Guarding tradition
Union Protectiva de Santa Fe, a normally quiet fraternal organization with deep ties in the city, says it’s in a battle to protect Spanish culture under attack
Time mattered when Virgil Vigil flew wounded soldiers to the hospital in a medevac helicopter during the Vietnam War.
Vigil, a former pilot and retired Army colonel, said the life-or-death 60 minutes was called the golden hour.
“You go and you pick up your patient at the site of injury, wherever that may be,” he said. “If you can get that patient into the hospital to get medical care [within an hour], their chances of surviving are much greater.”
Now 66, Vigil said he’s once again fighting against time but in a much different battle in his hometown.
Spanish culture in Santa Fe is under attack, dividing a city and leaving longtime Hispanic residents who take great pride in their ancestry feeling wounded, said Vigil, president of Union Protectiva de Santa Fe. The normally quiet and relatively unknown Spanish fraternal organization in recent months has become a vocal player in a thorny
Virgil Vigil, president of Union Protectiva de Santa Fe about the topics that most know about when it comes to fiestas and its meaning.”
Today, the conversation has turned more political.
‘Colonialism and white supremacy’
Leaders of the organization blame Webber for the controversy over historic monuments, accusing him of listening to what they call “radical” Indigenous activist groups like the Three Sisters Collective and The Red Nation.
“Governors from the pueblos don’t recognize those Three Sisters, they don’t recognize The Red Nation, and they say that they don’t speak for them,” Vigil said.
Neither the Three Sisters Collective nor The Red Nation returned messages seeking comment. However, the Three Sisters Collective posted The
New Mexican’s written request for comment on its Instagram and Facebook pages.
“We have no issue with our Hispanic/Norteno/Spanish/ Latinx relatives, rather the systems of white supremacy that continue to affect both our communities,” they wrote in the posts. “Displacement and erasure are issues that our communities have a shared reality and perspective in, which are both rooted in ongoing colonialism and white supremacy. We request that any commenters do not spew racist or violent comments towards [the reporter] or the Hispanic community.”
Amid a nationwide reckoning on race and social justice, Webber over the summer called for the removal of three monuments in Santa Fe: the de Vargas statue; the obelisk on the Plaza, which was dedicated in part to the “heroes” who fought against
“savage Indians;” and an obelisk on federal property in honor of Christopher “Kit” Carson, a frontiersman who led military campaigns against Natives.
The mayor was able to remove the de Vargas statue from Cathedral Park in June and appeared on the Plaza stage with the Three Sisters Collective afterward.
But removing the obelisk from the Plaza, a designated National Historic Landmark, proved more challenging.
Activists grew impatient and took matters into their own hands on Indigenous Peoples Day, toppling the obelisk after police walked away from the scene.
“The mayor failed to take responsibility for protecting our city, protecting monuments, protecting the people,” said Vigil, who explored an effort to recall Webber but said he’s unlikely to launch it in time because of the onerous requirements.
Vigil, who got into a heated war of words with Webber outside a downtown restaurant in September over the removal of the de Vargas statue, leveled a serious charge against the mayor, accusing him of “purposely” turning his back on protecting the obelisk from destruction. The incident worked to the mayor’s advantage, he said.
Webber on Friday called the accusation a “completely false conspiracy theory.”
Vigil said it’s more than historic monuments that are at stake.
“You see a trend happening,” he said. “We have to put a stop to this trend because it’s like a set of dominoes. Hit the first domino and then they all start falling down. That’s exactly what’s happening here.”