The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20221212102932/https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/award-winning-film-documents-tribe-s-treasured-lincoln-canes/article_32d38544-05e8-540c-916b-0575dc6ac00a.html
Pojoaque Pueblo Gov. George Rivera holds four ceremonial canes — two from Spain, one from the state of New Mexico and, far left, one from President Abraham Lincoln — while dancers perform the Eagle Dance on Jan. 6. Clyde Mueller/The New Mexican
Pojoaque Pueblo Gov. George Rivera holds four ceremonial canes — two from Spain, one from the state of New Mexico and, far left, one from President Abraham Lincoln — while dancers perform the Eagle Dance on Jan. 6. Clyde Mueller/The New Mexican
In 1863, in the middle of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln presented New Mexico’s 19 pueblos with silver-headed canes as a symbol of the federal government’s recognition of their sovereignty.
He was following a tradition going back to the Spanish and Mexican governments, which also had presented canes to the pueblo leaders.
The Lincoln cane, given to the tribes when New Mexico was a U.S. territory, had the president’s name engraved on the head, along with the name of the pueblo.
The canes are still used, especially on Jan. 6, when new pueblo leaders take office. Some pueblo governors describe them as a “living spirit.”
The canes are the subject of an award-winning film by Silver Bullet Productions, a Santa Fe-based nonprofit that produces educational videos. Canes of Power won a Rocky Mountain Emmy Award for best cultural documentary last month.
“We are very aware that the Emmy is not about [Silver Bullet Productions], but about the importance of the story and quality of what was said,” said Pamela Pierce, a producer of the film and CEO of Silver Bullet Productions.
Lincoln’s gesture is considered somewhat surprising, given that his grandfather was killed by an American Indian in 1786. And during his administration, Navajos were forced out of their homes in Eastern Arizona and Western New Mexico to an internment camp in an area called Bosque Redondo in the Pecos River Valley.
But historians believe Michael Steck, who had been appointed superintendent for Indian affairs for the New Mexico territory, proposed the idea to Lincoln, who approved. Steck ordered the custom-made canes from a Philadelphia company and paid $5.50 each for them. Steck then presented each pueblo’s tribal leader with the cane.
David Aubrey, director of the film, said in order to get approval from tribal leaders to tell the stories of their canes, pueblo members wanted to make sure the producers were going to accurately describe what the canes mean to them.
“The canes as they see them really represent their sovereignty,” Aubrey said. “That’s the kind of respect they wish to be known for … therefore, they’re very valuable to the pueblos.”
Contact Uriel J. Garcia at 986-3062 or ugarcia@sfnewmexican.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ujohnnyg.
