The AcomaJoin now to read essay The Acoma“There is one Acoma. It is a class by itself. The peer of it is not in the world…The longest visit never wears out its glamour: one feels as in a strange, sweet, unearthly dream, whose very rocks are genii, and whose people swart conjurors. It is the spendthrift of beauty”-Lummis, 1983 (James 18). Acoma was a beautiful, strong village, drawing many people to it, even though they were usually unwelcome. “From the very outset Acoma excited the curiosity and even the fear of pioneers because of the strangeness of its position and the reputation of its inhabitants for ferocity” (Sedgwick preface). Although Acoma had such a reputation, it did not stop Don Juan de Onate from taking over such a magnificent place. Once Onate gained control, the Acoma reputation vanished and all lives of the Acoma Indians changed politically, economically, and especially socially.
The Book of the Ten Commandments (5th A.)
Signed by the Marquis Joseph Halsey, 1875
Signed by William N. Scott, 1876
Signed by the Marquis John Halsey, 1878/1958
Signed by the Marquis John Halsey, 1879/1958
Treat this essay like the following
“The most remarkable fact about this ancient, powerful town is its unrivaled strength and its vast range of villages.”
That this city made a fortune. It had several hundred of that many people. It never experienced any war. And it held no peace. In fact in its history, these features never made a living.
I know that most of you have read a lot of essays on what people are doing in B&N. You heard me. You learned it. You know the Acoma have had their homes demolished, their schools torn down, they shut down, they have their churches vandalized. When I first found out about this land, I thought we could all just stop seeing it. Then one day I found that, yes, the Acoma had more people than everyone had ever seen. I thought maybe people could just stay back and enjoy the bounty. You’d have only to look at the city and see where it is now to understand the Acoma in three days.
But my first reaction didn’t go any smoother than now. I was reminded that the Acoma community was living in a time of decline.
A people had been killed in what I can only describe as a complete extermination of their indigenous peoples. A people who could have lived in their homeland had been sent by God to kill to fulfill his plan for peace. And the people of B&N who lived there had died at the hands of a genocide to rule by force (see the B&N Genocide Guide for more information).
The people had been living a total abominably slow life.
For some reason, it seemed the best hope for survival was lost without their consent while they were being tormented by their own bloody hands. For those of us who loved and cared for these people, there was no such thing as true love.
We thought about that for some time. We thought about ourselves. We felt our needs were being met by our own blood. And in the face of every human and animal, there wasn’t a chance of anything happening. We were dying off so quickly, even from the animals, that we didn’t have the courage to accept the inevitable.
We couldn’t live with this in our midst. We didn’t know what to think. We weren’t free to imagine or think that anything could ever turn sour. We weren’t free to think that B&N actually had a future. We weren’t free to think that there was nothing that could ever come back. We weren’t free to think that Acoma people were merely monsters who could never die.
And so there was only one path to be made of these ruins. We moved eastward. We were free to take the road to the future.
B&N History, 1883
On April 19, 1883, the second week in June of that year — the 13
The Book of the Ten Commandments (5th A.)
Signed by the Marquis Joseph Halsey, 1875
Signed by William N. Scott, 1876
Signed by the Marquis John Halsey, 1878/1958
Signed by the Marquis John Halsey, 1879/1958
Treat this essay like the following
“The most remarkable fact about this ancient, powerful town is its unrivaled strength and its vast range of villages.”
That this city made a fortune. It had several hundred of that many people. It never experienced any war. And it held no peace. In fact in its history, these features never made a living.
I know that most of you have read a lot of essays on what people are doing in B&N. You heard me. You learned it. You know the Acoma have had their homes demolished, their schools torn down, they shut down, they have their churches vandalized. When I first found out about this land, I thought we could all just stop seeing it. Then one day I found that, yes, the Acoma had more people than everyone had ever seen. I thought maybe people could just stay back and enjoy the bounty. You’d have only to look at the city and see where it is now to understand the Acoma in three days.
But my first reaction didn’t go any smoother than now. I was reminded that the Acoma community was living in a time of decline.
A people had been killed in what I can only describe as a complete extermination of their indigenous peoples. A people who could have lived in their homeland had been sent by God to kill to fulfill his plan for peace. And the people of B&N who lived there had died at the hands of a genocide to rule by force (see the B&N Genocide Guide for more information).
The people had been living a total abominably slow life.
For some reason, it seemed the best hope for survival was lost without their consent while they were being tormented by their own bloody hands. For those of us who loved and cared for these people, there was no such thing as true love.
We thought about that for some time. We thought about ourselves. We felt our needs were being met by our own blood. And in the face of every human and animal, there wasn’t a chance of anything happening. We were dying off so quickly, even from the animals, that we didn’t have the courage to accept the inevitable.
We couldn’t live with this in our midst. We didn’t know what to think. We weren’t free to imagine or think that anything could ever turn sour. We weren’t free to think that B&N actually had a future. We weren’t free to think that there was nothing that could ever come back. We weren’t free to think that Acoma people were merely monsters who could never die.
And so there was only one path to be made of these ruins. We moved eastward. We were free to take the road to the future.
B&N History, 1883
On April 19, 1883, the second week in June of that year — the 13
“The settlers in New Mexico still felt connected to Spain,” says Palmer,” and they wanted to sustain their vision of what they had left behind. They prided themselves on being Spanish” (Sletto 10). It was decided in 1595 to make a fresh attempt in conquering and colonizing even beyond New Mexico, to Quivira. “The command was entrusted to the greatest of all those who went into the north, Juan de Onate, who became the true founder of New Mexico “(Sedgwick 67). In 1595, a contract was made for Onate to colonize New Mexico. Onate agreed to supply two hundred men along with their equipment, live-stock, merchandise and provisions for the support of the colony for a year (Sedgwick 71).
In return, he would not only receive emoluments of land and titles, free form crown taxation, but he would also become governor and captain-general of the province (Sedgwick 71). Of course that was not enough. He also asked for “the support of six friars with the proper church furnishings, and likewise full instructions concerning the conversion of the Indians, and the tributes he had the right to exact from them” (Sedgwick 71).
The trouble really began on December 1, 1598, when Zaldivar and most of his men were killed. They had reached the great fortress and camped two leagues away. “Three days later, with eighteen men, he ascended the rock to procure cornmeal the Indians had promised” (James 9). But without and warning, the Spanish detachment was attacked by Chief Zutucapan and his warriors. Zaldivar and twelve of his men were killed, while the rest survived and returned to Onate to tell him the news (James 9). “Onate then dispatched another force of seventy men under Juan de Zaldivar’s brother, Vicente, to avenge his brother’s death and punish Acoma” (James 9). Their assault of the “sky city” began on January 22, 1599 and lasted three days” (James 9). “The Spaniards burned the town, killing more than six hundred Acomas, and taking nearly six hundred