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1. Hey folx! With #DebforInterior now official, it's a good time to learn a bit about Puebloan culture and history. Why? Because a) you should probably know more Native American history than you do, and...
2. b) @repdebhaaland will be overseeing millions of acres of public/stolen land, so her land ethic is relevant—and is shaped by her Pueblo identity (for reference, see @laurapaskus ’s reporting, including this https://nmpoliticalreport.com/2019/01/22/for-haaland-climate-change-is-worth-losing-sleep-over/)
3. So, some background: The ancestors of modern Pueblo people left Southwest Colorado in the 1200s and settled in what’s now New Mexico. There are now 19 Pueblos in NM. Each is a sovereign nation.
4. Unlike many tribes in the U.S., Pueblo people have never been forced off their homelands or relocated to reservations, which means their place-based religious, agricultural and oral traditions continue unbroken.
5. Part of the reason is something called The Pueblo Revolt. In 1680, after a century in which invading Spaniards enslaved and tortured Pueblo people, Pueblo tribes united and drove the Spaniards out.
6. It was the only successful Native uprising against a colonizing power in North America. More here: https://indianpueblo.org/a-brief-history-of-the-pueblo-revolt/
7. Although the Spaniards later returned, the Pueblo Revolt illustrates how deftly Pueblo people have withstood centuries of colonization, as well as droughts and climactic swings in an arid land.
8. As someone who knows this history, has felt the effects of #climatechange, and has incredibly deep roots to the places we now call public lands, @repdebhaaland is gonna do things that no Interior Secretary has done before, and I’m so excited to watch & learn.
