Text: What Folklore Takes Place During the Santa Fe Fiesta?
The Santa Fe Fiesta incorporates folklore practices rooted in Spanish tradition, Pueblo tradition, Anglo tradition, and Catholicism. The festival is framed by Catholic masses and a Marian tradition of parading La Conquistadora, a wooden idol of Mary, Mother of Christ, from her home church and then back again a couple of weeks later. During the Fiesta days, there is a procession of costumed “conquistadors”, a pet parade, an arts market, the burning of a giant effigy named Zozobra, mariachi music, and more. These types of festivals are very common in Latin America, where Spanish occupiers often forced native populations to reenact their defeat as a means to create unity among Spanish-occupied areas and exhibit desired behavior for native conquered peoples by displaying Spanish superiority. (Horton 2001, 43).
Context: Origins of the Santa Fe Fiesta and the Hispanic Settlement of New Mexico
The reconquest of Santa Fe has been called “bloodless” and is reenacted as such, with a pretend Don Vargas compelling a pretend native chief through words alone to relent to Spanish forces, which the chief then agrees to do. Through this dramatization and romanticization of actual historical events, the Hispanic population of Santa Fe has been able to reaffirm their own narrative and claim to the area (Horton 2001, 45). This has become especially important to Spanish descendants who have been resisting the Anglicization of New Mexico since the state was incorporated into the United States in 1912.
The reality of the reconquest is, of course, more complicated than this ritualized production during the Fiesta suggests. In actuality, much occurred among the native populations during the years after the Pueblo revolt and before the arrival of Don Vargas, and the area was largely abandoned by the time of the Reconquista due to political interchange between indigenous populations (Liebmann et al 2017, 145).
Context: Festivals as Folklore
Festivals are considered a major form of folklore (Sims and Stephens 2011, 8). Festivals usually contain many different genres of folklore, including verbal (eg., the playact between pretend Vargas and the pretend chief), material (eg., the traditional charro costume worn by mariachi players), and customary (eg., the parade of La Conquistadora). Typical elements of a festival include “celebration, enjoyment, ceremony, and departure from the ordinary” (Cudny 2014, 642). Ancient peoples engaged in festivals though they have become more common and varied in the modern era (Cudny 2014, 646).
Context: Spanish Relations with Indigenous Populations & Anglo Settlers
While Hispanic descendants consider the Santa Fe Fiesta to be a celebration of their ancestors’ triumph, it’s important to note that Pueblo descendants often find the festival offensive and the Pueblo nation has been boycotting the festival for much of its history (Horton 2001, 46). Because of this, the Fiesta has in more recent years claimed to celebrate the peaceful co-existence between Pueblo Indians and Hispanic descendants. In fact, many of the current residents of New Mexico are mestizo: mixed Hispanic and native. However, one could certainly argue that the dismissal of indigenous concern by rebranding the festival in words but not necessarily in spirit is equally offensive.
Relations between Hispanic settlers and Anglo settlers have been largely uncomfortable and often violent all along the border, including New Mexico. “The records of frontier life after 1848 are full of instances of cruelty and inhumanity,” write Parades in his work, With His Pistol in His Hand. “But by far the majority of the acts of cruelty are ascribed by American writers themselves to men of their own race. The victims, on the other hand, are very often Mexican” (Parades 1958, 18). This added layer of complexity adds a unique element to the Santa Fe Fiesta, with Spanish descendants at once declaring superiority over indigenous populations while also resisting oppression and Anglo assimilation.