The evolution of revolution: Virgil Ortiz’s Pueblo Revolt 1680/2180 as an assertion of Native presence through Indigenous Futurisms

Abstract

This article analyzes the Pueblo Revolt 1680/2180 metaseries by Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo), which constructs a continuum of historic events spanning five centuries. This metaseries represents 15 years of Ortiz’s work, in which he has created multiple series of pottery figures and vessels, multimedia installations, and consumer products that contribute to his representation of asynchronous Pueblo Revolts. The 1680/2180 body of work functions as a complex interrogation of the dominant historical narrative of European colonization in North America, as well as an exploration of Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies. Through a synthesis of science fiction, lived histories, and traditional Cochiti pottery materials and techniques, Ortiz reimagines a cyclical pattern of events in which the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 resurfaces 500 years later, thus asserting Indigenous presence and agency in the past, present, and future of colonial history. This article considers Ortiz’s metaseries through the lens of Indigenous Futurism, examining the ways in which Native artists and writers respond to the use of Indigeneity as a trope in mainstream science fiction, while emphasizing the significance of Native creation stories, cultural narratives, and ways of knowing. By participating in this critical discussion, Ortiz calls into question the means by which Euro-American and Native American histories and relationships are commonly narrated.

Keywords:

• Native American
• art history
• indigenous futurisms
• science fiction

Notes on contributor

Chelsea M. Herr (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) is a PhD candidate in Native American Art History at the University of Oklahoma, and is writing her dissertation on Indigenous Futurisms in the work of Native North American artists.

ORCID

Chelsea M. Herr http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4497-6342

Notes

1 While the origin of Cochiti monos figurative pottery is clear, the significance of the term itself is not. Some sources refer to the translation of the Spanish term for monkeys, while others use the term as a synonym for “men.” See Babcock (1987) and Batkin (1999).

2 The term ‘metaseries’ has been widely used in critical theory pertaining to science fiction writing, and was popularized by literature professor Donald Palumbo in his scholarship on Isaac Asimov. I borrow Palumbo’s usage here, as I believe the 1680/2180 work functions similarly to Asimov’s science fiction literature, especially considering Ortiz’s use of recurring characters and narratives throughout multiple series.

3 Mother Mound, a sacred site of emergence located in the current state of Mississippi. Note that nanih waiya is sometimes described as the site of emergence for the Choctaw people, and described other times as a final resting place after our long migration. See Akers (2004); Debo (2001); and Mould (2004).

4 Great White Dog.

5 Path (or Tail) of the Great White Dog, or the Milky Way.

6 I feel it imperative to note here that, as an outsider and as someone not initiated into the spiritual and ceremonial specificities of Cochiti Pueblo, I do not address what these sacred spaces might look like, entail, or produce. Rather, I simply aim to point out their existence and importance to Cochiti people.

7 Interestingly, the ways in which Dillon and Native authors such as Gerald Vizenor employ the term ‘slipstream’ are somewhat antithetical to its original definition. In 1989, Bruce Sterling coined the amorphous phrase to refer to literature that does not fit into the genre of science fiction, but is ‘a kind of writing which simply makes you feel very strange’ due to its apparent ‘antirealism.’ In Indigenous Futurisms, slipstream refers to a narrative device that would, in fact, correspond with generic science fiction, but is understood through an Indigenous lens.

8 While the term ‘Venutian’ might refer to their homelands as Venus, or another distant planet, Ortiz has yet to explicitly state where they live. He has explained that the Venutians are descendants of the original Pueblo peoples, but there is no clarification on whether or not they still live on Earth, or whether they left for a new planetary home prior to 2180.