The evolution of revolution: Virgil Ortiz’s Pueblo Revolt 1680/2180 as an assertion of Native presence through Indigenous Futurisms

Abstract

This article analyzes the Pueblo Revolt 1680/2180 metaseries by Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo), which constructs a continuum of historic events spanning five centuries. This metaseries represents 15 years of Ortiz’s work, in which he has created multiple series of pottery figures and vessels, multimedia installations, and consumer products that contribute to his representation of asynchronous Pueblo Revolts. The 1680/2180 body of work functions as a complex interrogation of the dominant historical narrative of European colonization in North America, as well as an exploration of Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies. Through a synthesis of science fiction, lived histories, and traditional Cochiti pottery materials and techniques, Ortiz reimagines a cyclical pattern of events in which the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 resurfaces 500 years later, thus asserting Indigenous presence and agency in the past, present, and future of colonial history. This article considers Ortiz’s metaseries through the lens of Indigenous Futurism, examining the ways in which Native artists and writers respond to the use of Indigeneity as a trope in mainstream science fiction, while emphasizing the significance of Native creation stories, cultural narratives, and ways of knowing. By participating in this critical discussion, Ortiz calls into question the means by which Euro-American and Native American histories and relationships are commonly narrated.