Uprising: The Pueblo Indians and the First American War for Religious Freedom

by Jake Page

The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 changed the course of history. It was the only war that American Indians ever won against the Europeans. In this new nonfiction account, Jake Page delves into the events leading up to the revolt, its aftermath, and the less well-known second revolt.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

184 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2013

About the author

Jake Page was a celebrated editor, science writer, and novelist who made complex topics accessible through wit and clarity. Though he never studied science formally, his role editing Natural History Books at Doubleday sparked a lifelong passion for explaining science to general readers. As science editor and columnist at Smithsonian magazine, he wrote with elegance and humor on a wide range of subjects, from aspirin to Zane Grey. Page authored dozens of books, including works on birds, earthquakes, and Native American history. His fascination with the American Southwest led to a mystery series featuring a blind sculptor-detective. Collaborating with his wife, photographer Susanne Anderson, he produced detailed cultural studies like Hopi and Navajo. His major nonfiction achievement, In the Hands of the Great Spirit, traces 20,000 years of American Indian history. Whether exploring anthropology or writing fiction, Page championed curiosity, clarity, and the belief that science was too important to remain only in expert hands.

Reviews

[Tom Darrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of a poorly understood conflict in American and Native-American history. When most people hear "colonial history", they think Jamestown or Pilgrims, but this book covers a whole chapter of North American history that isn't very well known. It is a topic worth learning about, but the book is somewhat poorly executed. First, the book suggests that it will focus mostly on the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, but that conflict is covered in just one chapter. Scarcity of source material is largely to blame, but it leaves the reader a bit perplexed. Granted, most of the information he covered is educational... basics of Pueblo religion, culture and history, the Spanish colonial efforts, etc. but the focus was somewhat off.

Additionally, although there are some pictures, they are 1) poorly drawn and 2) not related to what the chapters are talking about. Most are random tribal designs, which are important to the Pueblo, but not on topic.

Overall, I don't regret reading this book. I'm a US history teacher and knew only the basics of this conflict, so reading this helped flesh out my understanding. Furthermore, I appreciate that this book wasn't a dry anthropological text. But, generally speaking, I feel like the execution and packaging of this story could be more professional.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike many of the dense, academic books on this topic, this is a very readable overview of the Spanish colonists in New Mexico and the Pueblo revolt. Enhanced perhaps by the years the author spent on the reservations.

[Robert Temple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of an often overlooked event in American history. Jake Page has a highly readable style. I highly recommend this book as an introduction to the history and culture of the Pueblo peoples.

[Jake Watmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jake Page offers a great insight into this pivotal moment in pueblo history, with the artistic pros of a fi ion writer. Great read!

[David Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, I would like more information about culture and religion of the tribes.
Not that interested in the conflict of the spanish colonization and body counts

[Judith Nasse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Uprising with relish. I’ve tried to read other books about the Pueblo Revolt, but couldn’t get into them as they were too ponderous or dry. Jake Page’s prose is as good as non-fiction narrative can get, and it flows like a well-paced, humming river. So many historical books get bogged down with the numerous players, settings, or events, but not Uprising. In the narrative the people, Pueblos, settlements, and complicated events are so well portrayed that I could quite easily keep track of them. The map also helped. The spot illustrations are an added bonus.

Because I live in the region, I see it as a plus that Jake Page also lives here as the land itself informs the book’s narrative. Even in an automobile, it t takes the fortitude of an old mountain man to traverse this vast desert region in order to ferret out the facts hidden between the Spanish lost or destroyed records, the understandable Pueblo secrecy in order to preserve their culture, and the cultural narrative point of view on all sides of the history and peoples in New Mexico.

Jake Page points out on page 161, “The Pueblo Rebellions of 1680-1696 can be considered the first American revolution – fought in part if not entirely for the right of the Pueblo people to practice their s and cultural ways without interference.”

It is amazing that to this day, in spite of conquest, some diaspora, intermarriage, and suppression of culture, religion, and language that the Pueblos remain the most intact of all the North American indigenous groups.

[Claudia Mundell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great readable overview of Pueblo history in New Mexico. Sad to read again though how religious men did horrid deeds in the name of Christ...