Po'pay was born
around 1630 in pueblo village of Oke Oweenge, otherwise known as San Juan
Pueblo. His given name was Popyn,
which means “Ripe Squash” in Tewa. He
grew up among a peaceful people who tended their crops and observed their native
religion. This religion was
interwoven into fabric of their daily lives, and was as fundamental to them as
their breath. It not only consisted
of ceremonies, dances and other ritual observances, but also was a central part
of all the actions and interactions of their existence as it had been for
centuries.
As Po'pay grew into a
young man, the Spanish settlers in New Mexico became more and more powerful.
They were determined to dominate these peaceful people, and forced many
Pueblo People into labor to build churches and support the growing Spanish community.
They were required to provide food and other necessities to the Spaniards
from their own short supplies. People
who did not comply were flogged, burned at the stake, garroted, or taken into
slavery. Men were routinely
punished, and women routinely raped.
The Spaniards also
exerted extreme pressure on the Pueblo People to give up their religion and
their way of life in favor of Christianity.
The dances and other ceremonies were forbidden, and those found
practicing their religion were made examples of, and were tortured before being
put to death.
In 1675, forty-seven
Pueblo leaders were rounded up and tried for sorcery.
They were convicted, and sentenced to hang, or be flogged.
Po'pay
was among those sentenced; he was then whipped, and bore the scars as a symbol
of the Spanish oppression for the rest of his life.
In 1680, Po'pay
organized the successful overthrow of the Spanish tyranny, now called the
"Pueblo Revolt". He and
his followers agreed that runners would be sent to each Pueblo carrying a
deerskin strip tied with knots. Each
knot represented the number of days remaining before the campaign against the
Spaniards would begin. Every
morning, at each Pueblo, a knot would be untied.
When all the knots had been untied, the uprising against the Spaniards
was to begin in all the Pueblos.
This plan almost
failed because sympathizers in several villages notified the Spaniards of its
details. The Spaniards then
arrested two of the runners, and their deerskin strips were taken.
Two days before the last knot was untied, on August 10, 1680, the attacks
on the Spaniards began. It caught the Spaniards by surprise, and as a result they
were unprepared for the battle. As
more and more Puebloans joined in the uprising, the Spaniards retreated to Santa
Fe, and were held at bay by the huge number of Puebloan warriors.
The water supply was then restricted to the fort at Santa Fe.
Eventually the remaining Spaniards were allowed to leave, and head south
toward El Paso. The Pueblo leader, Po'pay,
had led the first successful revolution against foreign oppressors on North
American soil.
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