Celebration of revolt should be retired
Move would help ensure Spanish neighbors cannot call Native Americans hypocrites
As a tenth-generation descendant of Spanish settlers who were the first Europeans to settle in New Mexico in those times, (I appreciate what) New Mexico historian Marc Simmons wrote, “At that time Europeans, like Indians, tended to go where they pleased. In truth, all history is filled with storm and violence, both in the Old World and the New.
“The Iroquois exterminated the Erie. The Comanche exterminated the Lipan Apache. Pecos Pueblo destroyed neighboring villages. New Mexico, at the time of its founding, was a very dangerous place, and conditions for survival were horrifying. A 16th-century soldier could not be expected to have performed as a 20th-century man with modern sensibilities, and Indians, likewise, cannot now be held accountable because some tribes culturally approved of torture and mutilation of captives.” These were the true factors facing all European settlement in the Americas.
In New Mexico, to their credit, the Spanish did arrive with many priests ready to help and teach the Natives in many new and different ways. Also to their credit, the Spanish did not practice “Indian Removals” from their homelands (like) the Navajo and Apache removals by the U.S. Army to Bosque Redondo reservation, where thousands died en route or in the reservation from malnutrition and starvation. As Pueblo historian Joe Sando wrote: “despite their tribulations, the Pueblos were fortunate that it was the Spanish who colonized this area, because the Pueblos were granted citizenship and rights to their lands and were included in the Guadalupe Treaty. The Pueblos are still living where the Spanish invaders found them.”
Thus, it would serve Santa Feans who have recently arrived in our great state — such as new Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber and new Santa Fe Archbishop the Most Reverend John Wester — to be aware of these not-too-often-told good aspects of New Mexico’s Spanish history. It would, as well, serve the Native (American)s to acknowledge this and to also stand up, show some courage and “retire” their open celebrations of the 1680 Pueblo Indian Revolt — or the massacre of more than 400 Spanish citizens, mostly women and children, and 21 priests. Thus, they will avoid being labeled as hypocrites by their Spanish neighbors.