Kachina and the Cross
Indians and Spaniards in the Early Southwest

Carroll Riley

Carroll L. Riley

360 pp., 6 x 9
21 illustration, 10 maps
ISBN 978-0-87480-773-8
Paper $16.95
Native America/History

In The Kachina and the Cross, Carroll Riley weaves elements of archaeology, anthropology, and history to tell a dramatic story of conflict between the Pueblo Indians and Franciscan missionaries in the seventeenth-century Spanish colony of New Mexico.

Until now, histories of the early Southwest have tended to concentrate on the Spanish presence, with little mention of Indian resistance or the decade-long war that eventually erupted. In The Kachina and the Cross Riley completes the picture by utilizing archaeological and anthropological research from the past forty years, fleshing out the story of the first century of sustained Spanish-Pueblo relations.

Carroll Riley is emeritus distinguished professor of anthropology at Southern Illinois University. He is coeditor of The Casas Grandes World (Univ. of Utah Press, 1999). He lives in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

“An informative and readable account of the interaction of Spaniards and native peoples in New Mexico.”
—Choice

“This new book reads like a novel and contains some new and surprising information, making it a valuable contextual reference on 17th-century New Mexico history.”
—New Mexico magazine