In 1680 these 25 000 natives started a rebellion against the spanish. What were the reasons for this great rebellion, and why did it happen exactly in 1680? Reasons are quite clear. Missionaries came to convert natives. New religion ment that the medicine men of the Pueblo swould lose their position. So they were naturally against the new religion. Another reason was the zeal of the franciscans. They were anxious to destroy all the signs of the old religion, and all the old customs. Native dances were forbidden, and so were kachina-dolls and other sacret things. Natives were also forced to adapt the moral codes of the franciscans, while the franciscans didn't always follow those themself. All this hard for the natives, especially cause the punishments for breaking of the rules were harsh, and often the natives didn't even understand the reason for the punishment. In their point of view the spanish were simply oppressing thems. Missionaries also took tribute from the natives. In effect his meant that Pueblos had to feed their oppressors. They were also forced to do labor service for the missionaries, mainly to build missions and churches. So it was no wonder that Pueblos wanted to get rid of the missionaries.
Missionaries weren't the only problem how ever. Usually the governors in New Mexico were adventures seeking for benefit. Some of them took as a slaves even converted natives. Sometimes they organised slave-raids to native villages. The church opposed the governors and their actions, which lead to a fierce battle between the governors and the church. This battle continued practically through the whole 17th century, culminating in 1660s. This struggle between the spanish authorities weakened the respect of the natives towards them, and showed the inefficiency of the spanish rule.
All these factors lead to the great Pueblo-revolt in 1680. It started with a massacre of the spaniards in the countryside. All in all 400 spanish were killed. Santa Fe was unnder siege for nine days, and finally governor Antonio De Otermin managed to break out and escaped to El Paso. Whole New Mexico was evacuated. In 1681, 1688 and 1689 there attemps for reconquest, but they all failel despite the fact that Pueblos were now fighting a civil war against each other. For a moment it looked that the spanish would lose a lot more than just New Mexico, because the natives in south and west from El Paso rose to a rebellion too. If the forces from New Mexico wouldn't have been in El Paso, the spanish would have lost it too. And with El Paso their whole northern frontier would have collapsed. Finally in 1692 the spanish managed to reconquer New Mexico, mainly by friendliness rather than with weapons. There was a new uprising in 1696, but it was quickly put down. Hopis how ever were not reconquered during the whole colonial period, mostly because to the spanish they seemed so insignificant and remote.
But why did the great rebellion happen exactly in 1680? Why not in the beginnig of the spanish rule, or in next century when there were bug rebellions elsewhere? Again the were several reasons to agitate Pueblos just before 1680, and these all together caused the rebellion. First of all there were problems with the climate. In 1670s there were series of crop failures in New Mexico, and lots of people died of hunger. In those circumstances the missionaries and soldiers with their food demands were not tolerated by the Pueblos. Their hatred towards the spaniards grew with every native who died of hunger. And during the famines the rebellions start more easily, as for instance the french revolution in 1789 and russian revolution in 1917 shows. And the spanish were also blamed for the famine itself. When the Pueblos worshipped the old gods, they had no problems with the harvest, or at least so it seemed to them. But when they converted to the christianity they believe taht their own gods were angry at them,a nd send the famine. Besides famines there was also another serious problem. Apaches and Utes were raiding Pueblos. These raids became more and more frequent, maybe because Apaches were suffering from the famine too. In 1670s the Rio Grande valley was practically under invasion. And it became more and more obvious that the spanish were not able to protect Pueblos against these invaders. So waht was the point having the spanish around at all? They were eating scarce foodsupplies but didn't give any protection in exchange. Pecos-pueblo was carrying succesfull trade with some Faraone-Apaches, who were their allies and didn`t attack Pueblos. Spanish how ever did not know one apache from another, and attackes the allies of Pecos as well as raiders. Thsi severed the trade relations between Pecos and Faraones, which naturally made the Pueblos very angry. It has ben said that this was the main reason why otherwise very friendly Pecos joines the rebellion.
But there were also other reasons beside Apaches and the famine. Very important reason was the struggle between the governors and the church, which reached it's peak in 1660s. This struggle ended clearly in victory for the church. But it wasn't necessarily a good thing for Pueblos. Some governors had let them dance their traditional dances and keep their kachina-dolls. But during the power struggle the inquisition came to New Mexico. In 1661 their agent forbade the native dances. The stronger grip of the church also caused the great witch-trials in 1675, in which several native medicine men were tried and three were hanged. In 1675-77 governor Juan De Trevino co-operated with the franciscans, and took severe actions against the revival of the old Pueblo religion. It can be no co-incidence that this and the witch trials happened only five years before the rebellion. In both occasions the main targets were the native medicine men, who naturally started to plan the rebellion.
So I think we can safely say that the Pueblo rebellion took place in 1680
because there was a famine and in the same time also an invasion, and the
inability of the spanish to aid Pueblos became evident. Actually the
spanish presence only made things worse. In the same time, thanks to the
struggle between the church and the governors the power of the church in
New Mexico became stronger, and this meant greater oppression towards the
old religion. When this happened at the same time as a famine and an
invasion, it was no wonder that the Pueblos rose to a rebellion.
Sources:
James, Harry C.: Pages From Hopi History. University of Arizona
Press, Tucson.1974.
Kessell; John L: Kiva, Cross and Crown. The Pecos Indians and New
Mexico 1540-1840. The University of New Mexico Press.
Albuquerques.1990.
Naylor, Thomas& Polzer, Charles W: The Presidio and Militia On The
Northern Frontier of New Spain 1570-1700. The University of Arizona Press,
Tucso. 1986.
The Pueblo Indian Revolt of 1696 and The Franciscan Missions In New
Mexico. Ed.J.Manuel Espinosa.University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
1988.