Organizers beef up Fiesta precautions
Horses, bullhorns banned from Plaza as growing unrest over Entrada spurs greater interest in demonstrations
For decades, men portraying European colonists have marched onto the Santa Fe Plaza on horseback to reenact what organizers call the “peaceful” reconquest of the city by Spaniard Don Diego de Vargas more than 300 years ago.
But for the first time this year, organizers of the controversial dramatization have decided to take the horses out of the program, one of a number of precautions ahead of Friday’s pageant amid growing safety concerns. Demonstrators plan to protest the reenactment once again this year, and violent clashes over historical figures in other parts of the country, including last month in Charlottesville, Va., have people on edge.
“We will revisit the horses after this year’s Entrada to see how we will be able to include them next year. But this year, they have been removed,” Manuel Garcia, president of the Caballeros de Vargas, a fraternity in charge of the annual performance, said Thursday.
“The purpose is to ensure safety for the community,” he added. “I believe safety for the community is number one and should be everyone’s top priority.”
In addition, the city announced Thursday that a number of items, including bullhorns, masks, toy guns, water guns and real weapons, will be prohibited on the Plaza during the Fiesta de Santa Fe. The Santa Fe Fiesta Council, which organizes Fiesta and obtained a permit for the Plaza, requested a ban on the items, city spokesman Matt Ross said in a statement.
“Private organizations of any type, permitted to hold events on city property, have the ability to request that certain items, in the interest of public safety, be banned from the permitted area for the duration of the event,” the news release states.
Rachael Maestas, a spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, said the city’s list of prohibited items “raised a flag” for the organization’s attorneys.
“We’re looking into it,” she said.
The city also is planning a heavy police presence, including assistance from law enforcement agencies across the state.
Organizations sponsoring major events are charged for half of the police department’s personnel costs for the event. That came out to about $44,000 for last year’s Fiesta, Ross said in an email.
“As for outside agencies,” he wrote, “police departments do not traditionally bill one another for mutual aid, so there has not been a conversation about paying for their assistance.”
Police Chief Patrick Gallagher did not return a message seeking comment. But in a statement, Gallagher said, “While we can’t release all the details, we’ve worked hard and put in place extensive preparation to make sure everyone who comes out to the Plaza for these events, either as a participant or a protester, gets to go home safe at the end of the day, and I’m asking both the protesters and the supporters of the Entrada to proactively help ensure that happens.”
Last year, police were in full force and armed members of a SWAT team were on the roof of the Palace of the Governors.
Bullhorns have been of particular concern since last year’s Entrada, when Jennifer Marley, a 21-year-old student at The University of New Mexico and a member of San Ildefonso Pueblo, chanted loudly into a megaphone while leading a protest onto the Plaza. This spooked some of the horses as a large crowd of people looked on.
Marley also belongs to The Red Nation, an organization “dedicated to the liberation of Indigenous peoples from colonialism,” which plans another protest Friday. According to its Facebook page, more than 200 people have indicated they plan to participate in the protest and nearly 700 have expressed interest in it. Last year’s protest drew nearly three dozen demonstrators.
Marley said via Facebook that protesters will be at the Entrada on Friday “to simply practice our First Amendment rights.”
“Last year, police looked on as some of our members were shoved, hit and even groped by Entrada attendees,” she said. “Our main concern is safety for our group. We have people designed to de-escalate instances of brutality against us should the cops fail to do so. We also have our own street medics this year. Having snipers on you doesn’t make for a safe environment, so we are taking measures to protect ourselves. Last year made it clear they were not there to protect all of us.”
The Entrada has sparked protests in the past, but they’ve gotten more raucous and attracted bolder protesters who take exception to organizers calling the dramatization an “accurate account” of de Vargas’ “peaceful” reconquest of the city.
Historians agree that de Vargas reclaimed the city for the Spanish monarchy without any bloodshed in September 1692, but he did so, according to former State Historian Robert J. Torrez, “utilizing a masterful mix of diplomacy and a not so subtle threat of a siege.”
Some historians believe the Native Americans allowed de Vargas into the city, thinking he would soon leave and believing he did not intend to recolonize the area because there were no women or children in his party.
When de Vargas returned to Santa Fe a year later, this time with 100 soldiers, 70 families, at least 18 Franciscan friars and a number of Indian allies, the encounter with the Native Americans erupted into a battle that lasted through the night and into the next morning.
De Vargas and his Native American allies emerged triumphant, and in reprisal, they ordered every warrior who had fought against the Spaniards — 70 in all — executed by firing squad.
Members of the Caballeros, as well as the Fiesta Council, say the protests are rooted in a misunderstanding about the Entrada, which is supposed to celebrate a moment of bliss between the Indians and the Spanish.
“The Entrada is about the peace between the Spanish that came in 1692 and the Native Americans that were living here,” Garcia said in a recent interview.
“The Entrada is not about the genocide, and it’s not about celebrating the genocide,” he added. “It is not about celebrating the ill treatment towards the Native Americans. It is the coming together of our Native American brothers and sisters with the Spanish.”
When asked whether the Caballeros have considered doing away with the Entrada, Garcia said he didn’t think that was a choice.
“The Entrada is very important to show the one day in history when the Native Americans and the Hispanics came together and said we can live together, there is a way that we can live together and share our traditions and so forth with one another,” he said. “I believe that is a very important part of Santa Fe, knowing that we come from many different cultures. We are able to live and respect and love one another.”