The Jemez State Monument features the Giusewa (Gee-uh-seh-wuh) Pueblo, the Indian village first inhabited by the Jemez Indians in about 1500 A.D. The remains of this village include Kivas and other Indian living quarters surrounding a Plaza which was the center of their activities. This Kiva, in the picture, is much like the ones we saw earlier at Bandolier but the National Park service has completely rebuilt it and we were able to climb down inside and see what it was like there but not allowed to take pictures. In the plaza, women taught their daughters cooking skills and men taught their sons hunting skills and how to clean and preserve their catch. Children played and teens and adults chatted. It also was a marketplace where the people exchanged food or craft items with travelers from other pueblos or traders from far away regions very much like plazas are today. Another important use for the Plaza was the ceremonies to honor spiritual beings and to ask for blessings of sun, rain, fertile crops and healthy families. The remains of the buildings here are from 2 different time periods which were built one on top of another as the old buildings crumbled. The church was built in 1621 by a Franciscan priest whose mission was to teach and evangelize the Indians. Just 2 years later a fire destroyed much of the church and it was rebuilt and additions were made. Archeologists have found evidence of brightly colored adornments on the walls. Three different designs were discovered…one on top of another. For instance the earliest decoration, before the church burned, consisted of bold semicircles bordered by a broad red band below and flowers intertwined with vines and leaves above. Much of the remainder of the ruins were for living area for the several priests who lived here while ministering to the Indians. Evidence has detected a kitchen, living area, sleeping areas and a court yard in the ruins used primarily by the Priests and their helpers. Besides a gathering area, the court yard was used to grow fruit trees and vegetables for their consumption. In the valley below they also had fields of corn squash and beans. Wild game as well as domesticated animals provided meat as well as byproducts like skins, leather etc. The compound was a completely walled area for protection from invasion of enemies.