The story of Tortugas begins with the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, when the indigenous peoples of New Mexico rose against Spanish colonial rule. Not all Native Americans joined the uprising. The Tiwa of Isleta Pueblo, the Piro from near Socorro, and the Manso whose territory stretched along the Rio Grande into present-day Juarez -- many of these people had formed alliances with the Spanish, converting to Christianity and working alongside the colonists. When the revolt succeeded in driving the Spanish from Santa Fe, these allied tribes faced an impossible choice. They traveled south with the retreating colonists to Paso del Norte, the settlement that would become Ciudad Juarez, where Spanish missionaries established new missions for them.

Tortugas was formally established in 1852, though its people had lived in the region for generations. The community originally consisted of two Native villages: the Pueblo of Guadalupe and the Pueblo of San Juan de Guadalupe. The land was granted to tribal members, creating a space where displaced peoples from multiple tribes -- Piro, Manso, Tiwa, and later Jumanos, Sumas, Apaches, Conchos, and Raramuri -- could maintain their traditions. Many residents also trace ancestry to Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in Texas, another community established after the Pueblo Revolt. The area near the Rio Grande oxbow teemed with turtles, giving the settlement its distinctive name.

Every December 10th through 12th, Tortugas comes alive with the Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a celebration that reveals the complex spiritual heritage of its people. Four dance groups perform during the ceremony: the Pueblo Indian dancers, the Danzantes, the Danzantes Guadalupana, and the Danzantes Chichimecas. The latter two are matachines groups, performing a dance form that itself blends European and indigenous traditions. The fiesta weaves Catholic devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe together with Native ceremonial practices that predate Spanish contact, creating something neither purely indigenous nor purely European but distinctly Tortugas.

Despite maintaining continuous cultural traditions since 1852, Tortugas Pueblo is not federally recognized as a Native American tribe. This lack of recognition stems partly from the complex history of its founding peoples -- the Manso, in particular, are often listed as extinct in official records, even as their descendants continue to live at Tortugas. The community has thrived as an inter-tribal collective, preserving traditions that might otherwise have been lost. As of 2020, the census counted 579 residents. Patrick Narvaez serves as the current cacique, continuing a leadership tradition that links the present-day pueblo to centuries of indigenous governance.