What language did the Ancestral Pueblo People of Frijoles Canyon speak?
Bandelier was home to two groups of Pueblo people who spoke different languages. These groups, the Tewa and the Keres, share many commonalities in their cultures. Their languages, however, are quite distinct from one another. Today, Tewa speakers live to the north of the park and Keres speakers to the south. The large ancestral village in the main canyon of Bandelier retains its Keres name, Tyuonyi. Some Keres speakers say the name Tyuonyi means a place of meeting or treaty, referring to the possibility of mingling of these two languages in the area. The main Tewa ancestral village, Tsankawi Owinge, means the village near the narrow gap in the mesa and the round cactus.
