On August 10, 1680, the Pueblo Revolt begins. Under Spanish rule, the Pueblo peoples were forced to serve as slave labor for the Spanish and their culture and religion attacked, including through the use of forced conversion to Catholicism by missionaries and the outlawing of traditional Pueblo religious practices. Tensions between the Pueblo and Spanish grew until eventually Popé, a shaman of the Ohkay Owinge (or San Juan Pueblo) who had been previously been imprisoned by the Spanish authorities for practicing his religion, organized a revolt with goal of forcing the Spanish out of the region and uniting the Pueblo people. Following the beginning of the revolt on August 10, the Pueblo successfully drove the Spanish out of the region. Though the revolt was successful, the goal of uniting the Pueblo faltered and the Spanish succeeded in reconquering the region a little over a decade later. However, the revolt was not in vain as the returning Spanish ended the practice of using the Pueblo as forced labor and afforded the Pueblo the right to practice their traditional belief systems so long as they also followed Catholic customs.

A statue of Popé is currently on display at the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. as one of the two statues placed in the hall by the state of New Mexico.