Zuni Guardian Animal Stone Carvings

Students hold five Zuni Pueblo Indian stone carvings of animals from my collection of native American art. The Zuni are native Americans who have lived in a remote part of west central New Mexico on the Arizona border for thousands of years. I am sharing what I know about the Zuni and other Pueblo tribes with the class as a way of introducing our year long theme of "identity awareness and culture."


I taught in and visited many Pueblo Indian schools during my twenty years living in New Mexico. Here is a close-up of the stone carved animals who the Zuni believe are guardians of the four directions. They are shown on the New Mexico flag. The bear guards the west. The mountain lion guards the north. The wolf protects the east and the badger the south.



Above is a close-up of my Zuni watch band.