Gathering Up Again, Transcription
Adapted from the 1992 original by Daniel W. Patterson
(Native American drumming and singing fades into a Fiesta song in Spanish performed by a Mariachi group)
In 1680, almost two centuries after the arrival of Columbus in the Americas Pueblo Indians of the Southwest united to drive Spanish colonizers out of what is now New Mexico. Twelve years later, Don Diego de Vargas led the Spanish reconquest of the Pueblos. 1992 will mark the 300th anniversary of the return of the Spaniards to the city of Santa Fe. The Santa Fe Fiesta commemorates this event in a three-day celebration involving Spanish Americans, Native Americans, and Anglos.
RANDY KANIATOBE: Basically, knowing the history of it, it's just the resettlement of Santa Fe by the Spaniards.
MARIANNE CANDELARIO: The religious aspect is what Fiesta's all about.
ESQUIPULA TENORIO: Fiesta's a day of enjoyment and remembering what it stands for and a day of gathering together different tribes.
MAN: Fiesta celebrates the peaceful resettlement of 1692 by Don Diego de Vargas and his men when they travelled here from El Paso del Norte to take possession of the villa of Santa Fe.
YOUNG MAN: It keeps evolving and changing, kind of like Mardi Gras.
ED BERRY: An incredible event. A history that no other city in the United States can ever think about having.
TITLE: Gathering Up Again: Fiesta in Santa Fe
a documentary by
Jeanette DeBouzek & Diane Reyna
1540
First major Spanish exploration of the Southwest
Santa Fe, New Mexico, Summer 1990
(people in the interior of the church)
ARCHBISHOP: Today we gather in festive garb and hopefully we come together with a joyful heart, because this initiates our 278th Santa Fe Fiesta, the crowning of our Fiesta queen and her princesses, the knighting of Don Diego de Vargas, the recognition of his staff.
(to the actor playing Don Diego): Marcos Andres Tapia, accept this sword and receive this mantle.
(Marcos in his family’s garage, working on a vehicle like a mechanic, with his father nearby)
MARCOS: My name is Marcos Andres Tapia. I work now for the New Mexico Game and Fish Department. I'm from Santa Fe originally. I've been away for the last ten plus years, college and the army. My heritage is deep in Spanish traditions and stuff.
BILL TAPIA: Like I told you since you were a baby, these words are bad things in my family. No wonder the doves don’t want to be here anymore.
MARCOS TAPIA: The one who got me involved to run first was my mother. When I was in the army, in the places I was at it was very lonely. But when I got a little down, Mom would send me these tapes, and they would be Spanish music, mariachi music, which you only hear during Fiesta time.
BILL TAPIA: The minute that you see, you hear those mariachis. Oh! right away, and then you see the Conquistadora and your religion comes out. And then you start thinking about your ancestors, of what they went through to make what it is today.
MARCOS TAPIA: We keep alive Don Diego de Vargas's commitment that he made to La Nuestra Señora de Rosario—La Conquistadora, who is another name for the mother of God. If He would have a bloodless conquest, that he would hold a yearly Fiesta in her honor. La Conquista (Conquest) meant to unify. And he gave the Indians and the Spanish people an opportunity to be brothers.
1598
Spanish capital of New Mexico established near San Juan Pueblo
JANICE: My name is Janice Tenorio. I’m from the pueblo of Santo Domingo and I’m half Navaho, from the reservation of Tuba City. And I'm twenty-one years old, and I’m in involved with the Santa Fe Fiesta as one of the Indian Princesses.
ARCHBISHOP: I hereby place this crown and declare you, Janice Marie Tenorio, Royal Indian Princess.
(Janice and her family members stringing beads)
JANICE TENORIO: One of the Fiesta Council members came to where I work at, and he asked me who I was and if I was Janice Tenorio, and if I was interested in being in the Santa Fe Fiesta. And so I told him that I would.
ESQUIPULA TENORIO: And then I was glad when Janice was chosen to be one of the princesses. I went ahead and said, ”Go ahead. Might as well get involved because you need to represent your tribe here.” We were just glad about what she's doing. We’re still proud, all the kids are proud of her. What she’s up to. And that shows more that she will get experience in the outside world, see more people of different tribes and different nationalities, you know. So we are glad and we are happy for her. All of us are behind her.
(crowd scenes during the Fiesta)
JANICE TENORIO: I just wish some of the other pueblos would get together and do this too, just participate in different things. That way we can get along a lot better, instead of all this fighting, and just have peace.
1680
Pueblos revolt against Spanish colonizers and Franciscan friars
(outside scene in front of the Zozorba figure)
DOENIKA LILIENTHAL: I don't know of any other city or any place in America who really puts on a show like this. I don’t know of any other forty-foot puppet that someone dances in front of. I just think it's kind of cool. Zozobra and the Fire Dancer are just, you know, one big show each year. I will be doing the Fire Dancer with my father this year. The part of the Fire Dancer is really to get the crowd excited, to build up the energy, and to eventually light him, you know, set the whole thing off.
CHIP LILIENTHAL: The family involvement really didn't start until about three years ago. I just wanted to go ahead and have my family participate more. I think the thrill for Doenika is pretty much for her own self-esteem and her own excellence.
DOENIKA LILIENTHAL: Fiesta is kind of like a birthday, I think, for me personally and hopefully my family. I think they all feel pretty strongly about it. It’s just always something to look forward to. It's kinda your thing you’re doing. And it's just. I don’t know. It’s like your birthday all over again, twice a year. So it's kind of neat.
(rehearsing a bit as she speaks)
Well, now, it’s falling off. It’s just my hair—it, like, slips on the back of my head.
1692
“Bloodless" reconquest of the Pueblos Indians by Don Diego de Vargas
ED BERRY (leading a group meeting in a patio): He is a . . . He said this is their first time. This is their first official appearance, and he wants to make it memorable. He’s doing a head table. . .
MARCOS TAPIA: (voice over shots in the meeting, the camera focusing on him and the friends as he mentions them) In my cuadrilla I have a sixteen-men complement, who is my staff, my cuadrilla. I have friends that have played high school football and were on a championship team with me on the cuadrilla. I also have my best friend, and I asked him to bring two friends that he would like in it. And he brought Randy and Mike, and we’ve become really good friends.
ED BERRY (continuing) . . . Sweeny Center at seven o’clock for Fiesta seating. And Gentlemen, it’s my understanding that anyone that goes to Fiesta . . .
(continuing) And we also have Ed Berry, who’s not a native Santa Fean, but he should be. I mean, he has done so much for the de Vargas staff that it’s incredible.
ED BERRY (Fiesta Council): To my knowledge, of the 278 years, I am the first Anglo, non-Catholic, non-Hispanic to chair the committee.
(scenes from the fiesta and music and dancing)
After living in Santa Fe (I moved here in ‘77) there was just something that sort of propelled me civically towards the keeping of the Hispanic tradition.
MIKE McDONALD (de Vargas Cuadrllla): It’s, I believe, important for an Anglo living in Santa Fe to, in one way or the other--in my way it was by being on the staff of Don Diego de Vargas—but in one way or the other try to involve themselves in the Spanish community.
(scene shifts to a large room in which the Fiesta Council is meeting)
MIKE ELLIS (Fiesta Council): A lot of Anglos think that the Fiesta is just for the Spanish people. I had a lady ask me today, you know, when she found out I was in the Fiesta Council, if I was there because my wife is Hispanic. She had this image that the Fiesta Council was primarily made up of Hispanic people. It’s a cross-cultural group of people in the community that see the importance of the Fiesta and enjoy it and want to work to carry it on and continue it.
MARIANO CHAVEZ: We have a young Indian group that's going to be here to dance for the mass, Fiesta, on Sunday morning.
AUDIENCE: Wonderful!
ED BERRY: This year for the first time in many, many years, we do have an Indian from Santo Domingo who is portraying the role of the Governor of Tesuque, Randy Kaniatobe, I believe. (man in the audience corrects him) Oh, San Ildefonso. Excuse me. Thank you, Guy. San lldefonso. Don't call him an Indian, call him the Governor.
RANDY KANIATOBE (de Vargas Cuadrilla): l portray Cacique Domingo, gobernador de Tesuque, who is the Indian governor of Tesuque. And basically his portrayal, as far as the Entrada is concerned, is that of what I would consider the peacemaker. l haven't really looked at it. I’m basically doing it for fun.
DAMIAN MARTINEZ (Caballeros de Vargas): (reading from the script in a rehearsal)
“Unarmed and unprotected, he enters the villa.”
Okay, the narration, the action.
“Chief Domingo has left the city gates and walks back
to the Indians at the palacio. De Vargas proceeds to
get ready to enter the villa.”
Well, Fiesta celebrates the bloodless reconquest of Santa Fe by Don Diego de Vargas or by the Spaniards under the crown of Spain in 1692. Being that we had been here before, but in 1680, when the Pueblo Revolt took place, the Spaniards were driven back to El Paso del Norte, in El Paso, and they were there for twelve years. And they sent back General Don Diego de Vargas, who marched up from El Paso to Santa Fe and resettled this land in 1692, in a very peaceful manner.
At this point, Gentlemen, let's really practice our hand
movements and our gestures.
Entrada is really a reenactment of the original entrada or 1692.
RANDY KANIATOBE, READING SCRIPT: “They think you
are getting ready to fight, that there will be war and
much killing. After the great war of many moons ago. . . .
As a matter of fact, I wasn't even aware that I was one of the few Indians that has participated in the past couple of decades. So I thought that was interesting.
HERMAN AGOYO (All Indian Pueblo Council): As you know, Indian people do not write their history in books. And when we went through school, we learned very little about New Mexico history. In fact, I never heard about the Pueblo Revolt until after I got out of college. And so, with that kind of a background, we did not really know what was being celebrated during the Santa Fe Fiesta. To me, it was a great big community fiesta, with a lot of entertainment and parades and friends getting together. And so as far as the Pueblo people, there was very little history about why we were celebrating the Santa Fe Fiesta.
RANDY KANIATOBE: If I had stopped to take a hard look at why it's being celebrated, I probably wouldn't have done it.
1712
First Fiesta held to honor La Conquistadora for the “bloodless” reconquest of 1692
CHIP LILIENTHAL (Kiwanis Club): Well, Santa Fe is a city of three cultures. You had the representation of the Indian. You had the representation of the Spanish. There was not a lot of representation of the Anglo. The gringo needed to have some kind of say in the whole operation. And a very well-known artist and wonderful, wonderful gentleman, Will Shuster, even wrote about that in some of his works, and it was written about him in his book, about how he wanted all three cultures to participate in the Santa Fe Fiesta. And so he thought that the little effigy of Zozobra, which translates into “gloom,” that we could go ahead and do a burning. And it is a fiesta—it’s a viva la Fiesta, long live celebration, long live life itself. And celebrating by getting rid of our sorrows, and our woes and our glooms, and get on with the rest of our lives.
JANE THOMAS (Kiwanis Club): We go down to the plaza on Fiesta, the first afternoon of Fiesta and eat the food, listen to the mariachis. But other than that, we’re pretty much involved just with Zozobra.
(group constructing the Zozobra)
CHIP LILIENTHAL: We’ll stretch it out.
JANE THOMAS: We got to find another shoulder. . . .
MIKE ELLIS: Zozobra’s only been in existence since 1926. The idea originated by an artist named Will Shuster. He was in Mexico sometime before that and saw a similar activity taking place down there, where they built an effigy and burned it to rid themselves of their sorrows and so forth. And so he came up with the idea of this effigy symbolizing gloom and sorrow and troubles. And the editor of the New Mexican at that time, a gentleman by the name of E. Dana Johnson, coined the name Zozobra, which is somewhat Spanish for gloom and sorrow and that kind of thing. (over shots of people continuing to construct the effigy)
KIDS: Zozobra? Well., we roll him up, the whole bottom part, ‘cause it's chicken wire. The paper, we just roll it, and then they store it away, and then they move it to—what's that place called? "Fort Marcy." Fort Marcy.
(a truck hauls the parts away to a space where people begin to assemble it)
ERWIN RIVERA (community organizer): Zozobra’s a great party for the most part. And first and foremost, since its inception, has been the Anglo contribution to Fiesta. In many ways it led to a distortion and a contamination of the truer sense of what fiestas were all about, which were primarily religious. It had more to do with ceremonies in a church than it did to burning Old Man Gloom. But the distortion comes in a lack of respect for the previous history. Zozobra now is on display in—pictures of it—in a museum in London, I’m told. And under that picture in this museum display it says, “Based on an ancient Aztec ritual.” And if that isn’t a distortion, the worst to say about that is that's a form of psychological genocide against my children and against the true history that’s out there.
1848
U.S. flag raised for the first time in Santa Fe
(scenes from the Fiesta)
DOENIKA LILIENTHAL: I think Fiesta is actually like one big play in a way. It's, you know, reenacting the Hispanics corning in, taking over the land. It’s kind of sad in a way. So I’ve always had mixed feelings about that part. I’m glad to be more of a part of Zozobra, because it doesn't have anything to do with it.
MARCOS TAPIA: Right now I’d like to introduce the 1990 Cuadrilla.
MARIANNE CANDELARIO (Fiesta Council): Janice is a vibrant young lady. She projects her Indian culture very much. When they were appointed, Mariano spoke to the parents, I think, intensively, and he told them what it entailed.
MARIANO CHAVEZ: We used to have a contest, matter of fact, a contest. The last contest we ever for the Indian girls was eight ago, when my daughter was on the Royal Court. We had about five or six Indian girls that were running for two positions. We only had two positions back in those days. So now, you know, when we get volunteers we just appoint them. because not too many are that interested in participating, so we really can't have a contest because of it.
HERMAN AGOYO: You know, it's always an honor to be an Indian Princess no matter what event you’re looking at. And so I think these young girls that are participating see it in that light, where it's an honor to be part of an important historical event. And I think if they were to know the true reason why the Santa Fe Fiesta is being celebrated, they probably would not participate.
(enactors on a bus to a school)
JANICE TENORIO: When I was going to school, I was around with a lot of Spanish people, but we really didn't get this close. About the only thing I went to was the burning of Zozobra. That was the only thing I ever went to. Other than that, I didn’t know what was behind the Fiesta, with the de Vargas and the Queen and her court. I didn’t know anything about that.
(a dance in the school auditorium, as a de Vargas event)
MARCOS TAPIA: (inviting a young lady to dance) Come on, Miss Lopez, don't you remember me?
(the return on the bus, followed by musicians leading enactors through spectators outdoors)
MARCOS TAPIA: (placing his helmet on a small boy) A de Vargas of the day! Que viva de Vargas! Que viva! Oh, yeah!
KATHY WATERS (Agua Fria Elementary): WeIl, Fiesta's such a big deal in Santa Fe, and it's part of the whole city’s culture. So it’s celebrated every year. The kids, we do the last two weeks of lessons into it, and so this is the culmination of the whole thing. They get to really see and be involved with the people. (to some children) Do you want to grow up and be Don Diego? “What?” Do you want to grow up and be a Don Diego? “Yeah!"
MARIANNE CANDELARIO: -I really don't know the opinion of the Indian people about the reconquest and Don Diego de Vargas. I have really never spoken to them intensely about how they feel as to how we project Don Diego de Vargas. You know what I mean? Maybe we could do something there to remedy it. Maybe that's where the friction lies.
MARIANO CHAVEZ: The Indian has no reason to celebrate the Fiesta, you know. The local people are celebrating the so-called bloodless reconquest of the Indian. Now, I mean, Americans don't celebrate Pearl Harbor Day. Indians don't celebrate Fiesta.
(a bit of parading to shouts of Viva)
1912
New Mexico enters the Union as the 47th State
FIESTA COUNCIL VICE-PRESIDENT: I feel very honored to be the person asked to present our speaker this evening. An associate professor of history and editor of the Vargas project at UNM, Dr. John Kessell’s special interest is New Mexico and the Southwest.
JOHN KESSELL: If I had to give this little history sermon a title, I think I'd call it “What Bloodless Reconquest?” Don Diego did not want bloody confrontations. He always preferred peace, but only on his terms. He did not want battle, but honorable Spaniard that he was, he stood ready to fight to have his way, and the Pueblos knew it.
Conquest is like that. Yet in 1692 the Pueblos complied, and Vargas did not have to resort to arms.
The real reconquest began in 1693 with the ill-starred expeditions of colonists who intended to stay. At their head, Governor Vargas, impatient and overconfident, reappeared before Santa Fe in the biting gusty cold of December. Despite his best efforts, negotiations broke down. Retreat was out of the question. So, with the timely aid of 140 armed Pecos Indian allies, he assaulted the place, and the snow ran red with blood. After the battle, he ordered 70 Pueblo Indians executed.
By implying during Fiesta that the Spanish reconquest of New Mexico was bloodless, we not only distort the past, but we also deny the dignity and humanness, good and bad, of New Mexico's Hispanos and Indians, who fought, endured, and learned to live together in this beautiful and unforgiving land of little rain.
ERWIN RIVERA: When the Spaniards returned, they did not come back this time as conquistadores. I believe they came back as colonizers. They came back to settle, to be part of this land. I think that 1692 and La Nuestra Señora La Conquistadora represent not an act of conquest but an act of reconciliation. They came back differently with a different attitude. coming back seeking peace. It was not a question of ownership to the land or of the land. It was a question of relationship. And today that very situation of land is what brings us into conflict with the newest of arrivals, with the newest conquistadores. Because they do come to conquer. They come to conquer our way of life. They come to conquer the land. They come to make a profit.
1919
Beginning of modern Fiesta as a celebration of Santa Fe’s three cultures
(church bell ringing and the de Vargas enactors filing into the church)
ARCHBISHOP: We begin this Fiesta day with an act of prayer. We unite together as people of good will, regardless of the background of our faith tradition. Let us offer our prayer as one people, asking God’s blessing upon our Fiesta celebration, which is a celebration of our life in the spirit and our life as neighbors.
(in an outside parking lot)
MARCOS TAPIA: We celebrate de Vargas and his coming back into the Land of Enchantment. Not so much conquering the Indian people, because there was blood shed on both sides. Our generation cannot change what our forefathers have done. However, we can try to live up to some of those special ideas that were started way back then. We need to unify. We need to come together again.
CUADRILLA: Amen!
MAYOR: Bienvenidos! Welcome to a wonderful weekend. You are celebrating the 278th Fiesta, the oldest continuous community celebration in the United States. You are now standing in front of a building which has been under five flags: Spanish, Mexican, Confederate, Union, and the good old U.S. of A. You visitors are standing among the finest people that have
ever been a part of a community, and that’s our local Santa Feans, the people who we want to have enjoy this Fiesta.
AUDIENCE: Que viva!"
(festive music and shots of people in the crowd and of the parade)
ELAINE CERVANTES (gathering costumed children to ride off in parade float): Our priest, that's part of Santa Fe. Everything on the float’s part of Santa Fe. I have a nun. I have a Franciscan somewhere back there. I have a charro. Oh, and we have two Indians and a Don Diego de Vargas. Oh, and a cowboy, of course. Can't forget the cowboys! I hope a lot Hispanic people that live in Santa Fe, a lot of native Santa Feans, can see what we’re doing and maybe they’ll participate and they’Il want to do it, at least for their kids, if not for themselves.
1926
Zozobra invented by artist Will Shuster and incorporated into the Santa Fe Fiesta
(partying in a family home)
DOENIKA LILIENTHAL: For me personally, I feel the biggest impact on that day, on that Friday. It's always the second Friday in September now. Because, well, that's the night for me. That's the night for my family.
(Her family gathers costumes and leaves for the Fiesta)
CHIP LILIENTHAL: Let’s go! Make sure I got all her stuff in there.
DOENIKA LILIENTHAL: l was really too young, you know, most of my life, to really know what was going on. I just knew my father did this, and I watched him. And I was a little frightened. but I thought it was neat.
It's Old Man Gloom. Zozobra, you know? We're just burning off all the gloom, and that's what I’m feeling when I’m up there. I’m just saying, “Hey! We can let go of all our fears, let go of everything bad that’s happened.” Let’s start the new year. Let’s get into that and not worry about everything bad that’s happened, and things can only get better.
HAROLD GANS (Kiwanis Club): Mariachi! After about three hours, I go to the funny farm. But see, what I ask for they won’t give to me, is the Juilliard String Quartet. Thank you!
(after dark the towering Zozorba, seen by firelight, sways and growls; Donika in costume dances until Zozorba catches fire and “dies” wailing, to the cheers of the on-lookers)
CHIP LILIENTHAL: She did super, huh? She did super!
ONLOOKERS: She did super. You were great
1957
Founding of the Caballeros de Vargas, now sole directors of the Entrada Pageant
(enactors chatting as they costume themselves as Indians, with wigs, body paint, elaborate multicolored imitation feathered headdresses)
FAKE “INDIANS”: Hey a ya ya!
RANDY KANIATOBE: Hey how’re you guys doing? This is my nephew, Clifford, the son.
CREW: Hey, Clifford!
RANDY KANIATOBE: How're you doing today?
CREW: Nice to see you, man.
RANDY KANIATOBE: Yeah, likewise. Looks like everyone else looks pretty much savage, more savage than me, huh? It wasn't Pueblo. I mean, Pueblo was basically this attire, you know, the plain shirts, maybe a little more plain than this. This is more colorful, you know. And I even talked to one of my aunts, who is one of the old, old, old, old, and she then gave me a couple of hints on the attire. So it’s a little weird.
DAMIAN MARTINEZ: Hey, Marcos! Where’s Chief?
MARCOS TAPIA: l don’t know. Ought to be here.
CUADRILLA: Hey, Randy! Alright, Randy! Hey, Governor!
FAKE "INDIAN": If Randy doesn’t get mad, I'll tell you guys Indian jokes on stage.
VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE CABALLEROS: Is he here? Where's he at? Tell him to come here. Randy! Let me ask him if he'll just wear the top. I don’t think it would fit him, would it? Would the headdress fit you? Will you just wear the top?
RANDY KANIATOBE: Honestly, no.
MEMBER OF THE CABALLEROS: Okay.
(Indian drumming and an Indian dancer on a stage; scenes of Randy looking with dismay at the “Indians” in fake costumes and of Ed Berry trying to comfort him)
MAN READING SCRIPT: De Vargas's plans for a peaceful resettlement are shaky at best. There is still the possibility of a battle. De Vargas has sent a couple of his people to come and escort Chief Domingo so that he can talk with him. The question now is, will there be peace or will there be bloodshed? For the Indians know what fate they face if they are not fully prepared to meet these returning Spaniards.
VOICE OF DE VARGAS: Listen, Chief Domingo, to my words of peace.
VOICE OF DOMINGO: Don Diego de Vargas, your coming is a great surprise. My people do not know the meaning of all this. They think you are getting ready to fight, that there will be war and much killing.
VOICE OF DE VARGAS: Perhaps the time has come to prove that I come as a friend and not as an enemy. Go back and carry this special message. I will take off my helmet and unbuckle my sword and remove my armor. Thus unprotected, I will try to show your people how sincere I am in this serious matter.
(Randy at the rear and side of the stage talks grimly with others.)
MEMBER OF THE CABALLEROS: Turn around and go back down. Go back down.
MARCOS: It was really bad. It was really bad. I think all of us were just so upset with the Caballeros de Vargas that they would let something like this happen. Especially the dress of the Indians was a joke. It was a joke.
JANICE TENORIO: I guess that’s the way we saw it too, 'cause that wasn’t the way we dressed and that wasn’t the way we acted. And it was totally different.
MARCOS TAPIA: And Randy, I asked him to forgive me for doing it. It upset everybody in the cuadrilla. We felt ashamed to be Spanish. That’s what it came down to.
DAMIAN MARTINEZ: You have just seen reenacted the dramatic and transcendental reentry of the immortal hero, the peaceful reconquistador Don Diego de Vargas.
SPANISH PRINCESSA (to several upset Indian girls as she tries to give them a consoling embrace): I’m sorry.
DAMIAN MARTINEZ: l thought it went well. I couldn’t see it completely, but I thought that it went very well. Probably better than some of the things we’ve done in the past. Yeah.
RANDY KANIATOBE: Well, the Hispanics have their share. Everybody watches TV and, you know, you're stereotyped. And I think a lot of the people who actually don’t go see us or talk to us or know us have a tendency of believing everything they see on TV, which is a shame.
MARIANNE CANDELARIO: I haven’t attended an Entrada in a few years. I personally was very upset, I felt that they were degrading the Indian people. Randy, our Indian man, was very upset and our young ladies were. I spoke to Mariano Chavez on this, and I suggested that maybe he get together with the Caballeros de Vargas and see what they can do to remedy it. It’s just the way they were dressed. Our Indian people don’t dress in gunny sacks. I’m sorry. They don’t paint themselves like that. I was very upset and so were the Indian girls and so was Randy. But Randy was a bitter man.
DAMIAN MARTINEZ: Some of the criticisms have come from the Indian community, and I think rightly so. I think that any time you celebrate the conquest of another peoples where those peoples are present, I think it tends to have not a very pleasant effect, sort of an ill effect. And some of those criticisms have come from the Indian community. And we sympathize with that, but we can’t change history.
ERWIN RIVERA: The local community is under attack, our traditions, our culture. And unfortunately, the bad part about that is sometimes we hold onto negative distortions of what our history is. Let's reconcile that, let’s clear that up. And we can continue a celebration of Fiesta. I want to see it not just reach 300 years. I want to see it reach 600 years. But have it historically accurate. Have it be that annual reconciliation that we must always do with ourselves and with our families and with our neighbors.
1977
Boycott of the Santa Fe Fiesta by the All Indian Pueblo Council
(at the end of the fiesta, people carrying about candles in the darkness)
ARCHBISHOP: Let us all thank God for a beautiful 1990 Santa Fe Fiesta. It has been a blessing to all of us. I pray that it has been a blessing to our community. May we continue to embrace each other and reach out and support one another. Que viva! Buenas noches!
1990
Santa Fe loses its Spanish majority to Anglo Americans
DOENIKA LILIENTHAL: (playing in a band) No matter where I am, whether I'm touring with a band or off to college somewhere, you know. I will do my absolute best to always be back for this. I’ve got to be here. It’s something personal, it’s something with my family, and it’s a whole community activity.
JANICE TENORIO: I guess it really is up to us, because what's in the past is in the past. But now we're seeing that, well, there’s no harm done by making friends and being together.
MARCOS TAPIA (shaving): Fiesta was coming together, being back to the religion. Brings people back to it again. There's no need to change Fiesta. Just need to educate people on some of their ignorance. I think this is it.
WOMAN: And as for changes? No, I kind of enjoy it the way it is.
FIESTA COUNCIL VICE-PRESIDENT: I think that we can do a better job of being sensitive to each other’s traditions and each other’s needs.
YOUNG MAN (over glimpses of real and fake Indians in the Fiesta): I would personally appreciate more honesty in these kinds of celebrations.
HERMAN AGOYO: No one has ever really attempted to sit across the table and discuss those kinds of issues. And until that happens, it will continue the way it's going now.
MARIANO CHAVEZ: I would leave it up to the Indians to tell me what they would like to do.
MAN: We, the Spaniards, together with the Anglo and the Indian, we call this a tricultural city. And I think that we really need to reunite again to bring our customs and our traditions back together.
In 1991 the Indian costumes in the Entrada were changed to be more respectful of Pueblo Indian traditions. However, the part of Cacique Domingo, Governor of Tesuque, was not played by a Native American.
CREDITS:
produced and directed by JEANETTE DEBOUZEK
videography DIANE REYNA
sound STEVE PETERS
edited by DAVID AUBREY
additional camerawork by JEANETTE DEBOUZEK
MUSIC
Los Alacranes, Mariachi Alma Jalisciense, Los Galleros, Genoveva Chavez, Coro de
San Jose
“Santa Fe. Santa Fe" written by Manuel Esqueda
"La Fiesta de Santa Fe” written by Johnny Valdes and Billy Palau
"Las Tres Culturas del Mestizo” mural by Carlos Cervantes, Carlos Leyba, and
Samuel Leyba
Thanks to the following for their participation:
1990 De Vargas Cuadrilla and Staff
Marcos Andres Tapia portraying Don Diego de Vargas
Randy Kaniatobe portraying Cacique Domingo, Governor of Tesuque
Mike McDonald portraying Padre Presidente Fray Francisco Corvera
Bill and Madeline Tapia
and all the members of the 1990 Cuadrilla and staff
Ed Berry. Chair
1990 Fiesta Queen’s Court and Staff
Janice Marie Tenorio, Indian Princess
Esquipula and Mazie Tenorio
Mariano Chavez, Indian Participation Committee
Fiesta Queen Jennifer Juliet Manzanares
and all the members of the 1990 Queen’s Court and their families
Marianne Candelario, Chair
Zozobra and the Fire Dancer
Doenika Lilienthal, 1990 Fire dancer
Chip, Jeanette, and Katie Lilienthal
Mike and Diane Ellis
Jane Thomas
Harold Gans
and the Santa Fe Kiwanis Club for the use of the name and image of Zozobra
1990 Santa Fe Fiesta Council
Louis Gonzalez, President
Rick Berardinelli, Vice-President
Los Caballeros de Vargas
Rudy Fernandez, President
Damian Martinez, Vice-President
Herman Agoyo, All Indian Pueblo Council
John Kessell, University of New Mexico
Erwin Rivera
His Excellency Reverend Archbishop Robert F. Sanchez and the staff at St.
Francis Cathedral
Elaine Cervantes, Kathy Waters, Alejandro Lopez, Rick Moss
Thanks also to the following:
Greg Cajete, Institute of American Indian Arts
Thomas Chavez, Palace of the Governors Museum
Pedro Ribera-Ortega, La Cofradia de Nuestra Señora de la Rosario La Conquistadora
Ronald L. Grimes, Tomas Atencio, Alfonso Ortiz, Rina Swentzell
Cora Archuleta, Marcella Rivera, Cecilia Redman, Rick Berardinelli, Margo Shirley, Larry Moya and all the members of the Santa Fe Fiesta Council
Duke City Studios, Institute of American Indian Arts, Recursos de Santa Fe,
Insty-Prints, New Mexico Discount Office Supply, Disc Jockey Records
Jan Ankerson
Steve Peters
© 1992 Quotidian Independent Documentary Research
