On Roscoe Pond's blog Native Talent 2009 I found a message that Zahn had sent
stating that he recently finished a new movie. It's called God in America and
details religious life in North America from the time of Columbus up to the last
election. Zahn will be playing the role of Popay, the pueblo leader who played a
major role in the Pueblo revolt in 1680.

Here is a link to the blog article with a beautiful new photo of Zahn:
http://nativetalent1.blogspot.com/2009/05/zahn-mcclarnon-native-actor-of-week.ht\
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I also pulled up the following information about Popay on the foolowing link:
http://www.singingstonestudio.com/about_pope.htm


Who was Popé?

Popé was born around 1630 in pueblo village of Oke Oweenge, otherwise known as
San Juan Pueblo. His given name was Popyn, which means "Ripe Squash" in Tewa. He
grew up among a peaceful people who tended their crops and observed their native
religion. This religion was interwoven into fabric of their daily lives, and was
as fundamental to them as their breath. It not only consisted of ceremonies,
dances and other ritual observances, but also was a central part of all the
actions and interactions of their existence as it had been for centuries.

As Popé grew into a young man, the Spanish settlers in New Mexico became more
and more powerful. They were determined to dominate these peaceful people, and
forced many Pueblo People into labor to build churches and support the growing
Spanish community. They were required to provide food and other necessities to
the Spaniards from their own short supplies. People who did not comply were
flogged, burned at the stake, garroted, or taken into slavery. Men were
routinely punished, and women routinely raped.

The Spaniards also exerted extreme pressure on the Pueblo People to give up
their religion and their way of life in favor of Christianity. The dances and
other ceremonies were forbidden, and those found practicing their religion were
made examples of, and were tortured before being put to death.

In 1675, forty-seven Pueblo leaders were rounded up and tried for sorcery. They
were convicted, and sentenced to hang, or be flogged. Popé was among those
sentenced; he was then whipped, and bore the scars as a symbol of the Spanish
oppression for the rest of his life.

In 1680, Popé organized the successful overthrow of the Spanish tyranny, now
called the "Pueblo Revolt". He and his followers agreed that runners would be
sent to each Pueblo carrying a deerskin strip tied with knots. Each knot
represented the number of days remaining before the campaign against the
Spaniards would begin. Every morning, at each Pueblo, a knot would be untied.
When all the knots had been untied, the uprising against the Spaniards was to
begin in all the Pueblos.

This plan almost failed because sympathizers in several villages notified the
Spaniards of its details. The Spaniards then arrested two of the runners, and
their deerskin strips were taken. Two days before the last knot was untied, on
August 10, 1680, the attacks on the Spaniards began. It caught the Spaniards by
surprise, and as a result they were unprepared for the battle. As more and more
Puebloans joined in the uprising, the Spaniards retreated to Santa Fe, and were
held at bay by the huge number of Puebloan warriors. The water supply was then
restricted to the fort at Santa Fe. Eventually the remaining Spaniards were
allowed to leave, and head south toward El Paso. The Pueblo leader, Popé, had
led the first successful revolution against foreign oppressors on North American
soil