What was a kiva and How did the Pueblo use a kiva in religious ceremonies?

A kiva was an underground chamber where the Pueblo people held religious ceremonies and their men gathered to socialize.

The chamber represented the underworld where they believed human beings once lived. The ladder they used to climb into the chamber symbolized the link between the real world and the underworld.

To teach children about the kachinas, Pueblo parent gave them wooden dolls painted to represent kachina spirits.