Water Place,” which now sleeps under downtown Santa Fe. To the south was the Pueblo Alamo, destroyed by fire in the 16th century and then forever buried by constructing the I-25/285 Intersection. (Progress, progress).
In the first occupation of the Pueblo, there were around 1000 rooms, some two and three stories, and multiple kivas. Food was maize, squash, wild game, and domesticated turkeys.
And, of course, there were Canids. And this, for our purposes, is where it gets interesting.
I came across a paper published by the University of New Mexico anthropologists, delightfully titled, What Makes a Dog? Stable Isotope Analysis and Human-canid Relationships at Arroyo Hondo Pueblo. (Dr. Emily Lena Jones et al)
The first thing to know is that our modern frame of reference classifies Canids in ways familiar to us: Canis Lupis (wolves), Canis Lupus Familiaris (the modern dog), and Canis Latrans (coyotes).
In the Americas, wolves have been present for millions of years, although the pre-historic wolf population became extinct 13,000 years ago and was replaced by the gray wolf.
Dogs did not evolve from those American wolves but from wolf populations in Asia approximately 15,000 years ago. They possibly followed humans across the Bering Straits land bridge around 9,000 years ago, at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum.
The pre-Columbian population of dogs was replaced mainly by dogs brought by Europeans post-Columbus. However, there are a few breeds that have genetic traces from those Pre-Colombian dogs, including Chihuahuas. Our Chihuahua mix, Maisie, is exceptionally proud of that fact. Viva Pre-Colombian dogs!
While all these comings and goings, domesticating and evolving, were happening, Coyotes, indigenous to the Americas, had become a species over five million years ago.
Back to Arroyo Hondo. The indigenous peoples, not having our genetic science, and being no doubt acute observers of animal behavior, might have had more “fuzzy” boundaries between Canids regarding the value they might provide. And other studies show that wolves and coyotes were tamed and kept in captivity in Utah and the Northwest.
Thus, there is a puzzle at the Pueblo site.
According to the researchers, 22 remains of dogs were found, and 49 specimens were identified as “other” Canis. These could be dogs, wolves, or coyotes.
The mystery revolves around how and where the canid remains were buried.
Dogs were domesticated and valued by then and were often buried with humans and with ceremonial offerings — this is seen on most continents. Archeologists speculate that this is because ancient populations imagined a role for dogs in the afterlife.
Conversely, coyotes were traditionally seen as predators, competitors, and in some Indigenous traditions, as “tricksters.” As the researchers point out, not a friend or a companion you’d want in the afterlife.
And yet, at Arroyo Hondo, there were Coyote remains in locations that suggest that Coyotes played a role in Pueblo life, both when they were alive and in the afterlife.
Pure speculation time (scientists would not do this, as a writer, I have free rein). Close your eyes and imagine yourself at Arroyo Hondo Pueblo. The year is 1380. The mountains to the east are snow-capped. The arroyo just south of the Pueblo has running water. The individuals at the Pueblo are possibly speaking Tewa. Focus on the nonhumans. There are squawking turkeys in pens. Roaming around the plazas, the fields outside the Pueblo are canines. Looking closer, it’s not only familiar dogs but also coyotes. You note a young girl with a coyote puppy on a leash. Then there is a burial party, laying down not only a human but a sacrificed coyote to accompany her in the afterlife.
Will we ever know if it’s possible? Probably not. But we have the gift of wonder. We can close our eyes, step outside what we’ve been told or what we “know,” and consider other options, even domesticated coyotes.
As always, the science presented is provisional. With more studies, it will likely change. It is also approximate. We don’t understand the entire picture. Yet the next time you see a coyote or can look into those wild eyes, consider that there is more there than we’ve been taught to believe. Predator, garbage disposer, trickster, wild, domesticated, prey, hunter, howler, pack animal, loner, hated and admired. They are all the above. Long live the Coyote.
