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A MEMORIAL

DECLARING FEBRUARY 10, 2008 "SANTA FE FOUR HUNDREDTH

ANNIVERSARY DAY" AT THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND

COMMEMORATING THE MORE THAN FOUR-HUNDRED-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF

THE SETTLEMENT AND FOUNDING OF LA VILLA REAL DE LA SANTA FE DE

SAN FRANCISCO DE ASIS, 1607-1610.

WHEREAS, before 1598, the pueblo people of the Rio

Grande region of New Mexico had inhabited the area now

officially known as La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San

Francisco de Asis, commonly called Santa Fe, for hundreds of

years; and

WHEREAS, from the first arrival of New Mexico's Spanish

colonists in August of 1598, the pueblo people of the Rio

Grande and adjoining regions of New Mexico provided support

and sustenance to those colonists, which allowed the colonists

to persevere at San Gabriel del Yunque, the first villa and

capital of New Mexico located in the pueblo lands of Okeh

Owinge, as well as at other small outlying settlements; and

WHEREAS, from the time of 1607, there existed a small

settlement of Spanish colonists in that same area; and

WHEREAS, on March 30, 1609, the viceroy of New Spain,

Martin Lopez de Gauna, upon the appointment of Don Pedro de

Peralta as governor and captain general of New Mexico, ordered

Governor Peralta to arrive in New Mexico before the end of

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1609 and to establish a villa at the site of what is now Santa

Fe; and

WHEREAS, by 1610, Governor Peralta had established his

villa at the site of what is now Santa Fe; and

WHEREAS, the pueblo people of New Mexico became part of

the extended community of the Spanish colonists, providing a

pool for intermarriage and becoming a source, both willingly

and unwillingly, of labor and economic support for the

colonists; and

WHEREAS, the Spanish colonists and the pueblo people

engaged in a two-way exchange of knowledge and cultural

folkways that would be mutually advantageous for both peoples;

and

WHEREAS, seventy years following the establishment of

the villa of Santa Fe, the pueblo people took up arms and

forced the inhabitants of the villa to retreat to El Paso in

what was then southern New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, in 1692, the Spanish colonists began a return

to the villa, which, following an initial peaceful return,

resulted in an armed conflict lasting through 1696; and

WHEREAS, following the repopulation of Santa Fe and

reinstitution of Spanish government in New Mexico, the pueblo

people found ways to protect their traditional ways while

adapting to the Spanish form of government and continuing the

process of mutual cultural interchange and support; and

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WHEREAS, over the following years into the twentieth

century and despite intermittent disputes, the colonists and

their descendants, many of whom were and are tied by blood to

the pueblo people and other surrounding Native American

tribes, and the pueblo people and other surrounding Native

American tribes formed alliances and accommodated each other's

cultures, allowing Santa Fe to flourish; and

WHEREAS, the peaceful acceptance of each other's

cultures continued through the United States' conquest of New

Mexico during the war with Mexico and contributed to the

evolution of Santa Fe's cultural heritage, and it resulted in

the recognition by the state and federal governments of the

sovereignty rights of the pueblo people, including their

rights to self-government; and

WHEREAS, during the period of 2008 through 2010, Santa

Fe shall proudly observe the four-hundred-year anniversary of

its settlement and subsequent founding as a villa and its

multicultural heritage with suitable events and observances by

the residents of Santa Fe to commemorate its first four

hundred years and to pass on to future generations the Indo-

Hispano heritage of Santa Fe and the surrounding region; and

WHEREAS, it is important that the commemoration provide

a foundation for healing the past and opening the way for a

permanent reconciliation between the descendants of Santa Fe's

Spanish colonists and the pueblo peoples and surrounding

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Native American tribes as well as the descendants of all of

the other Santa Fe settlers who have contributed to Santa Fe's

multicultural heritage;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that February 10,

2008 be declared "Santa Fe Four Hundredth Anniversary Day" at

the house of representatives and that congratulations be

expressed to the residents of Santa Fe and gratitude be

expressed to the surrounding pueblo communities for the

commemoration of the four-hundred-year establishment of Santa

Fe as a villa; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the pueblo people and the

citizens of Santa Fe be invited and encouraged to participate

in ceremonies of reconciliation and mutual recognition in

furtherance of the more than four-hundred-year history of

Santa Fe; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the mayor and city council of the city of Santa

Fe and to the governors and tribal councils of all the pueblos

of New Mexico and to the other surrounding Native American

tribes.