17 th Century New Mexico and the Pueblo Revolt

17th Century New Mexico and the Pueblo Revolt

HIST/CS 136: 9.27.11

Questions for Today

• What was life like in 17th century New Mexico?

• Why did the Puebloans rise up against Spaniards and kick them out of New Mexico in 1680?

Review

• Why did Spaniards come to the Southwest?

Review

• Why did Spaniards come to the Southwest?• Don Juan de Oñate establishes permanent

kingdom of New Mexico, 1598-1600• “All we have found…is poverty”

17th Century New Mexico

• Who comes?• Families of diverse backgrounds• Tlaxcalan Settlers from Central Mexico• Franciscan Friars

Franciscan Missions

17th Century New Mexico

• Who comes?• Families of diverse backgrounds• Tlaxcalan Settlers from Central Mexico• Franciscan Friars

• How did they make a living?• The Spanish-Indian Trade• Encomienda• Farming/Ranching

17th Century New Mexico

• Who comes?• Families of diverse backgrounds• Tlaxcalan Settlers from Central Mexico• Franciscan Friars

• How did they make a living?• The Spanish-Indian Trade• Encomienda• Farming/Ranching

• Who was in charge?• Friars vs. Governors

• Governor Bernardo Lopez de Mendizabal’s Inquisition Trials

The Roots of Indian Uprising

• Labor and Tribute Demands• Encomienda: Tribute or labor given to an encomendero• Rescate: Ransomed Indian captives worked for Spanish

The Roots of Indian Uprising

• Labor and Tribute Demands• Encomienda: Tribute & labor given to an encomendero• Rescate: Ransomed Indian captives worked for Spanish

• Religious/Cultural Restrictions• Kachina• Medicine Men• Mass Attendance

Kachina Dance

The Roots of Indian Uprising

• Labor Demands• Encomienda: Tribute & labor given to an encomendero• Rescate: Ransomed Indian captives worked for Spanish

• Religious/Cultural Restrictions• Kachina• Medicine Men• Mass Attendance

• Inter-Indian Conflict• Captive Trade• Apache/Navajo Raids

The Roots of Indian Uprising

• Labor Demands• Encomienda: Tribute & labor given to an encomendero• Rescate: Ransomed Indian captives worked for Spanish

• Religious/Cultural Restrictions• Katsina• Medicine Men• Mass Attendance

• Inter-Indian Conflict• Apache/Navajo Raids• Captive Trade

• Drought (1666-1680)• Crop Failure

The Pueblo Revolt• Not the first sign of unrest

• Past rebellions and Spanish punishments

The Pueblo Revolt• Not the first sign of unrest

• Past rebellions and Spanish punishments

• Po’pay and the spread of nativism

Po’pay’s message:

• One Pueblo man explained how Po’pay traveled from pueblo to pueblo ordering that:“they instantly break up and burn the images of the holy Christ, the Virgin Mary and other saints, the crosses, and everything pertaining to Christianity, and that they burn the temples, break up the bells, and separate from the wives whom God had given them in marriage and take those whom they desired. In order to take away their baptismal names, the water, and the holy oils, they were to plunge into the rivers and wash themselves…”

The Pueblo Revolt• Not the first sign of unrest

• Past rebellions and Spanish punishments

• Po’pay and the spread of Nativism• The Message: Return to Our Old Ways and Destroy the

Spaniards and All Signs of Christianity

• Logistics• Union between Puebloans and their allies

Pueblos in 1680

The Event• Well planned surprise attack• Estimates suggest 400 Spaniards killed—

out of 3,000 resident non-Indians• Pueblos and others killed 21 of 33

Franciscan priests--some were humiliated, tortured and beaten before death

• Led to the desecration of churches, ravaged missions, buildings and documents

The Event, contin.• Targets were the symbols of Spanish authority,

religious and secular• Organized messengers carried secret calendars of

knotted cords as countdown devices: untie a knot each day until completed

• On the pre-arranged day, grab hidden weapons and“burn temples and break-up the bells”

• 18 days of battle, on August 28 1,900 Spaniards, Indian allies, and slaves retreat to El Paso del Norte

• Called “The Great Southwestern Revolt” by historian Jack Forbes, indicating broader Indian rebellions across the Southwest at this time.

Results and Significance

• One of the most successful Indian rebellions in the history of the Americas

• Fray Francisco de Ayeta in October 1681: “they have been found to be so pleased with liberty of conscience and so attached to the belief in the worship of Satan that up to the present not a sign has been visible of their ever having been Christians.”

The Spanish Response

• Attempted Reconquests: 1681-1691• Successful Reconquest: Diego de Vargas,

1692• New era of Spanish-Indian relations in the

18th century

Conclusions• New Mexicans made a living through trade and

farming, or support from the Spanish crown (in the case of missionaries). The elites made wealth through tribute from Indians and exploitation of Indian slaves and servants.

• Though historians vary in their emphasis on different factors, The Pueblo Revolt can be seen as a response to the labor and tribute demands and cultural restrictions that Spaniards placed upon Puebloan Indians in a context of severe drought and resource scarcity.

• Remembering Po'pay