The Pueblo Indians finally did rise up again in a revolt called the Pueblo Rebellion, also known as the Great Pueblo Revolt, in 1680. The uprising was led by a Tewa shaman named Pope. The issue of religion was central to the Pueblo Rebellion. The generally peaceful, non-raiding Pueblo people had tolerated the Spanish for years. They were willing to do the bidding of the Spanish if allowed to practice their traditional religion in the kivas. But when Spanish officials consistently punished practitioners through floggings, the Indians took up arms.
Pope prepared for war by sending runners to other villages from his pueblo at San Juan after word that the
Pueblo Indian adobe architecture (with later-style doors shown on side walls)
Rebellion would soon come. They carried cords of maguey fibers indicating a certain number of days until the general uprising. On the given day, August 11, 1680, warriors from numerous pueblos, along the Rio Grande and to the west, moved against soldiers and priests stationed in the pueblos as well as ranchers living on outlying haciendas, killing many.
The Pueblo Indians actually drove the Spanish out of New Mexico. The Spanish did put up a fight at Santa Fe, holding out for days against Pope’s men by firing brass cannon from behind the palace walls. But when the Indians grew tired of the siege and withdrew to their pueblos, the Spanish headed south to El Paso.
The Pueblo Indians had regained control of their homeland. They now were free to practice their traditional culture and religion. Unfortunately, Pope’s newfound power corrupted him, and he became an exacting leader himself, not even permitting his people to use Spanish tools left behind.
World History
