"Word Origins" for $1000 Alex

As of late I have become increasingly interested in the history of New Mexico, especially the area where we live at the southern tip of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Walking around here there is a rich sense of history and of the people who lived here hundreds and even thousands of years ago. The dry desert climate preserves artifacts extremely well and the relatively slow rate of plant litter deposition makes finding many of them much easier than in other parts of the country. I received a book for Christmas called 'Enchantment and Exploitation: The Life and Hard Times of a New Mexico Mountain Range.' Although it is about the history of northern New Mexico it is a good read for others wanting to learn about American history as well. Most people don't know that the Spanish had been in present day New Mexico 80 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. And this is where, for a lot of us, human history on this continent begins. We are all aware of the Native Americans being here long before Europeans, but not many people bother to look into the history of those people, except to say something like "they must have come to America across a land bridge from present day Russia." We've all seen movies like 'Dances with Wolves' and 'Last of the Mohicans' but often we don't bother to discover the history of the Native Americans who lived right under our noses. A good example of this comes in my researching the origin of the word 'Pecos.' Like many people I just assumed it was a Spanish word. It sounds kind of Spanish and the people who live in Pecos these days are of Spanish origin - it just made sense. In my research about the the origin of this word I ran across a publication in Angelo State University's online newspaper asurampage.com called 'Pecos' Rich in Tranlation. The author, Winston A. Hall, seemed to be debating with himself over the possible origin of the word, but he never even sniffed the actual answer. At one point he posits that "The actual origin of the name 'Pecos' is debated. It's most likely derived from the Latin word 'pecus,' which means 'a single head of cattle.' However, others argue that it comes from the Spanish verb 'pecar,' which means to sin or do wrong." One possible answer that I did not find, which happens to be the actual answer, was that it has Native American origins. It was not until I read the book that I got for Christmas that I learned of the Pecos Pueblo Indian tribe and the rich and sad history of its people. Many of the Native American artifacts I have found were probably fashioned by members of this tribe. When I was reading about them I remembered back to the online article that I read and thought how sad it was for someone to research a question and write an article for a university and not even come close to the real answer, especially a question that has a real concrete answer - one that is not hard to find if you just look beyond a few Google queries. I guess the author was doing what I had done. He just assumed that the word must have Spanish or Latin origins because all of 'our' words do. The only difference is that this guy took his assumption to the next level and wrote a completely bogus article that probably led at least a couple of people astray. Being that I am probably living on the exact ground where the Pecos Pueblo Indians made their camps as they hunted along the Pecos river valley, I thought I should step in and set the record straight. If not only to keep others from being led astray, but maybe in some small way to honor the people who live and walked centuries ago where I live now. So, I posted the following comment on their site:

I find it amazing that all of your research did not bring you to the actual origin of the word Pecos. For that you have to leave Texas and go to where the Pecos river departs from its deep canyon headwaters in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains - the original town of Pecos...New Mexico. Before it was a Spanish town it was a Pueblo Indian settlement. The Pueblos were once united early in their history, but for reasons not fully understood they split up into different settlements across the region known now as northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. There were many different Pueblo Indian tribes from the Keresan speaking Cochiti and Acoma to the Tanoan speaking Taos, Sandia, and Pecos. The actual meaning of the word is unknown, but the origin is known. When European settlers first arrived in 1540 (yes, the first Europeans who settled in what is now known as the United States were the Spanish in New Mexico, not the English in Massachusetts) the Keresan speaking Pueblos referred to their their sister Pueblo near the river as P'e'-a-ku, which the Spanish eventually changed to Pecos. The Native Americans (especially the Pueblos) in New Mexico have a harsh and brutal history after the arrival of the Spanish. For many reason, including European diseases and war with other tribes, there are no full blooded Pecos Pueblo Native Americans still living. It is kind of sad that one of the only remnants of this once large and powerful tribe, its name, is not even considered by most people to have anything to do with them. Spend time in the town of Pecos (New Mexico and certainly Texas) and there is scant evidence that such a people even existed. The Pecos clans were as follows: Waha (Cloud), Pe (Sun), Ya (Coyote), Seé (Eagle), Kyunu (Corn), Sohl (Badger), Sungti (Turquoise), Daahl (Earth or Sand), Wahaha (Calabash), Kiahl (Crow) Pa (Deer), Shiankya (Mountain lion), Whala (Bear), Fwaha, (Fire), Amu (Ant), Kotsaa ( Pine), Petdelu (Wild Turkey), Tashtye (Buffalo),Gyuungsh (Oak), Alawahku, (Elk), Alu (Antelope), Morbah (Parrot), and Hayah (Snake).