The Anasazi and Mogollón groups have migrated from, respectively, northwestern and southwestern New Mexico and the invading hunter-gatherer ancestors of the Apache, Comanche, and Navajo have moved in from the north.

The Apache and Navajo roam through the region, and the Puebloans—descendants of the Anasazi—cultivate maize, beans, and squash in irrigated plots along the Rio Grande.

The area originally settled by the Mogollon culture is eventually filled by the unrelated Apache people.

However, contemporary Pueblo people in the southwest claim descent from the Mogollon and other related cultures.

Archaeologists believe that the Western Pueblo villages of the Hopi and Zuni people are potentially related to the Mogollon.

Ceramics traditions and oral history link the Acoma, Hopi, and Zuni, to the Mogollon.