The Witches of Abiquiu - by Malcolm Ebright & Rick Hendricks (Paperback)

About the Book

The little-known story of a priest's charges of witchcraft among Indians in mid-eighteenth-century New Mexico and how the Spanish government rejected the charges in the effort to achieve peace with their Native subjects.

Book Synopsis

The little-studied witchcraft trial that took place at Abiquiu, New Mexico, between 1756 and 1766 is the centerpiece of this book. The witchcraft outbreak took place less than a century after the Pueblo Revolt and symbolized a resistance by the Genízaros (hispanicized Indians) of Abiquiu to forced Christianization.

The Abiquiu Genízaro land grant where the witchcraft outbreak occurred was the crown jewel of Governor Vélez Cachupín's plan to achieve peace for the early New Mexican colonists. They were caught between the Pueblo Indians' resistance to Christianization and raids by the nomadic indio barbaros that threatened the existence of the colony. Thanks mainly to the governor's strategy, peace was achieved with the Comanches and Utes, the Pueblo Indians retained their religious ceremonies, and the Abiquiu Pueblo land grant survived and flourished.

The Witches of Abiquiu is the story of a polarizing event in New Mexico history equal in importance to the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692.

Review Quotes

""The Witches of Abiquiu" shows the great complexity of the colonization of New Mexico and the amazineg diversity of cultures still characterizing the state."

""The Witches of Abiquiu" authors Malcolm Ebright and Rick Hendricks tell a mind-boggling tale of witches, sorcery, spells, exorcism, curses, and battles with the Devil during the establishment of the Abiquiu Genizaro land grant between 1756 and 1766..this solidly researched and meticulously documented story reveals a time of social conflict and culture clash during one of New Mexico's most interesting historical periods."