October 12, 2013
After the solemn prayer and opening ceremony about a half hour earlier, we boldly marched down the old pueblo street and into the famous Santa Fe Plaza, drums roaring, singers chanting. The energy was tense. The crowd that had gathered there an hour or so earlier to celebrate this day looked on in shock. Fake conquistadores and fake Indians awkwardly forced to stop their absurd re-enactment charades. I remember one of the organizers frantically running to the front of our columns screaming at us to stop and turn around. “You can’t do this!” she croaked. We ignored her and quickly took over the Plaza, going around it in a circle several times, the fierce pow-wow tune echoing off the old adobe buildings. It was October 12th, 1992. Columbus Day in Santa Fe, New Mexico was emphatically shut down.
