What a conversation! We cover so much ground with Dr. Maria Dolores Gonzales - her time at the Northern New Mexico Normal School in El Rito, the journey she went on to write her memoir and encourage other Hispanos to do the same, and her advocacy to preserve and celebrate our language. We also go through some words that are specific to our Northern New Mexican/Southern Colorado language, and where they come from.

Places mentioned: Cerro, El Rito, Roy, Rosebud, Agua Fria, Bueyeros

Some resources mentioned:

Dr. Gonzales' Bilingual Strategies Language Institute

Children of the Normal School: 60 Years in El Rito, 1909-1969

"The Writings of Sabine Ulibarri"

"Mapa del Corazon" video on YouTube

Neddy Vigil video with the language atlas

A Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish

The Spanish Language of New Mexico and Southern Colorado: A Linguistic Atlas

You can reach Kat at [email protected].

We visit El Pueblo de Abiquiu Library & Cultural Center to learn more about what makes this place unique and its diverse and vibrant culture.

Places mentioned: Abiquiu, El Rito, Ojo Caliente, Alcalde

Check out the Library and consider a donation here.

Watch the recent documentary The Genizaro Experience and see some of the dancing mentioned here.

Email Kat at [email protected].

The delightful Allen Sanchez, petitioner of the cause for the beatification and canonization of Sister Blandina Segale, shares about the myriad ways she contributed to New Mexico (and Southern Colorado). Servant of God Sr. Blandina founded public schools and hospitals for our people, and writes about them with warmth, compassion, and humor in At the End of the Santa Fe Trail.

Find prayer cards, the novena, and other materials at the Sisters of Charity website.

You can order the book At the End of the Santa Fe Trail, as well as the movie adaptation, here.

Watch the Wild West Chronicles: Sister Blandina and the Killer   on YouTube

Searchlight NM article on Sr Blandina

Smithsonian article on Sr Blandina, written by the great-great-granddaughter of Abraham and Julia Staab

Santa Maria Institute archives can be found here.

American Ghost, novel written by the great-great-granddaughter of Abraham and Julia Staab

Learn more about the free home visitation program for first-time parents at St Joseph's Children here.

You can reach Kat at [email protected].

Beleaguered genealogists will understand the thrill of finding an ancestor who has been hiding in the records for years. One of our primos braved the wilderness of the films to locate a record that had been missing from the transcribed books. I interview him to inspire all of us with adobe brick walls to keep trying.

Names mentioned: Pacheco, Martinez, Martin, Madrid, Sena

Places mentioned: Santa Fe, Mora, Union County

You can reach Kat at [email protected].

Kat finally ventures into the Rio Abajo with Jose Jaramillo.

Names mentioned: Garcia, Rivera, Ribera, Jaramillo, Madrid, Abeyta

Places mentioned: Encino, Vaughn, Socorro, Palma, Villanueva, Ribera

You can reach Kat at [email protected].

Ron and Sylvia are doing a great job highlighting and documenting our ancestors through the Founding Families of Huerfano project. They discuss all things Huerfano, and even help Kat finally figure out where "Piedras Amarillas" was!

Places mentioned: Huerfano, Cuchara, Badito, Pueblo, San Luis Valley, Yellowstone (duh)

Rocky Mountain PBS did a story on the project here.

The Facebook group for descendants is called Early Hispano Families Of Huerfano County Colorado.

You can email us at [email protected].

Dr. Erlinda Gonzales-Berry shares how she brought her childhood in eastern New Mexico to life, her journey in the early days of Chicano studies, and how she likes to prepare quelites. Her delightful book, Rosebud: Population 7, is full of rich stories and elements of our culture that jump off the page.

Names mentioned: Gonzales, Vigil

Places mentioned: Roy, Bueyeros, Rosebud, Mosquero, Clayton, Mills Canyon, Mexico

Her sister, Maria Dolores Gonzales, wrote her own book about their childhood in Rosebud, Atop the Windmill: I Could See Forever.

If you want to explore this part of eastern NM, I highly recommend a stay at the Rectory. It's an incredible experience!

Email us at [email protected].

This topic was one of my first ideas when dreaming up this podcast - the Spanish language specific to Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado. What makes it unique? More importantly, why don't I and so many of my generation speak it? We delve into these questions and more with author-librarian Charlene Garcia Simms and April Bojorquez, Interim Director of The Aztlán Research Center in Pueblo.

This is the video referenced with Neddy Vigil.

Mis Crismes 1956: Christmas in La Puente, New Mexico by Gloria Mora was recommended, but I had a hard time finding a source for it online.

Get a copy of A Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish here.

Read more about this topic in this article from 2023.

Know of a New Mexican Spanish class online or in-person? Email us at [email protected].

This was an unexpected treat! Not only does Weston share about his family's longtime Santa Fe presence, but he also shared details about Native Bound Unbound, a project seeking to document the impact of slavery upon the Indigenous people of the Americas.

Names mentioned: Archuleta, Ortega

Places mentioned: Santa Fe, Antonito, Mora

Follow the progress of Native Bound Unbound here or on socials.

Go visit the Turquoise Teapot Cat Cafe in Santa Fe - I highly recommend the "Horchatea."

Email us at [email protected].

Virginia Sanchez returns to talk about migration into Southern Colorado, life for our ancestors in that area, and rare documentation of enslaved people in Hispano communities there.

Places mentioned: Huerfano, Cucharas, San Luis Valley

You can order the book Nacion Genizara here.

For a complete list of Virginia's work, visit her LinkedIn profile.

Virginia shared lyrics to a comanchero song - "If you go to Navajoland, take your burial shroud with you. Because dying over these is certain and cannot be negotiated." Virginia found the lyrics in a journal written by Lucas Martinez, who was born in Cucharas, and lived in Chavez, Huerfano County, Colorado. According to Dr. Enrique Lamadrid, this verse is still sung by the Comanches de la Serna. This document and his journal are located in the Hart Library of the History Colorado Center in Denver. 

On Pages 179-180 and 188-192 of Virginia's chapter (Chapter 8) in Nacion Genizara, you'll find additional captivity songs, laments, and lullabies.  

You can find a recording of La Cautiva Marcelina, sung by Virginia Bernal, available on Vimeo here.

Correction: The cautiva song, La Cautiva Marcelina was not a children's rhyme.