Pelosi Remarks at Po'Pay Statue Dedication

Pelosi Remarks at Po'Pay Statue Dedication

Thursday, September 22, 2005
Contact: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider

Washington, D.C. - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke this afternoon at a ceremony held to dedicate a statue of Pueblo revolutionary Po'Pay in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. Below are Pelosi's remarks:

"Thank you very much Senator Domenici, leaders of the Congress, House and Senate, and Representative Wilson. I especially want to recognize my colleague, Congressman Tom Udall, for his work in bringing this statue to the Capitol today, and for being a tireless advocate for the Native Americans he represents in the 3rd Congressional District, and for Native Americans nationwide.

"Before the Civil War, this hall served as the chamber for the House of Representatives. That lasted until engineers decided its acoustics were ill-suited for the clamor and hubbub of floor debate. Today Statuary Hall is home to a quieter group, a complete group now with the dedication of Cliff Fragua's striking statue of the Pueblo revolutionary, Po'Pay.

"In 1598, Spanish conquistadors arrived at the Rio Grande and claimed the plains to the west of the river, the land of Po'Pay's people. When the Spanish encountered the Pueblos, the people who had lived and farmed and worshiped on the land for centuries, they saw them as only a minor inconvenience. Their land could be taken; their farmers put to work for Spanish aristocrats; their religion suppressed.

"The Pueblos did not accept this as their fate. For the next 80 years, they fought fiercely against imperial rule. In 1675, Spanish authorities tried to quell the resistance by publicly beating 47 Pueblo leaders in a Santa Fe square. Four of the men died. Among those who survived, scarred and battered, was a holy man from the San Juan pueblo named Po'Pay.

"It would have been easy for Po'Pay to walk away in the face of Spanish guns and swords, to throw up his hands at the challenge of uniting a resistance among people divided by language and geography. But Po'Pay believed in the idea of freedom. And so, on August 10, 1680, a broad coalition of Pueblo nations led by Po'Pay staged the first American Revolution in the West, driving the Spanish from their fort at Santa Fe and back across the Rio Grande.

"Thus was born the legacy of Po'Pay. Though Spain would ultimately recapture the lands, the society that emerged in the wake of the Pueblo revolt was more open, more accepting of cultural differences, and more free.

"When Po'Pay and the other Pueblo leaders had finalized their plans for the uprising, they sent messengers to each of the allied tribes. To coordinate their efforts, each messenger was given a piece of rope with ten knots tied in it and told to untie one knot each day. When the last knot was untied, they would know to attack.

"Today in America, knots of inequality and intolerance remain, and they are less easy to untangle. They chafe the fingers and confound easy solutions. But if we can learn one lesson from the men and women enshrined in this hall, it is that progress has not come in a gentle wave, pushed by the invisible forces of history. Progress came through the inspired efforts of Americans who stood up for their beliefs.

"Po'pay was a spiritual man. The Pueblo are a spiritual people. The Pueblo have a prayer which translates as follows:

‘Hold on to what is good

Even if it is a handful of earth

Hold on to what you believe

Even if it is a tree that stands by itself

Hold on to what you must do

Even if it is a long way from here

Hold on to my hand

Even if someday I'll be gone away from you.'

"By holding onto the memory of Po'Pay, America's first revolutionary, and the memories of the other great men and women enshrined here, we remind ourselves that our nation has been profoundly shaped by individual acts of innovation, defiance, courage, and revolution. And we also celebrate the better America these acts have helped define.

"One hundred years ago, Po'Pay could not even have entered a voting booth. Today, he takes his rightful place among his peers. Tomorrow, and in the days to come, let us commit to honoring his memory by building an America that is more open, more free, and more just. Thank you."

http://democraticleader.house.gov/press/articles.cfm?pressReleaseID=1194