This New Mexico PBS documentary is narrated by New Mexico resident and Oscar winner Wes Studi. Producer Pamela Pierce says the documentary tells the little-known story of the New Mexico pueblo resistance against colonization beginning in 1540. Follow this link to PBS special programming: https://www.pbs.org/video/no-greater-act-pueblo-resistance-6blfl7/
The documentary is narrated by New Mexico resident and Oscar winner Wes Studi. Pierce says the documentary tells the little-known story of the New Mexico pueblo resistance against colonization beginning in 1540. “This is not a history of pueblos, or the Pueblo Revolt, but a history of early resistance,” Pierce says. “The film explores the birth of resistance, a response to conflict that America still needs to employ.”
Pierce wanted to deep dive into the part of history that hasn’t been told to the extent of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, which was an uprising of the Pueblo people against Spanish colonization. The uprising was organized by Tewa leader Po’Pay and aimed to resist Spanish religious, economic and political oppression, ultimately leading to the temporary overthrow of Spanish rule for 12 years.
Pierce says the conflict and survival of the Pueblo people from the 1540s to 1696 is relevant to modern sovereignty. “The period of time defines a people,” Pierce says. “More than a Pueblo history, it focuses on events driven by the resistance to colonization by sovereign Pueblo nations — the story of courage and perseverance in the face of nation-building and colonization by European governments.”