Tuzigoot: Sinaguan Pueblo with a View By Sylvia Somerville
If you were a Sinaguan Indian living in the Verde Valley, your pueblo was either protected by cliffs or it sat high on a hill with a commanding view of the area.The residents of Tuzigoot opted for a 360-degree vista. They built their village atop a 120-foot-high ridge, in close proximity to the Verde River and its abundant wildlife.
Visiting this lovely national monument, it is easy to understand why the Sinaguans chose the site nearly 1,000 years ago. Markers on two paved trails (each 1/3-mile long) explain Tuzigoot’s past as do exhibits at the Visitor’s Center.
On the Tavasci Marsh Overlook Trail, the water ripples, the reeds rustle and the birds chirp.Once antelope, otters and small game frolicked in this riparian oasis.To this day, a wide variety of animals and birds dip down into the refreshing waters.
In the opposite direction, the steeper Ruins Loop Trail winds up to the terraced pueblo, where most of the rooms have walls but no roofs and a few have ancient grinding tools. The National Park Service has restored one two-story structure, giving visitors an opportunity to get a first-hand feel of life inside the pueblo.The small rooms were used primarily for sleeping and eating; most other activities took place outside.
The Tuzigoot inhabitants were farmers who used dry farming techniques from available rainfall. They were also fine artisans, who made jewelry, tools, baskets and textiles, and traded their wares with other tribes. Bones of macaws suggest their trade routes extended as far south as Mexico.
The Sinaguans used trees, bushes and shrubs that surrounded them for food, medicine, building materials and clothing.
The creosote bush was a veritable desert drugstore for treating pneumonia, tetanus, intestinal disorders and other maladies.
The hackberry provided small, succulent fruit; and the yucca yielded fibers for baskets, sandals and mats.
Cat’s claw attracted honey bees.Its hard wood was fashioned into tools and utensils, and its beans were turned into meal.
Winter fat was used to treat, burns, ulcers and fevers, to feed sheep in the winter and to provide sweat-smelling leaves for sweat lodges.
In addition to providing nutritious fruit, saltbush had myriad other applications: dyes, soups, stews, meal and medicine.Its roots, when chewed, relieved ant and bee stings, and its ashes created a type of baking powder.
The velvet mesquite was also extremely versatile. Its pods were ground into meal; its sap made into candy, black dye and ceramic adhesive.The plant’s inner bark was shredded and woven into baskets and brewed to make tea.
