SANTO TOMÁS FEAST DAY FESTIVAL


In Abiquiú, the feast day of Santo Tomás is celebrated in November during three days of prayer, song, procession and dance. The festival not only commemorates the pueblo’s patron saint but also the painful experiences of its people’s ancestors as war captives. Friday evening begins with a church


member leading the recital of the rosary. This is followed by dancing through the church as a form of prayer. On Saturday, community members don their ceremonial clothing and join a procession that weaves through the pueblo before the feast and more ceremonial dancing begin.


EL CAUTIVO DANCE


The Santo Tomás feast day ceremony culminates on Sunday with El Cautivo (The Captive) Dance, which has been performed at Abiquiú for more than 150 years. Dancers dress as their ancestors, with face paint, feather hair ornaments and ankle bells. They also wear dollar bills pinned to their ceremonial clothing, signifying their “ransom”—being purchased by the Spanish from other tribes—and the beginning of their enforced servitude. Spanish law allowed them to be free after 10 to 15 years.


20 AMERICAN INDIAN SUMMER 2020


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