The celebratory cremation of the Michael Jackson-inspired Old Man Gloom last Friday heralds the beginning of another, even longer-standing tradition: the Fiesta de Santa Fe. But it is early mass in the Rosario Chapel that officially begins the 309th Fiesta on Friday September 10th. Personal events through Sunday include dancing, music, and food in the plaza, although public parades will not occur. For the Santa Fe Fiesta Council, the weekend commemorates “Don Diego De Vargas’ peaceful reconquest of the City of the Holy Faith in 1692” and marks his reported prayer and promise to La Conquistadora, a version of the Virgin Mary.
However, the roots of the tradition are not undisputed. The conquest of the city led to the bloodshed of the region’s indigenous people and set the stage for centuries of conflict. In 2018, the council and other stakeholders agreed to shut down the entrada, a re-enactment of the “peaceful” version of events, after demonstrators denounced its mythical portrayal of colonialism. In the face of other recent events compelling Santa Fe to grapple with parts of its darker history (see the quiet removal of the De Vargas statue through town on a summer morning last year and the public demolition of the obelisk a few months later) is coming Fiesta in a delicate time for the city.
Enter Doug Nava. The Fiesta Council selected 46-year-old Nava to play De Vargas – the man with a tattoo on his right arm. Nava has been influenced by the fiesta culture since his youth and tells SFR that with his two-year rule his goal is to sow unity. The interview was edited for reasons of space and clarity.
SFR: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Doug Nava: I was born and raised downtown [of Santa Fe]. I live a mile from [the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis]. So I come from a family who worked on the plaza all my life. I am also part of the Navas, the Nava Elementary School, [Francis Xavier] Nava was mine [second] Cousin, the first man in Santa Fe to lose his life in Vietnam … I am also the eighth person in my family, between De Vargases and Reinas, who has held the title since 1952.
Why is it important to you to serve as Don Diego De Vargas?
I’ve been trying to get this title since 1997 so I waited 24 years to hear my name being called. The first time I ran for Don Diego De Vargas was in 1997 at the age of 21, when the cut-off age was 21. I turned 21 and was on stage straight away. And I’ve been to three cuadrillas: 1997, 1999 and 2004 … This title means a lot to me. I am very old fashioned in my traditions and beliefs, but I was raised extremely traditionally. La Conquistadora is the most important thing. I tell everyone, ‘She is the reason I live.’ You know, 10 years ago I had open heart surgery and it was because of it that I survived.
What are you hoping for from this role?
My goal is to end the stigma that the Spanish were bad people 400 years ago. I understand the story wasn’t the best, but when a lot of people made their story, Don Diego De Vargas died while on an expedition to Bernalillo to keep the Apaches from attacking the local pueblos. Much of this is what people are not aware of. Unfortunately, anyone who reads history always interprets what they want. I just want the stigma of what people think of us to be stigmatized – every picture of a Spaniard always has that glare on its face – but I want people to understand that we are a good community … fiesta de Santa Fe, this celebration is no different from a festival, we just do it in a different language.
My aim in this role is to make the Spaniards proud of themselves. I hear so often when they say they are taking our culture away and I want the Spanish community to understand that they really are not. No, I want people to realize that 300 years cannot be taken away. It’s a matter of remembering. I was heartbroken when the De Vargas statue was removed, but at the same time I would rather have it in a safe place than always having to scrape off spray paint and the like. It’s a bit like going to the cemetery; You honor these tombstones.
Do you think most of the people in the Santa Fe community have a no-nonsense understanding of fiestas?
I think it’s based on whatever history book you are [read]. You will have these people writing professionals by the side of the Native American people and telling what they want to say about the Spanish. And you have these people reading the Spanish page talking about peace and all that stuff – it’s all your personal interpretation, it’s what you get from it. I’ve read the books and I’ve read what the natives wrote about them. Yes, they talk about how they were treated. And then you read the Spanish and they talk about what they got into. You can only believe what your heart wants to believe.
I’m very close to all of my great aunts and one night I asked them, “Has it always been like this?” And my aunt says, “Yes, there was always this little person who didn’t believe in it.” She said, “We have just the kind of social media that makes it easier to let everyone know. “
There has been a lot of talk about the division in Santa Fe this year. Does it feel more divisive to you than at other times in the city?
I would say it’s only a quarter [of the population] because most of them are pretty relaxed and we all get along … But if I can come out strong – and not strong, as a Spaniard and a conquistador who wears a sword and things – strong in my beliefs and in my beliefs, I can do the domino effect start this way instead of this way.
If they destroy something, it annoys the Native Americans [and] it also annoys the Spaniards because we don’t want to see destruction. Nobody likes to see destruction. It’s one thing to be loud, another to be disruptive. But protesting stuff goes back to the 60s and 70s. And I understand that, but at the same time we can be peaceful … For some, they may not have believed that we lived in peace then, but we can live in peace now.
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