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Indigenous groups in the Southwest are stepping up their activism this year with commemorations marking the 340th anniversary of the Pueblo Revolt, one of Spain's bloodiest defeats in its colonial empire.
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PuertaSimon Romero
ALBUQUERQUE – As protests against police brutality against African-Americans spread from city to city following the killing of George Floyd in May,the message scrawled in red paintat the New Mexico Museum of History it was further back in time: "1680 Land Back."
The graffiti evoked another rebellious moment in what is now the United States: the revolt of 1680 when the Pueblo Indians inflicted one of the bloodiest defeats in Spain on their growing colonial empire. Since the late spring protests against New Mexicomonuments of the conquistadorto last month's writing that theparedesof Santa Fe and Taos celebrating the Pueblo Rebellion, the meticulously orchestrated uprising that broke out 340 years ago, resonates again.
The increasingly energetic activism in New Mexico points to how nationwide protests over racial injustice and police treatment of African Americans have led to an even broader question about the racism and inequality that exists in this part of the West.
Indigenous groups refer to the Pueblo Rebellion when organizing actions on issues such as stolen land, Department of Justicedeployment of federal agentsto Albuquerque and the Trump administrationmanaging the coronavirus pandemic, which has especially affected indigenous peoples.
"The Pueblo Rebellion was the most successful Indian revolution in what is now the United States," said Porter Swentzell, historian of the Santa Clara Pueblo, one of New Mexico's 23 tribal nations. "Twenty Twenty is fueling this resurgence of activism, inspired by the uprising that has been going on for years."
In recent decades, commemorations of 1680 in New Mexico and Arizona have already called into question whether early American history focused on the English colonies of Plymouth or Jamestown. Now Rep. Deb Haaland, a member of Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico, one of the first Native American women elected to Congress, is one of the prominent figuresraising awareness about the Pueblo Rebellion.
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Others from tribal nations are bringing the importance of the uprising to light in ways that go far beyond street protests, including film, history, visual arts and archaeology.
The resurrection of Pueblo Rebellion comes at a time when discussions of the country's past are becoming increasingly contentious. This month, President Trump said he would create a 1776 commission to help “restore patriotic education in our schools.” The president also said the federal government would resist efforts by public schools to include in their curricula the 1619 Project, published by The New York Times, which details the profound effects of slavery across the spectrum of American history.
Still largely unknown outside of the Southwest, the basic details of how the blood-soaked rebellion crystallized, and ultimately produced lasting gains in Pueblo sovereignty, have long captivated scholars.
The Pueblo Rebellion succeeded in driving a European power out of a significant part of North America, unlike other indigenous rebellions of the same era, such asKing Philip's Warin New England.
But even after Spain reasserted control of New Mexico, the Pueblo won lasting concessions. The Spanish generally allowed them to remain in their country, conceded to some demands for autonomy, and provided tribal members with ways to file legal complaints about mistreatment by colonial officials.
The seeds of the rebellion began long before 1680 with Spanish settlers and Franciscan friars who, after the conquest of New Mexico, imposed forced labor, evangelism, and tribute demands on the native peoples of the border provinces for much of the century. XVII.
Pueblo Indians started one rebellion after another, much like indigenous peoples in other parts of Spanish-occupied lands, but it took a visionary shaman named Popé to orchestrate the mother of all rebellions.
Popé, of the Tewa-speaking Ohkay Owingeh Nation who lives to this day in northern New Mexico, did this by secretly forging a network of alliances among Pueblo peoples who spoke languages as varied as Hopi, Keres, and Zuñi.
Popé's detailed conspiracy unfolded in the midst of an almost unimaginable catastrophe. While estimates vary, the Spanish conquest is believed to have caused a collapse in the Puebloan population from approximately 80,000 in the early 17th century to approximately 17,000 before the Rebellion. Famine and epidemics in the years before 1680 increased the death toll.
"Popé is kind of a Mad Max figure in a post-apocalyptic world where he could see all these ancestral villages empty into the landscape," said Matthew Liebmann, a Harvard archaeologist who has worked extensively on the Pueblo de Jémez.
Before the revolt, the Spanish prohibited the Indians of New Mexico from riding horses. So the Pope sent long-distance runners of hundreds of miles to towns across the province with knotted cords of what is believed to be yucca or perhaps strips of deerskin.
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The insurgents were told to untie one knot each day until the last knot was untied, at which time the Pueblo would rise in unison. By the time the Spanish found out about the conspiracy, it was already too late.
On August 10, 1680, the Pueblo began their revolt, looting haciendas, burning churches, and seizing horses and arquebuses. They killed 21 Franciscan priests and 401 settlers, including some entire families. After Pueblo warriors besieged Santa Fe, the Spanish survivors fled to El Paso.
It took Spain more than a decade to retake New Mexico by force, juxtaposing the Pueblo Rebellion with major Native uprisings in the Americas, such as theTupac Amaru-opstandin the Andes in the 1780s, which also resonated, inspiring the names of guerrilla groups in Uruguay and Peru and even American rapper Túpac Amaru Shakur.
New attempts to harness the legacy of the Pueblo Rebellion have led to complex responses in the Southwest. Some people of Spanish descent who praise theirsIndigenous originthey also see the uprising as a source of pride, while others feel attacked by the activism.
Richard Barela, vice president of the Unión Protectiva de Santa Fé, a Spanish mutual aid group, said he was opposed to glorifying the Pueblo revolt. He argued that this reflected efforts not only by native activists, but also by Anglo-Saxons, who hold significant economic and political power in New Mexico, to "erase" centuries of Hispanic culture that blended European and native traditions and lineages.
"Popé demanded that everything in Europe be destroyed, including the massacre of men, women and children," Barela said.
Yet new generations of Pueblo Indians say they are rediscovering a part of the past that seems especially relevant as the land is torn apart by issues of historic racial injustice, such as the lingering effects of slavery andEthnic cleansing.
Reyes DeVore, a Jémez Pueblo member who spent part of his childhood in California, said he was unaware of the uprising until he moved to New Mexico as a teenager, where he saw Jémezrunnerscommemorating the uprising each August.
Ms. DeVore, 32, said she later read the work ofJo SandoMore, a Pueblo historian who wrote extensively about the revolt before joiningPeople's Action Alliance, an action group founded as a result ofthe Standing Rock protestsagainst the Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota.
Referring tocontroversial delaysDistributing federal aid to tribal nations during some of the deadliest phases of the current pandemic, Ms. DeVore said the 2020 riot had exposed how tribes continued to be treated with disdain by the government.
"We were left to fend for ourselves because the United States government doesn't give a damn about indigenous people," said DeVore, whose group recently spent a month organizing the Pueblo Rebellion.
While adhering to social distancing measures limiting in-person activism, the Pueblo Action Alliance mounted a social media campaign detailing how the Pueblo Rebellion was carried out, promoted runs to honor the messengers of the uprising, and suggested that replacing the statues of the Spanish conquistadors with popé sculptures.
The strengthening of a broader Native American movement at a time of political turmoil is not without precedent. The American Indian Movement was founded in Minneapolis in 1968.response to police brutalityagainst the Indians in the Twin Cities.
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Another Pueblo activist, Justine Teba, said this year's protests over conquistador monuments in New Mexico also drew on the example of successful actions taken over the past decade to defend the territory of Santa Fe.annual celebrationof the Spanish Reconquest of New Mexico in 1692.
Ms. Teba, who prefers to use the Tewa name "Ogap'oge" for Santa Fe, said she forged unity among dozens of pueblos in New Mexico in 1680 and offered support to the rebellion of other indigenous peoples like the Apaches. template for contemporary organization.
"They were able to drive out our settlers by coming together and that's basically what's happening today," said Ms Teba, 27, a member of the Native Liberation Group.the red nation. "We have various tribes coming together to get rid of the statues celebrating our genocide."
The new activism builds on the growing body of work on the Pueblo Rebellion in various areas. John Jota Leaños, Californian filmmaker who madean animated film about the uprising, said the rebellion remained "living history" to many Pueblo.
“This is very different from how Americans tend to relegate history to the past,” Leaños said.
Mr. Leaños also citedthe work of virgilio ortiz, a visual artist from Cochiti Pueblo whose pieces depict a dystopian future where time travelers return to 1680 to help their ancestors.
indigenous archaeologists, fragmentationthe general glorification of the Reconquest of New Mexicoin 1692 as "without blood" have shown that the warriors of various Pueblos actually waged intense resistance wars against the reoccupation.
Joseph Aguilar, a San Ildefonso Pueblo archaeologist, recently used drones to study the topography of Tunyo, a mesa where as many as 2,000 Pueblo people took refuge in the 1690s to face the Spanish during a months-long siege.
Even after a semblance of calm returned to New Mexico, the uprising left an impression. After the United States conquered New Mexico in the 1840s, the Pueblo retained much of their hard-won autonomy, unlike other indigenous peoples whotaken from their land.
"The biggest legacy of the uprising is that it allowed people to stay in their homeland and preserve sovereignty, language and culture," Aguilar said. "That's why people look back to that time for some kind of strength."
Simon Romero is a national correspondent in Albuquerque covering immigration and other topics. He previously served as bureau chief in Brazil and in Caracas, Venezuela, reporting on the global energy industry from Houston. @viaSimonRomero
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FAQs
What is the significance and importance of the 1680 Pueblo Revolt in present day New Mexico? ›
The successful revolt kept the Spanish out of New Mexico for 12 years, and established a different power dynamic upon their return. The Pueblo Revolt holds great historical significance because it helped ensure the survival of Pueblo cultural traditions, lands, languages, religions, and sovereignty.
What were the causes and impact of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680? ›The Pueblo people, Native Americans living in what is now New Mexico, rose up against Spanish conquistadores in the wake of religious persecution, violence, and drought. The uprising aimed to reclaim Pueblo religious practices, culture, and land, which had been stripped away by Spanish conquistadores.
What was the 1680 rebellion against the missionary system in present day New Mexico? ›Pueblo Rebellion, (1680), carefully organized revolt of Pueblo Indians (in league with Apaches), who succeeded in overthrowing Spanish rule in New Mexico for 12 years. A traditionally peaceful people, the Pueblos had endured much after New Mexico's colonization in 1598.
What led to the Pueblo Revolt in New Mexico? ›The primary cause of the Pueblo Revolt was probably the attempt by the Spanish to destroy the religion of the Puebloans, banning traditional dances and religious icons such as these kachina dolls.
What was the significance of the Pueblo Revolt quizlet? ›What was their significance to history? The Pueblo Revolt was one of the most effective Indian resistance movements in American history, and what some call "the first American revolution." A medicine man from San Juan Pueblo, named Popé, was credited for masterminding the revolt.
What is perhaps the most important result of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680? ›The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was one of the most significant events in New Mexico's history. The revolt wasn't successful in terms of permanently driving the Spanish from New Mexico. It was successful in terms of curtailing the cruelty and exploitation exhibited by the Spanish prior to the revolution.
Why was the Pueblo Revolt so successful? ›The main reason that the Pueblo Revolt was successful was that Popé was able to launch a highly-coordinated assault on the Spanish by a large group spread over a large geographic area. The Pueblos were able to drive the Spanish from the area and gain control, even if it was only for a few years.
What made the Pueblo Revolt successful? ›There could be no complete return to how Pueblo people had lived prior to the Spanish conquest. But if the rebels' purpose was to reassert their own ways in a new setting, their rebellion succeeded, because Acoma and places like it survive, on terms that their people set for themselves.
What were the outcomes of the Pueblo Revolt in 1680 inquisitive? ›And in the case of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the winners were the Pueblo Indians, who banded together, rose up in August of 1680, killed 401 Spanish colonial settlers and Franciscan priests, and expelled the Spaniards from New Mexico for a period of 12 years.
What was the principal cause of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 in New Mexico according to the textbook quizlet? ›What was the Pueblo Revolt? In 1680, a group of Pueblo Indians in modern day New Mexico, led by Pope, a Pueblo religious leader, revolted against Spain driving the Spanish from the colony of Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico. Pope and his followers revolted because of Spanish attempts to ban Indian religious ceremonies.
What Spanish system caused a rebellion in 1680 and which shaman led the revolt? ›
The tense relations between Native Americans and Spaniards eventually led to Pope's Rebellion in 1680. In a carefully coordinated attack, the Indian shaman Popé and his followers killed more than 400 Spaniards and forced 1,500 colonists to flee 300 miles to El Paso.
What happened to Spanish settlements in New Mexico in 1680? ›Add to these several years of drought and famine in the 1660s and 1670s and stir in a charismatic leader, Po'Pay, and in 1680 the Pueblos rose up and successfully pushed the Spanish out of New Mexico for over a decade. Not much is known about the leader of the revolt, Po'Pay, known to the Spanish as Popé.
What was the Pueblo Revolt when did it occur? › Which is not true of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680? ›Early Indian civilizations considered land and people sacred and did not make war or exploit the environment. Which is NOT true of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680? It led the Spaniards to immediately colonize Texas and California.
What happened to the Pueblo Indians? ›Over the course of the thirteenth century, the entire Pueblo population of the Mesa Verde region left their villages and migrated south to the areas where other Pueblo people were already living—and where Pueblo people continue to live today—in Arizona and New Mexico.
Why was Pueblo important? ›Evolving from a hunter-gathering lifestyle, the Pueblo people were known as peaceful farmers, herdsmen, basketmakers, and potters. The Pueblo American Indians expanded into an agricultural society — growing maize, pumpkins, seeds, tobacco, corn, beans, and squash while designing complex water irrigation systems.
What were the outcomes of the Pueblo Revolt quizlet? ›Outcomes of the Pueblo Revolt: The Pueblos rejected all symbols of European culture. The Spanish adopted a more tolerant attitude in their relations with natives. Natives rebuilt their places of worship.
What was important to the Pueblo? ›Their religious rituals, beliefs and practices were deeply embedded in their culture and way of life. In elaborate ceremonies, they honored the kachinas, the spirits of ancestors, in underground chambers known as kivas. These religious ceremonies were essential to sustaining the Pueblo way of life.
What was the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 ___? ›The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 occurred in the Pueblo Region, which is present day New Mexico. The spanish came in and tried to force the people to convert to christianity. They arrest the pueblo holy men and some of them are put to death.
Which of the following best describes the Pueblo Revolt? ›What best describes the Pueblo Revolt of 1680? b. It was a victory of Pueblo Indians over the Spanish settlers in New Mexico, which reestablished Indian control in the region.
Who led the Pueblo Revolt quizlet? ›
Popé (Taos Pueblo)- Who led the Pueblo Revolt in 1680 against Spanish colonial rule.
Why do you think religion plays such a large role in the Pueblo Revolt? ›What role did religion play in the Pueblo Revolt? Due to the Persecutions of non-catholics became more and more intense, during the pueblo revolt, the victorious pueblos burned churches and images of Christ and the Virgin Mary, and wading into rivers to wash away their catholic baptisms.
How did the Spanish colonists react to the Pueblo Revolt in New Mexico? ›How did the Spanish colonists react to the Pueblo Revolt in New Mexico? The first permanent colony established by Europeans is located in what modern-day state of the USA? What is the best definition for the "Middle Passage? The Spanish stopped demanding labor and goods from the Pueblos for tribute.
Where was the Pueblo Revolt? › Why was Spain successful in re establishing its control over New Mexico after Popé's rebellion? ›Why was Spain successful in re-establishing its control over New Mexico after Popé's Rebellion? The Pueblos were weakened by drought and conflict with other tribes. How did the Jamestown colonists affect the local ecosystem? They produced a crop that required a lot of land and made it hard to grow other crops.
What happened to indigenous peoples as a result of conflicts with colonists? ›With such heavy casualties on both sides, this war is considered one of the deadliest conflicts in American history. Both sides experienced devastating losses, with the Native American population losing thousands of people to war, illness, slavery, or fleeing to other regions.
How did indigenous native peoples view and respond to those invasions and colonial projects? ›Native Americans resisted the efforts of the Europeans to gain more land and control during the colonial period, but they struggled to do so against a sea of problems, including new diseases, the slave trade, and an ever-growing European population.
Did the natives rebuild their place of worship after the Pueblo Revolt? ›Pecos Mission Church
This architectural bracket, or corbel, adorned the mission church at Pecos, New Mexico, established by Spanish Franciscans to convert Pueblo peoples in 1621. The church was rebuilt after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
The Pueblos rejected all symbols of European culture. Natives rebuilt their places of worship. Identify the key characteristics of the Spanish, French, and Dutch colonies. They married Indian women, relying on them as guides, traders, and interpreters.
Which of the following statements best summarizes the effect of the Pueblo Revolt? ›Which statement best summarizes the effects of the Pueblo Revolt? Both Pueblo and Dine were largely free from Spanish influence for about 12 years. A Navajo women mentions that her daughter needs to be "sung over".
How did the Europeans arrival in the New World have the most detrimental effect on the ecosystem? ›
Perhaps the single greatest impact of European colonization on the North American environment was the introduction of disease. Microbes to which native inhabitants had no immunity caused sickness and death everywhere Europeans settled.
Who reconquered New Mexico and became governor? ›Pueblo revolt and reconquest
In 1688, Capitan General y Governador Don Diego de Vargas was appointed Spanish Governor of New Mexico, though he did not arrive to assume his duties until 22 February 1691. He was assigned with the task of reconquering and pacifying the New Mexico territory for Spain.
The primary cause of the Pueblo Revolt was probably the attempt by the Spanish to destroy the religion of the Puebloans, banning traditional dances and religious icons such as these kachina dolls.
What caused the 1680 Pueblo Revolt? ›Pueblo Revolts - 1680. Historians differ on the main cause for the revolt of the Pueblo peoples in 1680. Many believe the cause for the revolt was religious, while others speculate that the essential causes of the revolt were the immediate events of the time - drought, famine and the Apache raids of the 1670s.
Why did the natives of Mexico revolt against Spanish settlers? ›During the period of Spanish rule, forced labor, the expansion of colonial territory, and the forceful reduction of disparate communities into villages or missions where Christianity was enforced were common causes of revolt.
What were the positive outcomes of the Spanish settlement in New Mexico? ›positive effects
The highly-developed(advanced technology) culture, new language(the Spanish), religion(Christianity) and institutions of Europe were introduced into Mexico.
Peralta was told that San Gabriel, the capital, was too far removed from the centers of population so in 1610 he founded Villa Nueva de Santa Fe. This was the first Spanish settlement in New Mexico and it became the focus of most activity during the seventeenth century.
What happened in NM after Mexico gained independence from Spain? ›When Mexico achieved its independence from Spain in 1821, New Mexico became a province of Mexico, and trade was opened with the United States. In the next year, American settlers began arriving in New Mexico via the Santa Fe Trail.
What is the Pueblo Revolt and why is it important? ›The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was a revolution against Spanish religious, economic, and political institutions imposed upon the Pueblos. It is the only successful Native uprising against a colonizing power in North America.
What happened to the Spanish in the Pueblo Revolt? ›On August 21 the Spaniards were forced to flee, leaving 400 dead, including 21 priests. The Indians celebrated their victory by washing off the stains of Christian baptism, annulling Christian marriages, and destroying churches. They remained free until 1692, when New Mexico was reconquered by Gov. Pedro de Vargas.
What resulted from Popé's rebellion? ›
The rebels raided through the Providence destroying churches, killing priests, and slaughtering Spanish settlers along the way. After this attack the Spanish needed almost half a century to regain New Mexico again.
Why did the Pueblo Revolt fail? ›If the purpose of the rebellion was simply to drive out Spanish ways, it failed, because the Spaniards came back and remained until Mexican independence in 1821. The Spanish were followed by two successor republics, Mexico and, ultimately, the United States.
What was the primary cause of the Pueblo Revolt quizlet? ›What was the Pueblo Revolt? In 1680, a group of Pueblo Indians in modern day New Mexico, led by Pope, a Pueblo religious leader, revolted against Spain driving the Spanish from the colony of Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico. Pope and his followers revolted because of Spanish attempts to ban Indian religious ceremonies.
What most likely led to the decline of the Pueblo people? ›Answer and Explanation: Drought is the most likely reason why the Anasazi Pueblo culture fell into decline. The southwestern United States is a very dry area, and if rainfall failed, the cops that the Pueblo relied upon would have failed in turn.
Who are the Pueblo people today? ›Today more than 60,000 Pueblo Indians live in 32 pueblos in New Mexico and Arizona and one pueblo in Texas. Pueblo people are farmers, teachers, students, artists, business people, and civic leaders. They contribute their skills and knowledge to their own communities and to all of American society.
What was the significance of the Taos revolt? ›The Taos Revolt was a populist insurrection in January 1847 by Hispano and Pueblo allies against the United States' occupation of present-day northern New Mexico during the Mexican–American War. Provisional governor Charles Bent and several other Americans were killed by the rebels.
Why was the Pueblo Revolt successful? ›There could be no complete return to how Pueblo people had lived prior to the Spanish conquest. But if the rebels' purpose was to reassert their own ways in a new setting, their rebellion succeeded, because Acoma and places like it survive, on terms that their people set for themselves.
What was a major consequence of the Pueblo Revolt quizlet? ›Outcomes of the Pueblo Revolt: The Pueblos rejected all symbols of European culture. The Spanish adopted a more tolerant attitude in their relations with natives. Natives rebuilt their places of worship.
What is a fact about Taos Pueblo? ›Taos Pueblo has been continuously inhabited and is the largest of these Pueblos that still exist, with its North and South Houses rising to heights of five storeys. Taos Pueblo and the people of the Pueblo itself claim an aboriginal presence in the Taos Valley since time immemorial.
Why is it called Taos? ›The Taos is named after a small town in New Mexico to pay tribute to its former resident John Muir, who authored a repair book and manual dedicated to past Volkswagen models. The Tharu name is derived after the eponymous Tharu people, an ethnic group indigenous to Nepal and Northern India.
Why were artists attracted to Taos? ›
Many artists were drawn to Taos due to the presence of Mabel Dodge Luhan, a wealthy heiress from Buffalo, New York who had run a prominent art salon in Florence, Italy, and Manhattan, New York, before settling in Taos in 1917.
What happened to the Pueblo? ›Over the course of the thirteenth century, the entire Pueblo population of the Mesa Verde region left their villages and migrated south to the areas where other Pueblo people were already living—and where Pueblo people continue to live today—in Arizona and New Mexico.
What happened to Popé after the Pueblo Revolt? ›Little is known of Popé's life before 1675. In that year he was imprisoned by Spanish authorities on suspicion of witchcraft and of killing several missionaries.