Antonio de Espejo
In February 1583, Espejo arrived at the territory of the Piros, the most southerly of the Pueblo villagers. From there the Spanish continued up the Rio Grande. Espejo described the Pueblo villages as "clean and tidy". The houses were multi-storied and made of adode bricks. "They make very fine tortillas," Espejo commented, and the Pueblos also served the Spanish turkeys, beans, corns, and pumpkins. The people "did not seem to be bellicose". The southernmost Pueblos had only clubs for weapons plus a few "poor Turkish bows and poorer arrows". Further north, the Indians were better armed and more aggressive. Some of the Pueblo towns were large, Espejo described Zia as having 1,000 houses and 4,000 men and boys. In their farming, the Pueblos used irrigation "with canals and dams, built as if by Spaniards". The only Spanish influence that Espejo noted among the Pueblos was their desire for iron. They would steal any iron article they could find.
Santos Reyes Nopala
During the Cerro Iglesia period the government was theocratic. After the move to Arroyo de Piedra, it became a monarchy which lasted until the Spanish arrived in March 1522. The economy was based on cultivation of corn, beans, peppers and squash, as the inhabited area is very wet and could provide up to two crops a year. The city state also traded with its Chatino neighbors and with the coastal Mixtec and the Zapotec people.
Society was organized by class. 
Priests directed and performed religious rites, defined the times of planting and harvesting, and wore unique styles of clothing and ornaments such as earplugs, necklaces and headdresses. 
The other classes were the military, merchants, architects, sculptors, craftsmen and finally the common people.
This last class worked the fields, built and maintained infrastructure and supported the priests.
Their religion was polytheistic and idolatrous, worshiping the sun, considered the creator of the race, land, food and life, the moon, goddess of the night, the god of fire and the god of rain or water.
After the arrival of the Spanish, who defeated the army of Nopala in a bloody battle, the people of the region were severely oppressed and exploited.
In 1810 the people rose in rebellion and declared their independence, but were defeated in 1811 by the forces of Captain Antonio Caldelas near the Chacahua lagoon.
Another rebellion in 1896 in protest against land seizures and high taxes was again suppressed.