The Southern Plains and the Pueblo World: Commerce, Conflict, and Connection with Magdalena Lewandowska - Plains 47

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In this episode of the Great Plains Archaeology Podcast, Carlton welcomes Magdalena Lewandowska to discuss her article, “Trade, Conflict, and Alliance – Relationship Between the Southern Plains and the Rio Grande Pueblos in the Protohistoric Period.” Together they explore the dynamic relationships that connected Indigenous communities across the Southern Plains and the Rio Grande during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The conversation examines how trade in goods such as bison hides and Pueblo pottery fostered economic partnerships while also creating competition, political alliances, and occasional conflict. Drawing on archaeological and historical evidence, Lewandowska explains why Plains–Pueblo interactions cannot be understood as simply peaceful exchange or persistent warfare, but instead reflect a complex network of diplomacy, adaptation, and shifting relationships that shaped the Indigenous history of the Great Plains and the Southwest before European colonization.

Article Citation:

Lewandowska, M. (2025). Trade, conflict, and alliance – relationship between the Southern Plains and the Rio Grande Pueblos in the protohistoric period. Plains Anthropologist, 70(273), 64–94.