We have only just begun with a few posts by a few writers, but the intention is to continue to expand the voices, perspectives and participation. Every day we are inviting new writers to participate in this project. We are a project collaborators, representatives from partner institutions, affiliated scholars and most importantly the people of our communities, together working towards the creation of community-based archives for our villages.

Patricia Marie Perea, Ph.D.

Current Project Director for the Manitos Community Memory Project, Dr. Perea is a poet, independent scholar and adjunct professor in the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at the University of New Mexico. She received her M.A. in English from the University of Texas at Austin and her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of New Mexico in 2010. Born and raised in the Texas Panhandle, she spent much of her young life just on the other side of the state line from Clovis, New Mexico in Friona, Texas. She is the co-author of the Pueblo Food Experience: Whole Food of Our Ancestors (2016). Her work has been published in As/Us (2014); La Tolteca Zine (2015); Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies (2016). She has been a featured speaker and contributor to media networks such as NBCnews.com, PBS Colores, KRWG Fronteras and Native America Calling.

Estevan Rael-Gálvez, Ph.D.

Former Project Director for the Manitos Community Memory Project, Dr. Rael-Gálvez is a writer, scholar and cultural advocate. A native son of New Mexico, with ancestral connections to both Hispano and Native American communities, Dr. Rael-Gálvez was raised working on a farm/ ranch stewarded by his family. U.C. Berkeley and University of Michigan trained as anthropologist, historian and poet, he is a scholar of American Indian slavery and its legacy. He has led a full career as a successful senior executive, including as the Senior Vice President of Historic Sites at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Executive Director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center and as the State Historian of New Mexico. Today he is the founding principal and CEO of Creative Strategies 360°.

Mimi Roberts

Mimi Roberts is a passionate advocate for cultural equity and is honored to serve as Project Manager for the Manitos Community Memory Project. Prior to her retirement from the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs in 2018, she administered a cultural technology internship program that prepared Media Arts majors from New Mexico Highlands University for professional careers in New Mexico’s cultural and creative economy, helped develop a makerspace program for rural public and tribal libraries, and worked in support of initiatives to accelerate technology adoption throughout the Department. She freelances as an arts researcher, writer, and editor and in her other areas of expertise, including museum exhibition and program development, multi-institutional collaborations, and traveling exhibitions. She is immediate past president of the New Mexico Association of Museums.

Shane Flores

Research Assistant for the Manitos Community Memory Project, Mr. Flores holds a BFA in Media Arts from New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico. He is currently the principal at studio wetFuture, developing history and culture based content for cultural institutions, including The Bradbury Science Museum, The City of Las Vegas Museum, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and UNM Maxwell Museum of Anthropology.

John Valdez

John Valdez has a B.A. in Spanish from Southern Colorado State College, an M.A. in Guidance and Counseling from Adams State College and an Ed.D. in Secondary School Administration from the University of Wyoming.  Mr. Valdez has 36 years of experience in secondary public education as a teacher, counselor and school administrator.     

Miguel Tórrez

Miguel A. Tórrez is a Research Technologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory working in Material Science. He earned his BS in Environmental Science from Northern New Mexico College. Mr. Tórrez also serves as the administrator of the New Mexico Genealogical Society’s (NMGS DNA Project) DNA project. He has authored and co-authored many articles on genetic genealogy and his work has been featured in a New York Times article, Indian Slavery Once Thrived In New Mexico. Latinos Are Finding Family Ties To It.

Jerol Argüello

Mr. Argüello was born in Rock Springs, Wyoming in 1948, two years after his parents moved from New Mexico to Wyoming, where he was raised. He served in the US Army and as a combat soldier in Vietnam, then worked for the US Department of the Interior starting in 1971 until retiring in 2005. His interest in genealogy began in 1990 and he continues to work on Northern New Mexico genealogy, to this day. He has been married to Gloria Lobato since 1971 and they have 3 children, 6 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.

Patricia Marina Trujillo, Ph.D.

Dr. Patricia Trujillo is the director of the Office of Equity & Diversity and an Associate Professor of English & Chicana/o Studies at Northern New Mexico College. Dr. Trujillo is on the board of directors of Tewa Women United, NewMexicoWomen.org, the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area, and the LANL Foundation. She is the creative writing editor of the Chicana/Latina Studies: The Journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social. She was born and raised in the Española Valley where she currently lives and works with her community.

Trisha Venisa-Alicia Martinez, Ph.D.

Dr. Trisha Martinez, heir to the Arroyo Hondo Arriba Land Grant, is a recent PhD graduate in American Studies from the University of New Mexico. Her heritage and ties to northern New Mexico inspire her studies on the Southwest, including performances of belonging and acts of place making. She is expanding her research on US based Latino migration, by examining the migration experiences of Manitos, Hispanos from northern New Mexico. She is furthering this endeavor as project scholar for Following the Manito Trail, an ethnographic study that draws upon the voices of Manitos through the collection of oral histories, and by serving the Manito Community Memory Project. This area of study is inspired by her own family history, as many in her family migrated to Wyoming in the 1930s, to work as sheepherders and eventually for the city.

Trisha’s educational pursuit and career compliments her passion for community and culture. Currently, Trisha is serving the second year of her postdoc assignment at UNM-Taos, teaching Chicana and Chicano Studies and working with northern New Mexico high school students and the dual credit program. She is also serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor for the University of Wyoming’s- School of Culture, Gender, and Social Justice-Latina/o Studies Program. Through teaching and community outreach, she is excited to help inspire the youth and create opportunities that serve in the best interest of our community.