On this date… August 27, 1689… New Mexico

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Stephen Carr Hampton

On this date in 1689, Zia Pueblo was laid waste by the Spanish. zia1

The Zia symbol graces the flag of New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment. School children pledge, “I salute the flag of the State of New Mexico and the Zia symbol of perfect friendship among united cultures.”

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But on August 27, 1689, six-hundred men of Zia lay slain, at least seventy enslaved, while the survivors, men, women, elders, and children, sat atop Cerro Colorado, watching their pueblo burn. From this promontory they watched the Spanish soldiers and waited for a chance to reclaim the bodies of their relatives.

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The people of Zia stayed atop their natural citadel for several years.

About Stephen Carr Hampton

Stephen Carr Hampton is an enrolled citizen of Cherokee Nation, an avid birder since age 7, and a former resource economist for the California Department of Fish & Game, where he worked as a tribal liaison and conducted natural resource damage assessments and oversaw environmental restoration projects after oil spills. He writes most often about Native history and contemporary issues, birds, and climate change.

View all posts by Stephen Carr Hampton →

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1 Response to On this date… August 27, 1689… New Mexico

MJ Madrid says:

October 1, 2014 at 6:35 PM

I live in New Mexico and can you believe there is a high school in my hometown commemorating Don Juan de Onate? WHY is this the case? Onate was responsible for cutting off the foot of every male between the ages of 12 and 60 in payment for the Pueblo uprising. There is an interesting story about the cast iron statue of Onate in Santa Fe; the right foot of the statue had is right foot cut off in protest (apparently by an Indian).

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