Manitos

Hosted by La Merced de Santa Gertrudis de lo de Mora (known less formally as the Mora Land Grant), to preserve the History, Culture and Diverse Heritage of the Past, Present and Future of Mora County. This year, the events theme of Rancimiento or Rebirth, takes on a special resonance in the context of ‘recovery’. The organizers are keen to stress that this event is not focused on the destruction wrought by the fires, but is a celebration of the many ways that the community came together in “querencia” and “mutualidad”, during and after the fires.

In every meeting with our Community Archivists, we talk about what we’re scanning and documenting. Last week, we held one of the most beautiful meetings I’ve attended. Each community archivist brought samples of what they had been working on and shared them with the group. Each photo came with a story and each story was revelatory as the last. It confirmed my commitment to this work and to this project. It also reminded me of some of the things I…

Read More Read More

As I write this, the bulldozer/burn line that the firefighters have made from Highway 65 to State Highway 283 appears to be holding steady on the ARCGIS satellite map that I try not to obsessively check and re-check for hotspots and changes to a fire perimeter, that can move with alarming speed. This breathing space allows time for reflection that has not been possible for the last week, as the Hermits Peak Fire and Calf Fire merged and expanded in…

Read More Read More

Last Friday, I went for a walk by Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) and saw the beginning of the Calf Canyon Fire. The smoke rising from the mountains provided a stark contrast to the bright blue skies. I stopped to take a picture. Today, I had planned to go for another walk but as I drove south on Saint Francis, the sky began to change from blue to brown and by the time I got to SFCC, the mountains were…

Read More Read More

I stepped away from my weekly update last Friday because one of our community archivists Andrew and I were traveling to Las Cruces to visit my uncle and collect stories and photographs from him. I had not been to Las Cruces since before the pandemic. And that visit had been for my dad’s funeral. It felt strange to visit Las Cruces (well, technically Vado) without seeing my dad. His trailer sat empty and unused; the inside coated with dust. I…

Read More Read More

As I mentioned in last week’s update, Saturday, March 26 was the opening reception of the Following the Manito Trail Exhibit in Taos. Over the past year, I had the privilege of working with Dr. Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez (Arizona State University), Dr. Trisha Martínez (University of New Mexico, Taos/University of Wyoming), Poet Laureate Levi Romero (University of New Mexico) and curandero, santero and Ph.D. candidate Jesús Villa (Arizona State University) on this project. Weekly, we met to plan out programming and…

Read More Read More