Pueblo Rebellion of 1680 was an organized revolt by the Indigenous (native) Pueblo people against Spanish rule in what is now northern New Mexico. Popé, a Pueblo leader, helped drive Spanish settlers, leaders, and clergy from the region. More than 400 Spaniards were killed during the uprising. Historians have called the Pueblo revolt the first successful overthrow of a European colonizer by Indigenous peoples in North America.
Background.
Over hundreds of years, the Pueblo people had built an advanced civilization in the New Mexico area. But in 1598 and 1599, Spain conquered the Pueblo and established a colony in New Mexico. The Spaniards who settled there sought to acquire land and to convert the region’s people to Christianity. Spanish missionaries built churches in many Pueblo villages.
Spanish rule over New Mexico’s Indigenous people was often brutal. The Spanish banned traditional religious practices and forced the Pueblo to adopt Roman Catholic ways. They threatened and sometimes killed Pueblo who continued their own religious practices. In addition, the Spanish forced the Pueblo to work for them and to give them crops. Many were punished and exiled (sent away) from their communities.
The revolt.
Between 1675 and 1680, Popé, a leader from the San Juan Pueblo, organized a rebellion against the Spanish. Popé enlisted the help of leaders from other pueblos (villages), including Jémez, Pecos, Picurís, Santo Domingo, and Taos. With their cooperation, Popé gathered the force he would need to overcome the Spaniards in the area. Popé communicated with other villages by sending knotted ropes. The ropes indicated the number of days remaining until the revolt would begin.
On Aug. 10, 1680, the rebellion began. More than 400 Spaniards—including most of the area’s 33 priests—were killed during the revolt. The Pueblo forces destroyed Spanish farms and villages, and they wiped out almost every trace of the Roman Catholic Church. The uprising was a success for the Pueblo, and the surviving Spaniards retreated to an area near what is now El Paso, Texas. However, the Spanish returned to recolonize New Mexico 12 years later.
In the past, Pueblo warriors have been depicted as violent “savages.” Today, many historians believe that violent methods were necessary for the Pueblo to regain the freedom they had lost under Spanish rule.
See also Mission life in America (Western missions); New Mexico (History).
