Debra Garcia y Griego, Cabinet Secretary for Department of Cultural Affairs | americansforthearts.org
New Mexico Historic Sites will hold the annual Pueblo Independence Day event at Jemez Historic Site on Sunday, August 10, 2025. The day’s activities begin at 7:00 a.m. with a 13-mile run from the plaza in Jemez Pueblo along Highway 4 to the historic site. From 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., visitors can watch traditional Pueblo-style dances, browse Native arts and crafts for sale, purchase food from vendors, and tour Gisewa Pueblo.
"We celebrate this very important and complicated time in history with a demonstration of different ways our cultures have persevered," said Marlon Magdalena (Jemez), Instructional Coordinator Supervisor at Jemez Historic Site.
Pueblo Independence Day marks the anniversary of the Pueblo Revolt of August 10, 1680. On that date, Pueblo people organized an uprising against Spanish colonizers under the leadership of Po’Pay from Ohkay Owingeh. Runners carried knotted cords to each pueblo to signal when the revolt would begin. The morning run at this year’s event commemorates those runners’ efforts more than three centuries ago.
The revolt led to the expulsion of Spanish forces from present-day New Mexico to what is now El Paso, Texas. The Pueblo maintained their independence for twelve years until Spanish authorities returned in 1692.
The event serves as an opportunity to recognize and honor the cultural traditions, lands, languages, religions, and sovereignty of the Pueblo people.
Admission is $7 for adults; children age 16 and younger, Tribal members, New Mexico disabled veterans, New Mexico foster families, and members of Museum of New Mexico Foundation or Friends groups receive free admission. Tickets can be purchased online at my.nmculture.org/44488/45867.
Jemez Historic Site contains remains of Gisewa village—a settlement built about 700 years ago by ancestors of today’s Jemez Pueblo—located in San Diego Canyon. The area also includes ruins of San José de los Jémez Church dating back to the early seventeenth century. Exhibits tell stories through accounts from Jemez people and an interpretive trail runs through the outdoor ruins. More information is available at nmhistoricsites.org/jemez.
