Jessica Crabtree

August 10, 1680: The Pueblo Revolt begins under the leadership of Pope (pronounced “Popay”) who coordinates an uprising against Spanish colonial oppression

“Mission-Style”

Following the arrival of the first Spanish settlers to New Mexico in 1598, the Pueblo people suffered for nearly a century under a brutal feudal system. Under the encomienda, the Spanish seized large portions of Pueblo crops and goods as a kind of tribute to support the Spanish colonial machine. Repartimiento required forced unpaid labor from Pueblo men, women, and children, often in appalling conditions. Nearly all of the 40 missions existing in northern New Mexico by 1680 had been built by Indian slave labor.

Photo by Scott Fields

In an attempt to fully subjugate the Pueblo, the Spanish outlawed all traditional practices and carried out forced conversions on a massive scale. One account found in Spanish records tells of an incident where all the men in the Acoma pueblo were rounded up by soldiers, and 500 of them each had one foot sawn off, in order to convince the others to submit to Christianity. Pueblo society was being crushed under the pressures of disease, starvation, and persecution.

Pope, a medicine man from San Juan pueblo, was arrested for practicing traditional dance ceremonies, tried for “witchcraft,” imprisoned, and whipped. He fled to the pueblo of Taos where he met with other Native leaders to plan revolt. By that time there had been several uprisings in individual pueblos that had been met with ruthless reprisals from the Spanish. But Pope’s vision was to overwhelm the Spanish with a revolt that involved all the pueblos in a combined force. He devised a means of secret communication that would allow the pueblos for miles around to coordinate their attack without Spanish knowledge.

A handful of young runners would act as couriers to the pueblos, carrying small knotted ropes to the Pueblo leaders; one knot untied for each passing day counted down to the day of the attack. Unfortunately, the runners were eventually captured by the Spanish authorities, interrogated, and executed – but not before the ropes and their message had been safely delivered. What’s more, the courageous runners told the Spanish the wrong date for the attack – August 13 instead of August 10 – preserving the advantage of surprise and saving the revolt.

The Pueblo Revolt contributed to the end of encomienda and repartimiento and helped to preserve Pueblo sovereignty and traditional way of life. Read about the rest of the revolt:

Native People’s Magazine: The Pueblo Revolt of 1680