Wes Studi narrates untold story of Pueblo resistance in new PBS documentary

As CEO of Silver Bullet Productions, Pamela Pierce knows the importance of storytelling.

She is also aware of accuracy.

Leading into preproduction for “No Greater Act: Pueblo Resistance,” Pierce and her team at Silver Bullet leaned heavily on the expertise of historians.

“It’s a labor of love,” Pierce says of the project. “It seemed like no one seemed to know about the more than 100 years of pueblo resistance.”

“No Greater Act: Pueblo Resistance” will premiere at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, on New Mexico PBS, channel 5.1. It will also be available to stream on the PBS app following the broadcast.

The documentary is narrated by New Mexico resident and Oscar winner Wes Studi.

Pierce says the documentary tells the little-known story of the New Mexico pueblo resistance against colonization beginning in 1540.

“This is not a history of pueblos, or the Pueblo Revolt, but a history of early resistance,” Pierce says. “The film explores the birth of resistance, a response to conflict that America still needs to employ.”

Pierce wanted to deep dive into the part of history that hasn’t been told to the extent of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, which was an uprising of the Pueblo people against Spanish colonization. The uprising was organized by Tewa leader Po’Pay and aimed to resist Spanish religious, economic and political oppression, ultimately leading to the temporary overthrow of Spanish rule for 12 years.

Pierce says the conflict and survival of the Pueblo people from the 1540s to 1696 is relevant to modern sovereignty.

“The period of time defines a people,” Pierce says. “More than a Pueblo history, it focuses on events driven by the resistance to colonization by sovereign Pueblo nations — the story of courage and perseverance in the face of nation-building and colonization by European governments.”

Pierce says resilience did not begin with the Pueblo Revolt of 1680; nor does this story. Instead, it is the culmination of efforts to resist Spanish colonization and retain sovereignty over land, culture and religion.

“Pueblo resilience remains a mystery outside the American Southwest,” Pierce says. “The lesser-known violent conflicts in New Mexico culminated in the unification of the Pueblo people. Any of these conflicts could have easily ended the Pueblo culture; instead, complex and creative forms of resistance halted Spain’s power in the New World, serving as universal lessons in resistance that remain relevant today.”

Luckily, when Pierce was searching for historians, she found a wealth of knowledge based in New Mexico.

State Historian Rob Martinez; Estevan Rael-Gálvez, president/CEO Native Bound Unbound; Porter Swentzell of Santa Clara Pueblo; and Matthew Liebman, Peabody Professor of American Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University are a few of the historians featured in the documentary.

“I’m one that reads footnotes,” Pierce says. “When I was doing research, I kept seeing Porter’s name, as well as Rob, Estevan and Matthew in those notes. I needed to find Matthew and I tracked him down at Harvard, and he was willing to help us out.”

To illustrate the series, local Native illustrators and animators were found. The project also used music composed by a Native musician.

“Then you have Wes Studi’s voice and it rounds out the entire film,” she says.

Pierce knows that Pueblo resistance isn’t a topic for everybody.

“It’s really dark,” she says. “It’s a wonderful story of survival. We take a look at what was lost and we can’t forget about the Pueblos that we will never know. Resistance is always needed and this showcases a time in history when Natives resisted and they continue to do so.”