Whats the significance of land in New Mexican culture?
When the Spaniards came into New Mexico, they divided land up into communities, and the native Americans were part of that. All the laws and land measurements were written in Spanish. When the English speakers came into New Mexico, they threw out the land owners’ paperwork and said, “We’re going to change the divisions of the land.” There was a lot of conflict over that — and still is – like a revolt against the Anglo Saxons who came in and took over. The native New Mexicans wrote a lot of songs about the land as a result, so we study the songs and poems, the land forms, the treaties, what the land is used for and how it’s valued — that’s how I integrate culture.
