A large ancestral Apache ranchería has been documented in the mountains of southern New Mexico, east of El Paso and north of the Rio Grande. Occupied by various Apache bands and recalcitrant members of local nomadic tribes, this site—complete with stone walls and ramparts—was used as a defense against…
Evelina Zuni Lucero (Isleta Pueblo) writes about the influence and importance of writer and poet Simon Ortiz (Acoma Pueblo). By Evelina Zuni Lucero Summer 1978. I was a young journalist, in love with words, thriving on deadlines and adrenaline rushes, disbelieving that I actually got paid to meet and…
Elizabeth Willis DeHuff was an art teacher at the Santa Fe Indian School in the early 1900s. She taught many young Indian Students to paint, and was later criticized for allowing them to paint their Indian ways, that were otherwise discouraged at the school….. Elizabeth Willis DeHuff and the Young…
The town of Cerrillos was founded in 1879 as a mining camp. The Cerrillos Hills mining district, now an historic park, has a unique tri-cultural history of mining dating back to 1000 AD. Cerrillos, New Mexico and Mining in the Cerrillos Hills by Emmy Levitas The prospect and practice…
In 1837 there was a bloody native insurrection in New Mexico through which certain elements from the country north of Santa Fe took hold of the government, then a Department of the Mexican Republic, and installed their leader, José Gonzales, as Governor. This brief article does not concern itself…
The Petroglyph National Monument is a 17 mile long volcanic basalt escarpment, encompassing approximately 7,236 acres (29.28 km²), located on the West Mesa of Albuquerque, New Mexico. This area has a long history of occupation, being used by Native peoples for prayers, offerings, gathering of medicinal plants, and is considered…
On June 2, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed into law a very brief act stating “that all non-citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States: Provided, that the granting of such citizenship shall…
In the Four Corners region of the state, the traditional houses of the Diné (Navajo) dot the landscape. In the Four Corners region of the state, the traditional houses of the Diné (Navajo) dot the landscape. While styles vary across time periods and are influenced by available materials, a…
Musings on the Navajo Nation For most of my career as a scholar, I have been interested in the myriad ways that the Diné/Navajos have been represented by generations of travelers, writers, anthropologists, federal policy makers, and historians. The representations of Diné have had a significant impact on our…
Essay on the Cristobal Nieto Grant, the family history and origins. "When Cristobal Nieto’s father, Alcalde José Nieto, heard the news of the Pueblo Indian uprising at Galisteo on August 10, 1680, he rounded up his family at his nearby estancia and tried to escape. Tragically, José Nieto, his…
