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On This Day (2/12/1599): In 1599 the Acoma Massacre took place, in which 500 Acoma people were killed for defending their home from the Spanish in present-day New Mexico. Another 500 were taken prisoner and later sentenced to a variety of punishments.
All were found guilty and Juan de Onate ordered their punishment. All men over 25 years old had one foot cut off and were forced to serve as slaves for 20 years. Everyone between 12 and 25 years old only had one foot cut off.
The massacre was the result of a failed peace negotiation between the Acoma people and the nephew of Juan de Onate, Captain Juan de Zaldivar. When Zaldivar arrived at the pueblo, he demanded food and supplies, which the Acoma people were reluctant to give.
Zaldivar then attacked some women, which for the Acoma, was extremely disgraceful. They in turn attacked Zaldivar and killed him. As a result, Juan de Onate sent Vincente de Zaldivar to punish the Acoma people and to burn their pueblo.
In 1998, during the 400-year anniversary of Spain's founding of New Mexico colony, a group of Acomas cut off the right foot of Onate's twelve-foot statue in Alcalde, New Mexico.
They later issued a statement about the incident: "We took the liberty of removing Onate's right foot on behalf of our brothers and sister of Acoma Pueblo ... We see no glory in celebrating Onate's fourth centennial, and we do not want our faces rubbed in it."
One Acoma man, Darrell Chino, said, "It was funny when it happened to the statue,but it wasn't funny when it happened to the real people." At the Onate Monument and Visitors Center, Estevan Arrellano, the director of the site, supervised the attachment of a new foot to the statue
He later said, "Give me a break – it was 400 years ago. It's okay to hold a grudge, but for 400 years?"
We are still here! HAAKU STRONG!
