1668 – Famine, Starvation, Las Humanas and other Pueblos, current-day NM — ~450
— >450 Fray Bernal letter, Apr 1669, in Ivey. “‘The Greatest Misfortune of All’…” 1994, p. 76.
— ~450 Ivey, James E. “In the Midst of a Loneliness”…, National Park Service, 1988.
— >450 National Park Service. “Gran Quivira National Monument…New Mexico.” 12-4-2013.
Narrative Information
Ivey: “The years from 1665 to 1680 were a time in increasing tribulation for the province of New Mexico, culminating in the disastrous Pueblo Revolt and the loss of the province for sixteen years. Historians have traditionally accepted the portrait of these years painted by the Franciscan missionary Fray Juan Bernal in a letter written to his superiors in Mexico City in April 1669. Fray Bernal said that the province of New Mexico
Is nearly exhausted from suffering two calamities which were enough to put it out of existence, as it is even now hastening to its ruin….The second misfortune is that for three years no crops have been harvested. In the past year, 1668, a great many Indians perished of hunger, lying dead along the roads, in the ravines, and in their huts. There were pueblos (as instance Humanas) where more than four hundred and fifty died of hunger. The same calamity still prevails, for, because of lack of money, there is not a fanega of corn or of wheat in the whole kingdom, so that for two years the food of Spaniards, men and women alike, has been the hides of cattle which they had in their houses. To made them edible they toast them, and then eat them. And the greatest misfortune of all is that they can no longer find a bit of leather to eat, for their herds are dying. (Fray Bernal letter, Apr 1669, in Ivey. “‘The Greatest Misfortune of All’… p. 76 of 76-100..) [1]
NPS: “Gran Quivira’s site history began ca. AD 800 with a sedentary native population dwelling in pithouses. Archaeological evidence indicates that by 1300 AD the rise overlooking the southern Estancia Basin was inhabited by Tompiro-speaking peoples who built the culturally distinct pueblo masonry architecture, called Las Humanas by the Spaniards, that so fascinates us today. Living in a land with scarce water, these early peoples subsisted from hunting, gathering, and agricultural activities, allowing them to develop trade relationships with the Apaches and other tribes. It was into this delicate balance of subsistence that the Spanish entered.
“In 1598, while exploring the territory he had claimed for Spain, Don Juan de Oñate arrived at Las Humanas and administered an oath of obedience and vassalage to the Humano Indians, precipitating a tumultuous relationship between the natives and the Spanish conquerors that would last for nearly one hundred years. He also left behind the indelible marks of a collision between cultures. The later shift in colonial interests from mineral wealth to the conversion of the native inhabitants resulted in lasting effects in the role of the church versus the role of the civil authorities that pinned the Indians between the competing Spanish factions and their plans for the land and its people.
“Missionary activities at Las Humanas began in earnest and around 1626 the pueblo was designated as a visita of San Grégorio de Abó mission. By 1629 Las Humanas had its own resident priest, Fray Francisco de Letrado, who in 1631 began construction on a new church and convento. Although Letrado was transferred before the new church was finished, his successor, Fray Francisco de Acevedo, supervised the completion of a small church that was dedicated to San Isidro in 1629. As Las Humanas fought to gain full mission status, a second and larger church was begun by Fray Diego de Santandér upon his arrival at Las Humanas after 1659.
“Trouble soon followed, as tensions that had long been mounting between the civil and ecclesiastical authorities were exacerbated by the fight over who among the Spanish had the right to direct the labor of the Indians. Governors sought native labor to increase their personal wealth while undermining the authority of the priests among the Indians. Secular authorities captured Apaches for use as slave labor or for sale to the northern areas of New Spain, causing retaliatory attacks by the Apaches upon spiritual centers which were located in outlying areas like Las Humanas. By 1660 amidst this turmoil, Humano inhabitants found themselves in the grip of drought and famine without government aid, surviving only on food brought into the Salinas Basin from other missions. Persistent drought plagued the area, eventually leading to the starvation deaths in 1668 of over 450 Humano Indians. A mass grave of more than 450 individuals in the cemetery at Gran Quivira illustrates the ravages of disease and famine on the native population during the late 17th century. In September 1670, Apaches raided Las Humanas and destroyed the mission and pueblo leaving eleven dead and taking thirty inhabitants as captives. By 1672 the site was abandoned….” (NPS. “Gran Quivira National Monument…New Mexico.” 12-4-2013 update.)
Sources
Ivey, James E. “In the Midst of a Loneliness” – The Architectural History of the Salinas Missions (Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument Historic Structures Report). Santa Fe, NM: Southwest Cultural Resources Center Professional Papers No. 15, Southwest Regional Office, National Park Service, 1988. Accessed 12-23-2014 at: http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/sapu/hsr/index.htm
Ivey, James E. “‘The Greatest Misfortune of All’: Famine in the Province of New Mexico, 1667-1672.” Journal of the Southwest, Vol. 36, No. 1, Spring 1994, pp. 76-100. Accessed 1-18-2013 at: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/40169905?uid=3739864&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21101548635173
National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. “Gran Quivira National Monument (now Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument), New Mexico.” NPS Archeology Program. Antiquities Act 1906-2006 Monument Profiles. 12-4-2013 update. Accessed 12-4-2013 at: http://www.nps.gov/Archeology/sites/antiquities/profileGranQuivira.htm
[1] In another document for the National Park Service (In the Midst…), Ivey writes in Chapter Eight: “The famine was not quite as catastrophic as he stated–Indians were not dying of hunger in wholesale fashion beside the roads of the entire province–but there were severe food shortages in the province and perhaps four hundred and fifty deaths from starvation and thirst at Las Humanas.” A footnote reads: “For a detailed discussion of the period of famine and increasing conflict between Indian and Spaniard, see James E. Ivey, “Apaches and Famine: Indian Depredations and Food Shortages in the Province of New Mexico, 1669-1672,” manuscript in the files of the Southwest Regional Office, National Park Service, Santa Fe.”