On Aug. 10, 2008, we honored the Ohkay Owingeh (formerly San Juan Pueblo) leader Pope who led the Pueblo Indian Revolt, which took place Aug. 10, 1680. It was not simply a revolt as portrayed in New Mexico’s colonial history, but the only successful indigenous revolution against the powerful sovereign of Spain, and long before the American Revolution of 1775 – 1783.

We also commemorate this historic anniversary to all the warriors, the Keres, Walatowa, Tiwa, Tewa, Zuni, Hopi, Apache, Comanche, and Diné. I would like to honor this day with a peaceful gesture, a symbol of hope. In this spirit and contemporary time, we are all here to address the impact of Spanish colonialism 400 years afterward and the ramifications on the Pueblo people today. The majority of the public have no comprehension of the psychological “brainwashing” still prevalent within pueblo communities.

It was the Spanish thought and culture instituted from 1620 that was designed to eradicate our Pueblo beliefs and culture. In 1620, by royal decree of the King of Spain, the Keres, Tiwa, Tewa, Walatowa, and Zuni, were formed into civil government and given Spanish canes of authority. These institutions were designed to make us servants of indoctrination of a life of servitude, which is still practiced today. Mexican officials gave Pueblos canes after Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821. President Abraham Lincoln also presented canes in recognition of the pueblo’s non-violent position toward the United States during the American Civil War.

Most recently, King Juan Carlos of Spain presented the Spanish canes to the All Indian Pueblo Council. Former New Mexico Gov. Bruce King affirmed the same recognition with a presentation of 19 canes to the pueblos. In 2007, Spain gave the Pueblo of Acoma a cane, so tribal officials would not contest the controversial, three-story-tall bronze statue “The Equestrian” in El Paso, Texas.

Another example of such an interpretation of Spanish influence today is the patron Saint Santiago (the saint of conquest) who appears in a drama acted out during some pueblo feast days. Santiago appears in the ceremony wearing Spanish style clothing, carrying a sword and a cross while riding a puppeteer horse. He is called “sandero” (Spanish solider) by the Pueblos who impersonate him. “Santiago” is also a Spanish war cry, which echoes an eternity of human suffering. Is this the perception of celebration?

Who are we honoring this day? What is wrong with this picture?

Here in the pueblos, colonialism remains alive with civil obedience to Spanish morals and “morality dramas” of the reconquista (reconquest). Miles away in El Paso, “The Equestrian” remains a controversial memorial to the genocidal Conquistador Juan De Onate. We can define annihilation of the Pueblo people through colonization and forced assimilation. How detrimental to continue to empower the concepts of the Spanish institutions.

We are at a time in the “conscious thought” of the Pueblo people to begin to bring an end to the system of colonization, and move towards independence from symbolic “Spanish canes” and exercise our inherent right to decolonize from the Proclamation of 1620. Most Pueblo people need to assert their right to self-determination and take a stand with a democratic constitution.

Nothing creates more talk and disagreement than our Pueblo Indian women’s “lack of human rights.” True, some Pueblo women serve on tribal councils and have served as governors only when their pueblos have written a Constitution. Other Pueblo women have no voice in tribal councils in a system molded after the 1620 Spanish civil government. When these exclusions of rights do not exist, there are many hidden exploitations that Pueblo women endure today. Women in Iraq have more political rights and that is the right to vote.

The Pueblo people will look upon this “controversial issue” of historical trauma, and will see the truth and acknowledge the manifestations of the pervasive Spanish institutions, including the legacies that still indoctrinate the Pueblo today. Keeping this issue of sovereignty alive is a real concern today. We must focus on abstaining from participating in Santa Fe’s 2009 and 2010 Cuarto Centenario, which celebrates four centuries of Spanish influence. Support of this event would give the impression that Pueblo people endorse and validate events that commemorate the “genocide” of indigenous people of the Southwest.

As Pueblo people, we must secure our right to speak the truth without fear of intimidation and retaliation for speaking out. It is time to speak the truth and decolonize our Pueblo minds.

The opinions expressed in this editorial do not represent the Santa Ana Tribal Council or the 19-Indian Pueblo Council.

The Federal Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 states, “No Indian tribe exercising powers of self-government shall make or abridge the freedom of speech or the press.”

Today, I exercise my First Amendment right to free speech.

Manuel R. Cristobal is a councilman of the Santa Ana Pueblo (Tamaya).