A documentary film about the Colonial History of Santa Fe, New Mexico, with an emphasis on the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and the subsequent Spanish Recolonization; illustrating the Indian and Spanish origins of the unique cultural amalgamation that makes up this world famous "city different." Here exists an Hispanic culture, quite unlike any other, which has gone relatively unrecognized in relation to the view of "Latinos" which has permeated the mass perception of Spanish speaking cultures in the United States.

Santa Fe was first established for Spain by Don Juan de Onate in 1598 at a place called Yuque Yungue (San Gabriel), across the Rio Grande River from Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo (San Juan), then moved south to it’s present location, at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where Santa Fe was founded by Pedro de Peralta, in 1610.

The Spanish, originally smitten with the civilized manner in which the pueblo people had already organized their societies, introduced the Encomienda and Repartimiento systems into the pueblo
way of life. The Encomienda system forced Pueblo people to donate part of their crops to support the Spanish missions, military forces and civil institutions. Under the Repartimiento system, Indians were forced to work in Spanish households and fields with no compensation. The Spanish also forced the Pueblo people to abandon their centuries old religious faith and adopt the Catholic religion.

In 1675, Governor Juan de Trevino arrested 47 religious leaders from various Owingehs (Pueblos) and sentenced 4 of them to be hanged in front of their own people at their respective Pueblos. Among the 47, was a War Captain (a religious position) named Po'pay from Ohkay Owingeh. In 1680, Po’pay and other Pueblo leaders, secretly organized a widespread rebellion with Indians from over two dozen surrounding Pueblos participating - two runners were sent to the various Pueblos to distribute a rope of deerskin with knots tied in it – with the instructions that every day, they were to untie one knot, when the last knot was untied, that was the day of the revolt. 

                                            On  August 10, 1680, the Pueblo Indians attacked the city and  drove
                                            out the Spanish colonists, who fled  to  El Paso del Norte, now Juarez
                                            Mexico; taking  with  them  the  Marian  statue  of  La Conquistadora,
                                            which was originally brought  to  Santa Fe in 1625 by Fray Alonso de
                                            Benavides. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was the single most successful
                                            act  of  resistance  by  Native Americans against  the  Europeans; and
                                            took  place  almost 100  years  before  the  American  Revolution  on
                                            record.

                                            In the years following  the  revolt many attempts were made, by three
                                            consecutive  Governors - Otermin, Reneros de Posada, and Petris de
                                            Cruzate,  to  re-conquer  the  territory.  The  Pueblo  revolt  had  also
                                            upended  the system of  land  tenure. Previously, colonizers  had  held
                                            land  under  prescription, which  meant  that  they  could  occupy  and
                                           cultivate the land, but the title of ownership rested solely with the Crown. In 1684, the Governor was given the power to award individual land grants, which would make it much easier to entice colonizers to fight and reoccupy the frontier.

In 1691, Don Diego de Vargas was appointed the task of re-colonizing Santa Fe, for King Carlos II of Spain. De Vargas is said to have prayed to La Conquistadora for the successful re-entry into the town without too much bloodshed, and in return, he promised to hold a celebration in her honor. Historian perceptions vary as to just how that was accomplished. This film will present the different conjectures - that the Colonists were invited back, by Luis Tupatu, who succeeded Po’pay, because the Pueblo Indians needed allies against the attacks of the Navajo and the Apache Tribes; or that De Vargas sent a letter beforehand announcing his return and that he was coming in peace, promising clemency to the Indians if they would surrender and return to the Catholic religion . Historian   John  Kessel,   who   has   researched   extensively   the   Journal’s
of   Don  Diego  de  Vargas,  will  be  able  to   tell  us  whether  or  not  there
was  indeed  a  letter,  if  de Vargas   was   invited   back  to  Santa  Fe,  or  if
both accounts are true.

On   September  4,  1692,   De  Vargas   did   proclaim   a    formal    act   of
repossession,   crediting   La  Conquistadora’s   intercession   for   his   victory.
In  1693,  while  De Vargas  went to Mexico  to  retrieve a  group  of  settlers,
the  Pueblo   people   again   captured   Santa   Fe.  This  time  Don  Diego  de
Vargas   retook   the  city  by  force.  Don  Diego de Vargas  died  on  April 4,
1704.  Eight   years  after  his  death,  Lt.  Governor  Paez  Hurtado,  who  had
been  one   of   his  Captains  and  a  close  friend,  influenced   city  officials  to
draft a  proclamation  for  an annual  celebration  to commemorate  the peaceful
1692  resettlement. The  proclamation  establishing the  first  Fiesta de Santa Fe
was  signed  by  Governor  Marquez de la Penuela  in  1712, 115 years  before
Mardi Gras was ever celebrated in New Orleans, yet is not nearly as commonly
known.

This film will illustrate the fascinating history through the oral history retelling of historian interviews, the use of archival maps, documents and artifacts, the use of artwork depictions, and footage of existing Pueblos, terrain and ruins. Interviews with historians, and Tribal elders, will recount the history of Santa Fe and the Pueblo Revolt as they have passed the stories on through generations.
The camera work explores different elements that make up each archival or piece of artwork, through composition, graceful movement or dissolving one into the next, which will hold the viewers attention. My vision is against the staging of re-enactments.

The film will also look at where the cultures are today by documenting in "cinema-verite" the Feast Days at the Pueblos - A classic example of the assimilation of cultures is the Feast of San Juan, at Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan) Pueblo, the celebration has incorporated the traditional Indian "Blessing of the Waters" and dances, with the homage to the Pueblo’s Catholic Patron Saint – San Juan (St. John); Commemorations of the Pueblo Revolt which were held at various Pueblos, and the unveiling of the Po’pay Statue at Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo in 2005, before transporting it to Washington, DC, where it took it's place in the National Statuary Hall, as one of two statues representing "illustrious historic renown" in the State of New Mexico.

I have also documented in cinema-verite style, all of the different aspects of the 295 ^th Fiesta de Santa Fe celebration. I understand, from the President of the Fiesta Council, Dean Milligan, that the council has been approached many times to do a documentary and refused – I feel very privileged to have been granted permission to do so. The film includes the religious aspect - Catholicism, which is at the root of the city’s history and is the basis for the celebration.

The films opening shot, will be a zoom out from the statue of La Conquistadora, to reveal a walking procession making it’s way from St. Francis Cathedral Basilica to the Rosario Chapel, the site of the original encampment of Don Diego de Vargas and his men; over which we hear a single Soprano singing acapella "Oh Maria, Madre Mia" a traditional song of the Catholic Church. This procession is also the official opening of the Fiesta de Santa Fe, although it takes place months before the usual array of festivities.

I have quite an impressive list of historians and interviews - John Kessel, who has spent 20+ years editing the Journals of Don Diego de Vargas and is the author of Kiva, Cross and Crown; Joe Sando, Historian and author of Popay: Leader of the First American Revolution; Pam Agoyo, President of the Popay Foundation; Monsignor Jerome Martinez from the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Asissi; Governor Dennis Vigil of Nambe Pueblo; and Cliff Fragua, who is the sculptor of the Popay Statue. Other Historians include: Herman Agoyo; Gilbert Pena, an Elder at Nambe Pueblo; Mark Mitchell of Tesuque Pueblo; Robert Himmerick y Valencia and Sam Truett of UNM; Sam Delgado of the Spanish Preservation League; Walter Archuleta, a Historian of Lingustics; Adrian Bustamante; Dean Milligan, President of the Santa Fe Fiesta Council and Ignacio Garcia, Mayordomo of La Cofradia de la Conquistadora.

The  film  will   be  in  English.  Music  will  be  Spanish,  Native  American 
and  incidental  as  is  indigenous  to the  area. The  film  has  been  shot  on
(24p)  digital   video,  in  a  letterbox  (16:9)  aspect   ratio,  will  be  edited
on   Final  Cut   Pro  with  the   final   output  on  Digital-Beta  with  a  total
running  time  of  :56:40 (a  broadcast  hour).  That  does  not  mean  that  I
am not open  to the  possibility  that, with the  amount of  footage  collected,
the end result may be feature length.

My  intent  is  to  donate 1000  copies  of  the  finished  product to the New
Mexico Dept of Education for use as a visual tool for teaching New Mexico
History, and to hopefully, reconnect New Mexico youth with their roots. It is
also my hope that this film will be screened as part of the Quatro Centenario
(400 year) Celebration that will be taking place in Santa Fe in 2010. The film
will be submitted to various film festivals and offered for broadcast to networks, which may have an interest in this sort of product – such as PBS or The History Channel. I am certain that the film will attract educational distribution.

The conflict between the Spanish and the Indians was typical of the relationships between the Europeans and the indigenous peoples in the Americas. In the territory of New Mexico, what began as merely a tolerance between the Spanish and the Indians, resulting from economic and social necessity, has developed into a harmony, creating a unique racial and cultural amalgamation. A culture that has been largely ignored in relation to what we have come to know about Latinos in America.

                                                       The  film has  already  been  shot, the last day of shooting was
                                                       September 11, 2007. 

                                                       The bottom line is that this is a film that needs to be made, lest 
                                                       we lose sight of our  history, our  roots, and possibly even our
                                                       identity.