We come together to proclaim our love for our city of ‘Ogap’ogeh, La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asis, Santa Fe: our people, our languages, our way of life, and this sacred land and its blessings, which we gratefully receive. We acknowledge the past and its trauma, tragedy, and sorrow; we understand its legacy in the present. We acknowledge wounds older and deeper than any on this continent. On behalf of those from the past who cannot ask for forgiveness, we do so now. We also acknowledge the remarkable depth of wisdom and resiliency that comes from struggle. We share in our grief; we share in our strength…We recognize that there is much healing to do. We understand that genuine reconciliation is a generations-long process that is challenging and complex—it will test our resilience.
For that reason, we commit ourselves to honest and compassionate engagement no matter how hard, no matter how long. We believe in our capacity to change and be changed. We rededicate ourselves to our core values: Love, Respect, Compassion, Faith, Understanding, Empathy, and Gratitude…We stand together today for our children, guided by our sacred duty to know and learn from the past, to acknowledge the present, and to envision a future in which all will thrive. We join together to make a new offering of peace and resolve to move forward together… Let us begin our walk, here, as stewards of something greater than ourselves… Let us unlearn and relearn. Let us walk together, one step and then another, that we may speak truth, that we may be transformed, that we may heal, that we may be kin. We offer these as promises and commit to children to choose the right path today, so that in the future, they call us good ancestors.
From the historic September 2018 city proclamation that resulted from one year of conversations between the All Pueblo Council of Governors, Archdiocese of Santa Fe, City of Santa Fe, the Caballeros De Vargas, and the Santa Fe Fiesta Council