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6. Cochiti Pueblo
- University of New Mexico Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
169 c h a p t e r 6 Cochiti Pueblo C ochiti is the northernmost Keresan-speaking pueblo in New Mexico.1 Many Cochiti tribal members believe that the tribe lived at Tyuonyi, the great ruin on the floor of Frijoles Canyon in Bandelier National Monument, before it moved to its current location, which it did before the arrival of the Spaniards. Not all Spanish expeditions mention Cochiti. In 1581 the Rodríguez-Chamuscado expedition visited Cochiti, describing the pueblo as having “230 houses of two and three stories.”2 In 1582 the Espejo expedition noted that “the [Cochiti] people were very peaceful. [They] gave us maize, tortillas, turkeys, and pinole. We bartered very fine buffalo skins for sleigh bells and small iron articles.” With the arrival of Oñate, Cochiti fell under the sway of the first Spanish colonists to settle permanently in New Mexico, but like other pueblos, it became less friendly toward Hispanos as forced Christianization proceeded. The first priest assigned to Cochiti was Father Rosas, who was headquartered at Santo Domingo. For the first part of the seventeenth century, Cochiti was a visita of Santo Domingo, but by 1637 a friar resided at the pueblo. Even though Cochiti was considered secondary to Santo Domingo in the early 1600s, its population was the larger of the two pueblos until after the 1680 Revolt. This reversal of fortune was due to Cochiti’s losses during the revolt and an influx of Tanos into Santo Domingo.3 Cochiti took an active part in the Pueblo Revolt. When the Cochiti people CHAPTER 6 170 learned of Governor Otermín’s 1681 attempt to reconquer New Mexico, they moved to the mesa top known as the Potrero Viejo, or the Cieneguilla de Cochití. There they remained off and on with their allies from San Felipe, Santo Domingo, San Marcos, and other pueblos, until Vargas, aided by a strong contingent of pueblo warriors from Santa Ana, San Felipe, and others, attacked and dislodged the Cochitis from their stronghold in 1693.4 ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Cochiti was subjected to grants to local Hispanos that overlapped its Pueblo league and its common grazing lands northeast of the pueblo. These overlapping grants included the 1728 Cañada de Cochití grant and the overlap of Miguel and Domingo Romero, whose claim stemmed from a 1739 grant to Andrés Montoya. Partly because of these overlapping grants, Governor Vélez Cachupín gave Cochiti its own grazing grant in 1766. In each of these cases of overlaps and new grants, Cochiti lost the lands it claimed.5 Cochiti also received land between its Pueblo league and that of Santo Domingo in 1722 when Alfonso Rael de Aguilar measured the two leagues, found about 1,600 varas between the two, and awarded 800 varas of additional land to Cochiti and Santo Domingo. Eventually Cochiti also lost this land to encroaching Hispanos. This case is discussed in more detail in chapter 1. In 1718 Cochiti filed a complaint with the cabildo of Santa Fe against alcalde Manuel Baca and his lieutenant, Antonio Baca, who was his son. Governor Antonio de Valverde Cosío (1716, 1718–1721) decided in favor of the pueblo, removing Antonio Baca from office, ordering him to remove his animals from Cochiti lands, and directing him to go on the next two campaigns “against the enemy who invade this kingdom.” Nevertheless, Baca was in office again in the 1750s and 1760s until Governor Vélez Cachupín removed him in response to a petition signed by forty-five residents of his jurisdiction, complaining of bribery , persecution, and various other offenses—some against the pueblos.6 Luis María Cabeza de Baca, a descendant of Manuel Baca, was part of another generation of Bacas who fought with Cochiti over the mistreatment of pueblo members and encroachment on Cochiti lands. In 1815 Cochiti initiated a lawsuit against Baca after a series of incidents in which Cochiti claimed that Baca was oppressing the pueblo both by physical abuse and encroachment.7 [3.138.122.195] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 20:04 GMT) 171 COCHITI PUEBLO Another Hispano involved in this litigation was Antonio Ortiz, whose Rancho de Sile, south of Cochiti, overlapped Cochiti and Santo Domingo, prompting Santo Domingo to intervene in the lawsuit, claiming its league had been incorrectly measured. The litigation bounced around among New Mexico, the general command in Durango, and the Audiencia of Guadalajara.8 The case began in the...