In letter to Webber, Tesuque governor opposes restoring 'divisive' Plaza obelisk
Oct. 17—Tesuque Pueblo opposes returning the controversial Soldiers' Monument to the Santa Fe Plaza, where it was toppled during an Indigenous Peoples Day rally in 2020, according to a recent letter from pueblo leadership that calls the monument "divisive."
Instead, the pueblo recommends placing the monument at Santa Fe National Cemetery with a reworded plaque, Tesuque Pueblo Gov. Milton Herrera wrote in a letter dated Oct. 10 to Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber.
The 33-foot obelisk was erected in 1867 in honor of Civil War Union soldiers but also to honor soldiers who died in battle with "savage Indians" — language that made it controversial for decades. An unidentified man gouged out the word "savage" with a hammer and chisel in August 1974 as bystanders watched. Protesters pulled down the obelisk with ropes and chains during an Indigenous Peoples Day rally in October 2020.
Tesuque Pueblo is one of New Mexico's smallest with about 800 residents, but it has more than 17,000 acres just 10 miles north of Santa Fe, according to the New Mexico Tourism Department. The pueblo's recommendation comes amid an ongoing legal battle between the city and local fraternal organization Union Protectiva de Santa Fe, which is asking a state district judge to order the city to restore the obelisk at the center of the Plaza.
"At a duly called Tribal Council meeting, the Pueblo made clear that we do not want the Soldier's Monument on the Plaza. Maintaining this divisive Monument in the Plaza will only open the area to more protest, which may lead to violent encounters," the letter states.
The Tribal Council also wants to see the plaque rewritten, "using language that is not demeaning or controversial toward Indigenous people," Herrera wrote.
The letter was obtained by The New Mexican through a confidential source this week. City spokesperson Regina Ruiz confirmed the authenticity of the letter, adding Webber received it and shared it with City Council members and City Manager John Blair.
"They are dishonoring veterans is what they are doing," Virgil Vigil, president of the Union Protectiva de Santa Fe, said of the pueblo's position.
"It's tit for tat. You want to ruin our Soldiers' Monument? Let's go ahead and boycott the [Tesuque Casino]," Vigil said. "So I think we need to start boycotting the Tesuque Pueblo. That will be good. We'll do a tit for tat."
A proposal before the City Council to move the Soldiers' Memorial to the cemetery drew a flurry of amendments — more than could be worked through at a council meeting last month. A vote on the resolution was postponed until Oct. 30.
City officials are considering how to move forward.
"I think what we will end up having in front of us is a couple of different steps that we can take to move forward. I think that, first of all, most people in our community agree that the status quo is not something we should allow to continue," Webber said. "We're all tired of seeing the box, and we would all like to see progress made toward a better outcome."
Webber said he does not favor moving the obelisk back to the Plaza. "I think the letter from Gov. Herrera, as well as the testimony we've heard from quite a number of individuals, suggests that putting the monument back where it was would really not represent a position of compromise," he said.
"Because of the symbol the monument has come to embody, it causes pain, and causes concern to some of our community members, and it really does not reflect the best on us if we are willing to put the monument back and cause more pain to people who regard that as a symbol that is very detrimental to them," he said.
Herrera could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.
