Deal reached on divisive Entrada event

SANTA FE — An agreement has been reached over the controversial performance of the Entrada that’s held annually on Santa Fe’s downtown Plaza during the Fiestas de Santa Fe, but the parties involved in the “reconciliation negotiations” aren’t ready to talk about it.

Regis Pecos, a former governor of Cochiti Pueblo and now co-director of the Santa Fe Indian School Leadership Institute, confirmed Monday that the All Pueblo Council of Governors approved a resolution to “proceed with final plans” of a negotiated agreement between several parties involved in a meeting on July 11. But whether that means rewriting the Entrada’s script, moving the pageant to another location, or doing away with it altogether remains unclear.

The resolution refers to the July 11 meeting at which “final negotiations” were held. Attending that meeting were Pecos, who was appointed to facilitate the negotiations, Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber and representatives with the Archdiocese of Santa

Fe, Santa Fe Fiesta Council and Caballeros de Vargas, the latter the group that stages the Entrada, which has been billed as an “accurate” reenactment of the resettlement of Santa Fe by Spaniards 12 years after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

The performance has been met with increasingly volatile protests by Native American groups the past three years. Protesters say the pageant misrepresents history, is a celebration of the Spanish’s subjugation of indigenous people’s culture and religion, and shouldn’t be held on public property during an event that receives city funding.

Last year, Santa Fe police were deployed in force and arrested eight demonstrators, though all the charges were later dropped.

The resolution approved by the council, posted on the website of the weekly newspaper Santa Fe Reporter, states that the council hopes the agreement will usher in “a new era of relations for the sake of peace and co-existence and (a) gift to all people and all future generation(s) the spirit of our core values of love, respect and compassion for all.”

A city spokesman referred questions to Pecos. The presidents of the Fiesta Council and Caballeros did not return phone messages from the Journal on Monday.

Allen Sanchez, who attended the July 11 meeting on behalf of Archbishop John Wester, also referred questions to Pecos while hinting the agreement includes “new events.”

Elena Ortiz, who has helped organize the protests, said she was glad tribal leaders had taken steps to address the matter, but she couldn’t help but be skeptical until more details were revealed.

The groups involved in the protests did not take part in the negotiations.

The resolution approved by the council July 19 states that details would be disclosed “at an appropriate time.”