The people who lived in Frijoles Canyon were entirely dependent on the land for survival. They were probably attracted to this canyon in the late 1100's by the permanent stream, El Rito de los Frijoles. The wise use of available resources was vital and their practical yet difficult lifestyle allowed them to live here for about four hundred years. The ancestral Pueblo people raised corn, beans, and squash. Although they used what technology they had to provide the parched land with water, the crops were dependent on the rains. Hunting game and collecting wild, edible plants were important as supplements sources: stone, bone, and wood. With these simple tools, they were able to carve homes into the canyon walls made up of volcanic tuff.

Pottery was decorated with paints produced from plants and ground stone. Yucca fiber brushes were used to apply designs.

Cotton was used to weave clothing. Other garments made of animal furs, or turkey feathers combined with fibers from the yucca plant, covered their bodies and protected them from the summer sun and winter cold.

After four hundred years of intense farming, hunting, plant collecting and tree cutting, it is likely they exhausted the resources. The population began to decline as the people moved to new areas. When the Spanish arrived in the late 1500s the stone rooms of Bandelier were deserted.