Aridoamerican Folk Religions

Among the Pueblo peoples of the northern part of arid North America, religious practices were tied to rain and crops. Spanish soldiers reached Pueblo lands in 1540, and Franciscan missionaries later sought to replace local worship with Christianity.

In New Mexico, Alonso de Posada forbade Kachina dances and ordered ritual objects burned during his tenure from 1656 to 1665. Persecution of Pueblo religion helped provoke the revolt of 1680, which drove the Spanish from the province until their return in 1692.