LOCALS

2 0 1 2

Nuestra Cultura

Heritage
VALENCIA
COUNTY
News-Bulletin
2 October 20, 2012
EDWIN BERRY leads a procession up Tomé Hill on Good Friday 1980. Berry erected the three
crosses beginning in 1947 as a remembrance of faith and to fellow soldiers who died in WWII.
Tomé Hill: Foundation of a community
“Tomé Hill is still rich and more in history and tradition. But we think we have done good things to Tomé Hill, but Tomé Hill has done
more good things to us. Now we can go do good to Tomé Hill or we can leave it alone. And that also would be good. We don’t know which
is best. OK. But we do consider Tomé Hill the very best, the very most proper, most ideal church in the whole world because it is always
By Julia M. Dendinger
News-Bulletin Staff Writer
jdendinger@news-bulletin.com
Tomé
While the Rio Grande may be
the lifeblood of the valley, it can be
argued that Tomé Hill is the very
foundation of the community.
When the Tomé Land Grant was
established, the Spanish Crown
didn’t just award land to people on
a whim. There had to be certain
resources present for the community
to thrive and grow on — water, pas-
ture land for livestock, materials to
build houses and churches.
The water came from the river to
feed the nearby bottom lands and the
wood came from the bosque or the
forests of the Manzano Mountains.
Adobe bricks for buildings were eas-
ily made, but those bricks needed
someplace to stand.
According to Tomé native and
historian Ramon Torres, that’s where
the hill comes in.
“To build a house, you need foot-
ings,” Torres said. “The only place
to get rock was from the hill. Every
house and church built in Tomé
started with rocks from the hill.”
Several years ago, when part of
the north wall of the Immaculate
Conception Catholic Church in
Tomé collapsed, Torres said the
community returned to the hill
for the rocks that have held up the
spiritual center of the community for
almost three centuries.
“It is a massive foundation —
about 48 inches wide and 3 feet
down. That rock is the only material
the alkali soil around here won’t
eventually eat,” he said with a laugh.
Ancient leavings
Capped with basalt rock, it’s no
surprise the hill, as one of the high-
est points in Valencia County, stood
against innumerable floods from the
Rio Grande.
But the Spanish settlers weren’t
the first people to use the resources
of the hill, to post lookouts for
marauders on it, to use it for a guid-
ing beacon home. Etched into those
basalt boulders are more than 1,800
ancient petroglyphs.
In the mid-1990s, the Office
of Contract Archeology with the
University of New Mexico spear-
headed the cultural study of the hill
that got it placed on the National
Register of Historic Places as a tra-
ditional cultural property on July 9,
1996.
The petroglyphs include anthro-
pomorphic figures, masks, human
hands and foot prints, animal figures
and tracks, lines and geometric
LOCALS 2012: HERITAGE
Photo courtesy of Ramon Torres
open and there are no collections.”
THOUSANDS OF THE FAITHFUL make the trek up Tomé Hill every Good Friday for solitude, penance and prayer.
The three crosses on the hill representing those on Mount Calvary, where Jesus was crucified. Tomé native Edwin
Berry erected the crosses 65 years ago.
shapes, historical symbols, dots,
plant forms, unidentifiable forms
and recent graffiti, the study notes.
They appear to date to the Pueblo
IV time period and are characteristic
of the Rio Grande style of rock art.
The Pueblo IV period is usually
dated between 1300 to 1450 A.D., or,
in some areas, until Spanish contact
in 1540.
According to the study, the high-
est point of Tomé Hill is 5,223 feet
above mean sea level. The hill itself
rises between 300 and 400 feet
above the valley floor, according to
various geological studies and mea-
surements.
From that height, a person can see
just about everything in Valencia
County. To the south, the towers of
industry rise out of the Rio Grande
Industrial Park, marking the neces-
sary demon of progress.
The verdant swath of land along
the river lies to the west and north of
Cerro de Tomé, while to the east, the
llano stretches to the purple foothills
of the Manzano Mountains, mostly
vacant.
Tomé Land Grant
The early Natives didn’t establish
a permanent settlement near the hill,
but in the 16th century, explorers
from Europe decided the valley was
a prime place to live.
In 1598, Spanish settlers led by
Juan de Oñate moved through the
lower Rio Grande Valley to begin
permanent settlements. The original
Spanish land grant, including Tomé,
was awarded to Thome Dominguez
de Mendoza in 1659.
The Dominguez family, along
BEFORE MODERN HUMANS left their mark on Tomé Hill, prehistoric people engraved more
than 1,800 petroglyphs on the basalt boulders that adorn the hillsides.
EDWIN BERRY
Tomé native
with some Isletans, fled south dur-
ing the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. He
never returned to reclaim the land,
and in 1739, the pueblito that bears
his name was founded.
That year, 125,000 acres were
granted to 30 town of Tomé families
by the Spanish Crown and affirmed
by the United States in the signing
of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
in 1848. The treaty turned New
Mexico over to the United States,
with a promise that land grants
would remain intact.
In mid-1955, the grant converted
to the Tomé Land and Improvement
Corporation and land grant members
become shareholders. However, over
the next decade, the conflict grew
between the so called “progressive”
and “conservative” members of the
corporation over whether to sell the
land.
When the “progressives” won a
majority of the seats on the board of
directors, that cleared the way for
the sale and in 1967, stockholders
voted to sell, 175-18.
The following year, the $4.7 mil-
lion contract for sale of the land to
Horizon Corporation was approved
by the board. The sale of the grant
to Horizon was completed on Nov.
4, 1968.
El Calvario
Not one to court controversy,
Tomé native Edwin Berry decided
to make his mark on his community
after his return home from World
War II. After surviving bullets,
bombs and malaria, Berry knew he
owed his maker something in return.
In a 1996 News-Bulletin inter-
Valencia County News-Bulletin
News-Bulletin file photo
view, Berry said he began feeling
depressed, inferior, because he
wasn’t on the front lines of the fight-
ing.
“But I kept telling God I wanted
to at least show my appreciation, my
sympathy for those who were face to
face with the enemy,” he said in the
article.
As Berry decided how to best
honor his fallen comrades, his mind
returned to the cross the penitentes
put up every year on the top of Tomé
Hill until around 1922, when some-
one burned it.
“They would put the cross up on
Ash Wednesday and leave it up 41
days,” Berry told the newspaper.
“On Good Friday, the penitentes
would sleep on the hill, stay there all
day Saturday and on Easter Sunday,
take the cross down at dawn while
singing. It could be heard across the
valley.”
Inspired by the devout men who
had come before him, Berry literally
drew up a plan for the monument
he wanted to erect on the hill. Now
only copies of copies exist, but it is
still possible to read the document,
which is dated 1947.
The plans called for the monument
to face west, set upon an alter 8 feet
by 4 feet, with an aluminum finish
cross rising 16 feet above the alter.
According to Torres, the center cross
faces the Eucharist of Immaculate
Conception.
“This is my plan: I will build a
truly Christian monument atop this
mount — Cerro de Tomé — I will
bear all cost, but I will invite all
people to help me with the work —
and it will bring happiness, faith,
Photo courtesy of Jim Schaffner
hope and peace to all people of good
will. The inscription will also com-
memorate our fallen heroes — those
who gave their lives in the war.”
The total cost of the monument
was a mere $383.
It’s hard to make out, but it is said
that the final sentence on the paper
reads, “If people leave me alone it
will take me about three years to
build — if 500 people will help me,
I know I can do the job in one day.”
People in the community did
indeed come out to help, cutting
Berry’s three year estimate down to
one year. He started construction in
1947 and completed the monument
in 1948.
Jesus Sanchez was one of the boys
who helped Berry erect the crosses.
He remembers being between 13
and 14, when he, along with seven or
eight friends, carried water, cement
and posts up the hill.
“Whatever was needed,” Sanchez
said. “We had nothing to do really,
I guess. This was about giving back
to society and to the people. It felt
good, the helping.”
In a transcript of a 1995
Valentine’s Day interview of Berry
by Dan Scurlock, of the Office
of Contract Archeology at UNM,
Berry talks about the hill.
“Tomé Hill is still rich and more
in history and tradition. But we
think we have done good things to
Tomé Hill, but Tomé Hill has done
more good things to us. Now we can
go do good to Tomé Hill or we can
leave it alone. And that also would
be good. We don’t know which is
best. OK.
“But we do consider Tomé Hill
the very best, the very most proper,
most ideal church in the whole world
because it is always open and there
are no collections.”
Berry’s son, Dante, says his late
father was never afraid to let his
faith shine forth and embraced it
with vigor.
“There was a time, when I was
younger, I didn’t understand,” Dante
said. “He would just start singing,
or preaching in this loud voice about
the end times.”
And making that promise, a prom-
sea, to honor the fallen and God,
was “a very New Mexico thing,”
Dante said.
The people of Tomé used to do
passion plays and pageants on Good
Friday, reenacting the events of that
day, Dante said, but the tradition
faded away in the late 1940s.
“After World War II, the world
changed,” he said.
Not only were the crosses a reli-
n See Tomé Hill, Page 3
Valencia County News-Bulletin LOCALS 2012: HERITAGE October 20, 2012 3

Photo courtesy of Berry family Julia M. Dendinger-News-Bulletin photo

MEMBERS OF EDWIN BERRY’S family are seen here in this May 1949 picture at the top of Tomé Hill. Even though the monument was A SMALL, obviously loved cross overlooks the valley from atop
completed in 1947 and dedicated in 1948, minor work continued over the years, as evidenced by the buckets and basins in the fore- Tomé Hill.
ground.

Tomé Hill: Berry fought for the preservation of the hill

from PAGE 2
gious monument, but they were dedicated
to all the people lost in the war that Berry
survived.
“Maybe he thought it should be hard,
a kind of sacrifice,” Dante said of his
father’s decision to locate the crosses on
top of the hill. “A lot of those guys didn’t
come back, and some that did, their scars
weren’t always on the outside.”
To his knowledge, Berry never missed
a year going up the hill on Good Friday,
Dante said.
“And you know, some Good Fridays in
New Mexico, well there was snow and
rain, but he always went. He was very
devoted to that purpose,” Dante said. “He
never had the attitude of, ‘Well I’ve done it
for 30 years, that’s good enough.’”
Berry’s last trip up the hill was when he
was 78 years old, just three years before
his death in 2000.
Dante said his father fought for the
preservation of the hill, the sacred ground.
During the 1970s, hang gliders started
driving up the hill to launch. It was a
battle between Berry and the flyers that he
waged for several years.
“He would put up barricades and signs
and they would be torn down the next
day,” Dante remembers. “But in the end,
he won. He was more persistent. I will
always admire his dedication.”
The current owner
Berry was one man dedicated to the
preservation of the 178 acres that is Tomé
Hill. And the company that currently owns
it is also dedicated to that same mission.
The hill, along with other common
areas, parks and land set aside for pub-
lic schools was deeded over to Valley
Improvement Association in 1970 by
Horizon Corporation, said Paul Baca,
VIA’s president and CEO.
“Tomé Hill is very special to the people
of the community,” said Baca, a Belen
native. “I’m glad VIA was able to help in
its preservation and continued access.”
Under VIA’s ownership, Baca said the
company has done minimal “work” on the
hill. Mostly, it has put up post and cable
around the perimeter to keep out motor-
ized vehicles and discourage people on
horseback, erected signs reminding people
to be respectful of the hill and to “pack it
in, pack it out.”
Growing up with the hill in his backyard
in a way, Baca says just seeing the hill can
make a person reflect on life.
“As things evolve, progress, whether we
want them to or not, whether you are from
here or new, the hill kind of pulls you back
from the hustle and bustle of life,” he said.
“We can preserve it as growth comes, and
keep it as a focal point, a refuge.”
As you climb the hill on a silent morn-
ing, the scent of the dirt underfoot reminds
you that this is a place that will always be.
Stretching its shadow across the valley,
comforting and protecting.
At the top, the world fades away until
there is only you and the hill. And in that
moment, that space between heart beats, Julia M. Dendinger-News-Bulletin photo
you are connected to something much LEFT IN FAITH and hope, dozens of rosaries hang from one of the
greater than yourself. crosses on the top of Tomé Hill.

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4 October 20, 2012
Courtesy of the Valencia County Historical Society Collection, Los Lunas Museum of Heritage and Arts
THE FIESTAS at Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church have been in full swing for 219 years. This photo of people danc-
ing under the carpa on a wooden floor in 1900 shows how fashion and times have changed.
Celebrating Catholic
faith and fiestas
By Mike Bush
News-Bulletin Staff Writer
mbush@news-bulletin.com
Every Aug. 15, parishioners of Our Lady of
Belen Catholic Church are supposed to attend
a very special Mass that the church’s pastor
describes as “first and foremost a celebration
of faith.”
The Mass is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin
Mary and the day is recognized as the feast
day of the mother of Jesus. The evening
before, the church celebrates vespers, a service
traditionally held at sunset.
The Feast Day celebration includes a secu-
lar element as well, a carnival that begins
on Friday night and lasts into Sunday on the
church grounds, says Father Stephen Schultz.
Bands from around the state provide musi-
cal entertainment, and the many visitors have
ample opportunity to enjoy typical carnival
fare — green chile cheeseburgers, funnel
cakes, soft drinks. Items such as toys and
T-shirts can also be purchased, but the church
checks to make sure no toy guns or shirts with
inappropriate messages are sold.
Schultz, the church pastor for nine years,
says thousands of people attend the annual
fiestas, which begins on Friday night of the
weekend closest to the 15th. The church also
crowns a fiesta queen, whose identity is
revealed at the Queen’s Ball, and two couples
are selected as fiesta padrinos.
Schultz notes that the padrinos is an “honor-
ary position, but also one that involves some
pretty hard work throughout the weekend.”
There is also a fiesta parade marshal.
Another part of the tradition, which in recent
years has fallen by the wayside, is the burning
of the devil, which Schultz likens to Santa Fe’s
Zozobra festival. It involves burning a 30-foot-
tall figure near the cemetery. The figure sym-
bolizes the worries, or quejas, of life.
“We did that about three years and may
bring it back,” Schultz says.
By all accounts, the fiestas are a joyous cel-
ebration. It is one of many Catholic traditions
that over the centuries have been passed down
from Spain through Mexico to believers in
New Mexico and Valencia County.
All parishes in Valencia County celebrate
feast days: In Tomé, Immaculate Conception
recognizes two, Sept. 8 and Dec. 8. For
Peralta’s Our Lady of Guadalupe, the spe-
cial date is Dec. 12. And in Los Lunas, San
Clemente recognizes Nov. 23 as its Feast Day,
while Mission de San Juan Diego celebrates
Oct. 11.
John Taylor, a local historian who lives in
Peralta and attends Our Lady of Guadalupe,
says the Feast Day tradition was once even
more significant than it is today.
“In olden days, the feast was really impor-
tant,” Taylor says. “Life was tough and a fiesta
was a good way to help people forget just how
tough it was.”
Feast days and their attendant fiestas are not
the only traditions passed down from genera-
tion to generation. Another big one is Las
Posadas, nine days of ritual Masses leading up
to Christmas, strongly based on the gospel of
St. Luke.
Other Catholic traditions include the wide-
spread recognition of church seasons, such
as Lent and Advent. Still others have been
adopted even more broadly by the entire com-
munity, such as luminarias, which symboli-
cally represent the lighting of the way for the
Christ child.
Yet another tradition, that of Los Penitentes,
the Brotherhood of Jesus the Nazarene, once
flourished in New Mexico, according to
Taylor. The Brotherhood was active well into
the 19th century but only traces remain today.
Los Penitentes developed during a time
when there was a shortage of priests. Based on
early Franciscan practices, its roots go back at
least 1,000 years to Spain and Italy. Following
Mexico’s independence from Spain in 1821,
LOCALS 2012: HERITAGE
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE CATHOLIC CHURCH, in Peralta, is one of several churches in the
Rio Grande Valley that dates back to 1879. The church is listed on the New Mexico Register
of Historic Places.
church authorities in Mexico withdrew the
Franciscan, Dominican and Jesuit missionar-
ies from New Mexico, replacing only some of
them with secular priests.
Many out-of-the-way communities were thus
deprived of their own clergymen and could
expect only a once-yearly visit from a parish
priest.
Without priestly guidance, Los Penitentes
would come together for the purpose of prayer,
gathering in meeting houses called moradas,
simple buildings devoid of most decoration.
Los Penitentes were known for their hymns,
called alabados, and for their ascetic practices,
which included self-flagellation in private cer-
emonies during Lent, and processions during
Holy Week, which ended with the reenactment
of Christ’s crucifixion on Good Friday.
In the latter part of the 19th century,
Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy tried to
suppress the Brotherhood as a part of the
“Americanization” of the Church in New
Mexico, but succeeded only in driving its
membership underground.
The Brotherhood reconciled with the
Catholic Church in the mid-20th century
and received formal recognition in 1947. Los
Penitentes remain active in northern New
Mexico and southern Colorado, but with a
much diminished membership.
Taylor calls the Brotherhood a “very intense
(and) a very rigorous form of Catholicism.”
Edwin Berry, the man who placed the
IN 1793, Belen’s first resident pastor, Fray Cayetano Jose Ignacio Bernal,
established Nuestra Senora de Belen, Our Lady of Bethlehem.
Mike Bush-News-Bulletin photo
three crosses on Tomé Hill, was a Penitente.
Las Carmelitas, the female version of Los
Penitentes, carried out their rituals in private.
The history of the Catholic Church in
Valencia County dates back at least as far as
1540 when Francisco Vázquez de Coronado
began organizing his grand expedition into
what is now New Mexico. There is no way he
could have known how great and lasting his
influence would become.
A year later, the conquistador — accompa-
nied by some 300 Spanish soldiers and 1,000
Native American servants — departed from
Compostela, Mexico, ostensibly in search of
the mythical Seven Golden Cities of Cibola. In
that sense the mission would go down in his-
tory as an abject failure.
After two years, Coronado and surviving
members of his band would return to Mexico
empty handed and deep in debt. But though
he failed in his quest to find the fabled cities
of gold, he succeeded beyond belief in chang-
ing the land and peoples of the American
Southwest forever.
The mission’s two major cultural contribu-
tions were the Spanish language and Roman
Catholicism, the primary religious faith and
tradition of Mother Spain for more than 1,000
thousand years.
When Coronado returned to Mexico, he
left behind priests to convert Southwest tribes
to Christianity. He brought back extensive
information about the area and its peoples that
Valencia County News-Bulletin
Ungelbah Daniel-Davila-News-Bulletin photo
would prove invaluable to later Spanish explor-
ers, including Juan de Oñate. The door had
been opened, never to close. Half a century
later, in 1598, Oñate formally established con-
trol of the Spanish crown when he became the
first governor of the province of New Mexico.
Today, nearly half a millennium later, both
the Spanish language and the Catholic religion
are alive and well throughout the Southwest,
at the heart of which is arguably Valencia
County. One example of the lasting dual cul-
tural influence is the name Belen, Spanish for
Bethlehem.
The oldest church in the county was built
around 1613 in Isleta Pueblo, a village of the
Tiwa people before the arrival of the Spanish.
Gov. Pedro de Peralta founded the Isleta
Mission of San Antonio — later changed to
San Augustine — as the Spanish headquarters
in the Rio Abajo. It would become the mother
church of several visitas, or missions, includ-
ing Belen, Tomé, Sabinal and Pajaritos.
As is still sometimes the case today, the par-
ish or mother church had missions, chapels in
outlying towns that served those communities’
spiritual needs.
In more remote areas, many families had
their own private saints, prayers and chapel
areas, which they called visitas.
For example, the Luna family of Los Lunas
had a chapel where they would hold devotions.
It eventually became a mission of the Isleta
Parish, but as the town grew — Los Lunas
was founded in the 17th century — it became
its own parish, San Clemente.
There was a mission every five miles or
so, Taylor says, adding that missions became
the center of village life, especially because
the local priest was one of the more educated
people in the area.
“To a large degree, you can see the residue
of that today,” says Taylor, a nuclear engineer
at Sandia Labs for 35 years before he retired.
Today, Isleta no longer has any missions, but
San Clemente has one. Peralta, meanwhile,
was once a mission of Tomé. Today, Casa
Colorada is Tomé’s only remaining mission.
Los Chavez was a mission of Belen, which
today still has four, San Francisco Xavier
in Jarales, Cristo Rey in Bosque, Our Lady
of Guadalupe in Los Chavez and San Isidro
Labrador in Pueblitos.
Oddly enough, it was technology that led
to the demise of many of the missions. As
transportation improved, people were able to
make it to the mother church on Sunday. The
remaining missions are now subsidiaries of the
parish churches.
Coronado was not the only seeker of gold to
leave an indelible mark on the Southwest. In
1563, Francisco de Ibarra, a gold prospector,
reportedly invented the title “Nuevo México.”
Although the quest for gold and other riches
was undoubtedly a driving force behind
Spanish exploration, the importance of
Catholicism cannot be underestimated. From
1542 to 1598 (the period between Coronado
and Oñate) to the middle of the 19th century,
Catholicism was the sole Christian religion in
Valencia County.
Taylor notes that while the introduction
of Catholicism was clearly an intrusion, the
Native religions did not simply disappear. To
suggest that the Spaniards “converted” the
Natives would not be entirely correct, he says.
Instead, to this day, the two religious tradi-
tions coexist. As it turned out, allowing the
Native people to retain Native religious beliefs
and practices was a much more effective way
to introduce the religion of Spain without
imposing the Spanish will.
Today, traditional Native American religious
practices can be observed at Isleta and “prob-
ably all the reservations,” Taylor says. In the
pueblos, various celebrations and dances are
part of the earlier, Native religions’ tradition.
As Franciscan priests departed and diocese
n See Church, Page 5
Valencia County News-Bulletin LOCALS 2012: HERITAGE October 20, 2012 5

Church: ‘El Padre Eterno’ served as pastor of Immaculate Conception for 55 years
from PAGE 4
priests began taking over, Native Americans began giving up many
of their indigenous religious practices. About the same time, there
was a huge decline in Native population figures, in part caused by
disease. By the mid- or latter-19th century, there was a trend of
Native converts known as “adaptionists.”
Spanish, “the language of power,” took hold partly because there
was no single dominant or common language in the area. New
Mexico was home to four main Pueblo language groups, each with
its own subset of lesser tongues, as well as the Navajo, Apache and
Hopi tongues.
Nonetheless, when the Spanish language was imposed on the
Native people, it was met with resistance and was not accepted uni-
versally for quite some time.
“But because there was a real polyglot in the area, Spanish
became the lingua franca,” Taylor says.
Officially, Valencia County was born midway through the 19th
century when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, ending
the Mexican War. The county is named after a 17th century govern-
ment official from Valencia, Spain.
One of seven original New Mexico counties, Valencia once
stretched all the way from California to Texas. It lost much of that
area when Arizona became its own territory in 1863. The original
eastern portion had already been ceded to San Miguel County and,
in 1981, Valencia County lost four-fifths of its remaining territory
with the creation of Cibola County in the west.
Sometime around 1740, two Spaniards, Diego Torres and Antonio
Salazar, petitioned Gov. Don Gaspar de Mendoza for a land grant
that stretched west from the Manzano Mountains to the Rio Puerco.
The grant was officially known as Nuestra Senora de Belen, Our
Lady of Bethlehem.
Over the next 60 years, Belen grew from land grant status to a
formidable community complete with a fort and barracks. Because
of the long distances between communities along the Río Abajo,
Belen was situated at a strategic point on the Camino Real that led
south into Mexico.
According to Father Schultz, for more than a half century after the
land grant was issued, the padres of Isleta would serve the people
of Belen. Then, in 1793, Belen’s first resident pastor, Fray Cayetano
Jose Ignacio Bernal, established the new parish, also called Nuestra
Senora de Belen.
It wasn’t long before the settlers built their own church at
Plaza Vieja, a site which today occupies the northwest corner of
Wisconsin Street and Campbell Avenue and still carries the name,
which means Old Square or Old Town.
Severely damaged by flooding in 1855, the building was replaced
five years later by a new church at Plaza Nueva, which is still the
site of Our Lady of Belen today.
Meanwhile, a major rift over where to locate the new church
building had rocked Belen, pitting Plaza Vieja proponents against
those who favored building on higher ground at Plaza Nueva. A
young priest, Father Eugenio Paulet, had just arrived in Belen and
the final decision was dropped into his lap.
When Paulet opted for Plaza Nueva, angry supporters of the Plaza
Vieja site pilfered sacred vestments and vessels from the old build-
ing. Up in Santa Fe, Archbishop Lamy — who had taken positions
on both sides of the issue — was livid. He ordered that if those
responsible failed to return the items or attempted to rebuild on the
old site, they would be excommunicated. Any priest who celebrated
Mass there would be suspended.
In the end, the articles were returned to Paulet, and Lamy allowed
him to absolve those miscreants who repented before witnesses.
The community soon outgrew the 1860 structure. An enlarged
and totally revamped church with only the bell tower and old roof
was dedicated in 1919. According to Schultz, it was the largest
church in the state with a seating capacity of 1,128.
Mike Bush-News-Bulletin photo
FATHER STEPHEN SCHULTZ has been the pastor at Our Lady of
Belen Catholic Church for nine years.
St. Mary’s School, next door, was completed in 1928 and opened
to 290 students the following year.
Fifty-two years later, a report found “a critical state of degenerat-
ing structural failure” and said the church “should be condemned
from further occupancy forthwith.” It was demolished in 1972.
Today’s Our Lady of Belen Catholic Church, which seats 1,066, was
completed in 1974.
The original Catholic missionaries in the Southwest reported to
the bishop of Durango, Mexico. Then, in 1850, a few years after
the Mexican-American War, Pope Pius IX created the Apostolic
Vicariate of New Mexico and installed its first bishop, Lamy, a
Frenchman who a few years earlier had come to the United States to
work as a missionary.
Any history of Valencia County and New Mexico would be
incomplete without at least mentioning Lamy, so enormous was his
influence, Taylor says. The new bishop was welcomed by many, but
not all.
Juan Felipe Ortiz, an administrative official of the New Mexico
church, told Lamy that he and the local clergy remained loyal to the
bishop of Durango. Lamy issued an ultimatum: Stay and work under
the rules of the new administration or go back to Durango. Many
opted to leave, so Lamy returned to France to recruit new priests to
fill an obvious shortage of clergy.
As bishop, Lamy built churches (including St. Francis Cathedral
in Santa Fe), created new parishes and established schools. He also
put a stop to the practice of priests marrying. In 1875, the Diocese of
Santa Fe was elevated to archdiocese and he became an archbishop.
One of many young French priests he recruited in France was
Jean Baptiste Ralliere, a man who ultimately would come to be
known throughout Valencia County as “El Padre Eterno,” the eter-
nal father. Ralliere was 23 when he took over the parish of Tomé in
1858. He continued to serve it for 55 years when he retired, reluc-
tantly, in 1913.
Ralliere’s influence was remarkable, Taylor says. He was one
of the county’s first superintendents of public education, he built
churches, he witnessed terrible floods in Tomé. He was active in
local, state and diocesan politics and officiated over births and bap-
tisms, marriages and deaths.
For much of that period, Tomé was the political center of the Rio
Abajo as the county seat. The parish and village were established in
1739 as Nuestra Señora de la Concepción de Tomé Dominguez. The
original settlers were called “genízaros,” former slaves of more hos-
tile Native tribes, particularly Apache and Comanche.
A mere five years after the founding, 40 genízaro families lived
in Tomé. By 1766, the town had grown to 60 families, but at the
same time had lost its character as a genízaro settlement. So many
Spanish families had moved in that it had become a Spanish village;
the genizaros were absorbed by the larger community.
A Franciscan visitor, Juan Miguel Menchero, reported that the
genizaros got along well, even though they came from several dif-
ferent tribes. He was surprised that, contrary to the Spanish custom
of the government helping to pay for a church in a newly estab-
lished town, the genízaros began building a church on their own.
Immaculate Conception church, started in 1739, was dedicated, or
blessed, in 1750, according to Ramon Torres, a parishioner and local
historian.
Much of the front and back walls of the original church are still
standing, as is the transept. The north and south walls were rebuilt
in the early 1900s. A major restoration of the entire church began
three years ago. When it’s complete, new towers will adorn the front
wall, says Torres, who heads up the church’s restoration committee.
Like the genizaros who built the church, Immaculate Conception
today is relying in part on “parish crews” — volunteers from the
church — to take care of some of the work. The church is hoping
the restoration will last 200 to 300 years.
Off to one side in front of Immaculate Conception stands a land-
scape rendering of Golgotha, the hill near Jerusalem where Jesus is
said to have been crucified between two thieves. The three crosses
evoke a somber and moving reminder of the story of the crucifixion.
It was built in 1947 by Edwin Berry and Fred Landavazo as an out-
door stage for the Passion Play — a reenactment of the trial, suffer-
ing and death of Jesus.
A Tomé Passion Play is said to have originated in the 1700s and
passed down from generation to generation for well over two centu-
ries.
Until the early 1950s, it was an integral part of Immaculate
Conception’s Lenten Season observances. It has since been absorbed
by the larger Good Friday pilgrimage up Tomé Hill, not officially
a function of the church, but certainly one many parishioners are
involved in.
The oldest tradition in Tomé is the parish’s feast day on Sept. 8,
traditionally the birthday of the Blessed Virgin. In addition to cel-
ebrating Mass, much of the town turns out for a weekend fiesta that
includes music, dancing and concession and food stands — smaller,
but not unlike the Aug. 15 celebration in Belen.
“It goes back almost 300 years,” Torres says.
In the winter, the important celebration of Las Posadas, tradition-
ally a Novena or nine-day event, is now enacted over three days in
Tomé. Las Posadas represents the nine days leading up to Christmas
as Mary and Joseph seek lodging along their route to Bethlehem.
For the first eight stops, parishioners open their homes for the 60
to 70 Tomé pilgrims who sing and pray. Each daily event lasts about
two hours. The ninth and final stop is Immaculate Conception.
Then, in the spring, on Good Friday, an annual pilgrimage moves
slowly and dramatically up Tomé Hill with thousands of people
bearing the symbolic crosses, some crawling on all fours. Taylor
calls it “a way of recognizing the importance of the Easter season.”
Citing the two commemorations, Christmas and Easter, he says,
“Valencia County was an important part of early New Mexico.
There is an enormously rich history here.”

Mission
The mission of Los Lunas is to provide an engaging, high quality
education where learning focuses on the whole child and it is the responsibility of
each and every one of us to install the belief that all students can succeed.
Vision
The Los Lunas Schools are committed to being first in New Mexico
in all key measures of student achievement.

Los Lunas High School ca. 1926 The New Los Lunas High School

From the Past

looking forward into the future
Supporting our Students and Community.
Los Lunas Schools
www.llschools.net
6 October 20, 2012 LOCALS 2012: HERITAGE Valencia County News-Bulletin

An art history lesson

By Brent Ruffner
News-Bulletin Staff Writer
bruffner@news-bulletin.com

Starting in the sixth century, Saint

Michael became widely known as the
leader of the Army of God and a major
force to help prevail over the forces of
evil.
By 1600, La Virgen de Guadalupe
and her glowing aura energized set-
tlers and local villagers before the
Pueblo Revolt, an uprising of mostly
Pueblo Indians against the Spanish
settlers in Santa Fe, chasing them and
their saints back to Mexico.
But today, the image of La Virgen
can be seen in murals, art, clothing
and many other places throughout
the state, where her radiant presence
continues to inspire Catholic and non-
Catholic people alike.
However, during these early times,
artists called Santeros became popular
for capturing the power of these saints
and dozens of others on mediums
including hide paintings, which were
done on the hides of cattle.
Centuries later, Los Lunas resident
Nicolas Otero has helped keep the
tradition alive by painting saints and
other Catholic icons, including retablos
and altar screens.
Otero, 31, a Santero, first developed
an interest in retablos when he was in
high school. More than 15 years later,
some of his work comes in the form of
commissioned pieces.
Painting has become a full-time job,
often involving unique works, such as
a 58-inch tall piece that will be on dis-
play at the Albuquerque Museum.
Otero will be one of six artists who
will be part of a collector’s dinner
where people can purchase his works,
some of which can sell for more than
$5,000.
The Santero paints images such as
the Sagrado Corazon, or sacred heart,
a colorful image of a heart with wings
on either side, surrounded by white
daisies.
Another image depicts St. Catherine
of Siena holding a Bible while a halo
glows directly over her head in a sim-
ple, but powerful painting.
“I wasn’t familiar with (holy images)
at first,” Otero said. “But it became a
passion.”
Otero uses traditional methods and
natural pigments to create his work
POTTER JAN PACIFICO wants to preserve culture by teaching people how to
make items such as pots and coffee mugs.
and has worked his way into becom-
ing a well-known artist at venues in
Santa Fe and at the Heard Museum in
Phoenix, Ariz.
Back home, he has worked at try-
ing to preserve local art and spent
three months traveling to all of the
local churches in the state to take
an inventory of traditional artwork.
That tour included churches in Tomé,
San Antonio and the Laguna Acoma
Pueblo. He took pictures and said he
wants to eventually volunteer to help
preserve artwork.
“I think it’s an interesting story to
tell,” Otero said. “I think the truth
about (how the works) came to be is
why it matters.”
Otero, a Los Lentes resident,
taught art in the Los Lunas School
District and said he wants to educate
younger generations about a tradition
of Santeros that has lasted some 300
years.
The art of painting saints has
become popular enough to garner
attention from the East Coast. He has
sold his work to Saint Paul’s Church
in Salem, N.Y., and has had his work
shown in places such as the Luna
Mansion in Los Lunas and the El
Potrero Trading Post in Chimayo.
Otero insists he doesn’t work for
monetary gain, but instead to keep the
tradition alive.
“(The role) has a strong spiritual
Brent Ruffner-News-Bulletin photos
base,” Otero said. “It’s a way to con-
nect with younger generations.”
In Tomé, another artist, Jan Pacifico,
found her niché when she learned
there was a property available along
N.M. 47. The property, which featured
an old adobe structure, was about 75
years old when she bought it with
three others in 1996.
Years ago, the structure was a gro-
cery store and a gas station, where
customers could also purchase tires.
Pacifico, a potter of 50 years, had a
vision for what eventually became the
Tomé Art Gallery. Now, the gallery
has more than 50 members who pay a
small annual membership fee and most
offer some sort of artistic talent that
often gets featured in the structure’s
main room.
Artists, such as painters, metal
workers and Santeros, have made the
art co-op a breeding ground for both
young and old creatives who share a
passion for art.
Pacifico teaches pottery classes a
few times a week and said she wants
people to remember that for genera-
tions the Rio Grande Valley was built
with many things that were handmade.
“People made the things that they
needed,” Pacifico said. “They were
beautiful.”
Now, she says, most people have
done away with traditional values and
have succumb to buying for cheap
SANTERO NICK OTERO stands with one of his works, Our Lady of Guadalupe.
at big box chains when it comes to
acquiring items such as bowls and cof-
fee mugs.
The artist says there’s “no heart and
soul” in store-bought items.
But Pacifico admits local residents
have kept old ways alive through
supporting the Tomé Art Gallery by
attending events such as the Souper
Bowl, an occasion where people get
together and eat soup on Superbowl
Sunday.
Out-of-town shoppers are a big
reason why the gallery is still in busi-
ness with locals telling friends and
family members about the charm that
envelopes the adobe building brings to
Valencia County.
“The tourists want a souvenir,”
Pacifico said. “They want to meet the
artist.”
Pacifico makes “functional stone-
ware,” such as teapots and mugs and
more recently, urns. A production
potter, she makes things over and over
again to help fill a particular order.
The gallery, located at 2930 N.M.
47, is a featured stop on the Trails and
Rails tour, which gives people a guid-
ed tour to art destinations in Valencia
County.
Events include a Day of the Dead —
Dia de los Muertos Show, which runs
from Oct. 26 through Nov. 4, with an
open house set from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
Sunday, Oct. 28.
Pottery classes taught by Pacifico
are $15, and run from 10 a.m. to noon
every Tuesday and Saturday. A kids
class, taught by Dora Hernandez, is
offered from 2 to 4 p.m. each Saturday.
Additional pottery classes are offered
from 6 to 8 p.m. every Thursday.
Pacifico said she wants to continue
to teach a tradition that New Mexico
has known for hundreds of years.
“I want to continue doing this,”
Pacifico said. “I love it. I don’t know
what I would do all day if I didn’t have
pottery.”

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 Valencia County News-Bulletin
Isleta Pueblo: An elusive history
By Ungelbah Daniel-Davila
News-Bulletin Staff Writer
udavila@news-bulletin.com
Isleta Pueblo
The history of Isleta Pueblo is
as ancient as the land itself, and as
elusive as the great river that runs
through the heart of the pueblo.
When asked what some of the key
events have been during this immense
history, the pueblo’s governor and
his two lieutenants seem at a loss for
words.
“Where do you begin with his-
tory?” asks Isleta Pueblo Gov. Frank
Lujan. “The state of New Mexico
celebrated its 100th birthday. We can’t
say that for the pueblo because we
don’t know when we were born. Start
with time immemorial…”
“I know how to answer that ques-
tion in Indian,” says First Lt. Gov.
Paul Torres, “but I can’t answer it in
English, because there’s no dates and
times.”
After more discussion and pon-
dering, Torres makes the point that
things in the pueblo don’t change that
much, at least not the way they might
in other communities.
“Isleta Pueblo is a community that
has been a farming (community), rich
in tradition and culture, that we’ve
had for hundreds of years, and it goes
at a steady pace,” he says. “Things
do not change very much over here.
Things go as normal — we have our
traditional dances, our feast days, our
religious customs. Things go like that
on a year around basis.”
They give the example of the pueb-
lo’s Feast Day, held in honor for the
pueblo’s patron, San Augustine, every
year on Aug. 28.
“It’s honoring our Saint Augustine,”
says Lujan. “We give him thanks.”
The day is started with a Mass,
followed by a precession of the saint
around the Plaza and then traditional
dances are held.
“The Feast Days are sponsored by
various (families) on a yearly basis,”
Lujan says. “They take turns.”
Everyone is encouraged to par-
ticipate, tribal members and non-
members alike, adds Second Lt. Gov.
Antonio Chewiwi.
“The host prepare the feast for
visitors to participate in,” Chewiwi
says. “It’s a time to socialize with
other neighboring tribes that come to
our feast, to include not only Native
Americans, but everyone is invited.
“It’s a time to celebrate not only tra-
ditionally, but in the Catholic faith.”
When participating in a Feast Day,
the leaders say that guests are expect-
ed to observe the traditions with
respect and not do anything that’s
considered “exploitative,” such as tak-
ing pictures or video taping.
“These days, we have carnivals for
the kids,” says Lujan. “We’ve got ven-
dors that come in from everywhere.”
From here, the tribal leaders slip
easily into reminiscing about how
pueblo life was when they were boys,
and there is a slight melancholy at the
realization that times, after all, have
changed.
“You know, years ago, in the early
days, when we were kids,” said
Torres, “the Feast Day used to be cel-
ebrated by all the surround communi-
ties, like people from Los Lentes, our
neighbors from Los Lunas, Peralta,
Belen. They all used to come to the
feast because they knew it was time
to celebrate.”
He said the neighboring communi-
ties would even bring their own goods
and produce to trade.
LOCALS 2012: HERITAGE
HORNOS, such as these, have been used in Isleta Pueblo for generations to
bake the infamous oven bread, a staple at every table and also during feast
days.
“It was like one big community is
what it was,” he said. “And a lot of
the Spanish people, even some of the
white people, they knew how to talk
Isleta and most of the Isleta people
knew how to talk Spanish, and that’s
how they communicated with each
other, and they just had a good rela-
tionship.
“And now it’s different,” Torres
said. “And the reason it’s different is
because our neighbors have all either
moved away … all the Spanish people
that used to live (here) are gone.”
He said he remembers how when he
was a youth and it was getting close
to feast time, families would be wait-
ing for some of their friends to come
and stay with them from other com-
munities, pueblos or tribes.
“It’s not the way it used to be,” he
admits, adding, “All the people who
lived against the reservation were like
family.”
The governor remembers large veg-
etable gardens and huge chile fields
in the pueblo and that every house
had a ristra hanging from it. He says
people used to harvest their crops and
take them to the various Feast Days
in Isleta and neighboring pueblos to
trade and sell.
“We used to have these people
from Alamo come certain times of
the year,” said Lujan. “They’d bring
all kinds of mutton with them and
then we’d give them corn and chile
and oven bread, and they’d stay at
the house for a couple of days, you
know,” adding with a laugh that there
would be “truck loads” of them.
“Mom used to make a stack of torti-
llas this high at the morning breakfast
table. Man, what happened to those
days?” he wonders.
In the Tiwa-speaking community of
Isleta, or Shiewipag, history, it seems,
can be a slippery concept. In Tiwa,
the community’s history can be told
in a way not possible in English, just
as the pueblo’s history can either be
told from the perspective of the colo-
nized or the colonizer.
Because Tiwa was not a written
language, much of the outside world’s
knowledge of the pueblo’s history has
come from written records that began
during contact with European explor-
ers, or conquistadors, an account
often devoid of the Isleta peoples’
perspective.
Today, both groups’ historical
accounts have a place at the table,
coming together to produce a more
Ungelbah Daniel-Davila-News-Bulletin photos
ONE OF THE OLDEST churches in the country, San Augustine Catholic Church,
sits in the plaza, the heart of Isleta Pueblo. It was recently restored to its origi-
nal mission style and represents a vital part of the community.
well-rounded body of literature.
One such example is as a booklet
the pueblo created to accompany an
exhibit, which ran from December
2009 to April 2010, of 300 his-
toric photographs and artifacts, titled
“Time Exposures: Picturing a History
of Isleta Pueblo in the 19th Century,”
which begins by stating that its pur-
pose is for the people of Isleta to
“tell our own story” of this historical
period.
According to the booklet, the
Pueblo of Isleta, as it is known today,
was established in the 1300s along
what later became El Camino Real. It
served as an important central gather-
ing place for the smaller surrounding
Where everybody
knows your name.
When a community bank gets to know
you, great things happen. Stop in and
let us get to know you.
1810 Main Street NW, Los Lunas | 505.830.8184 | www.nmb-t.com
ISLETA PUEBLO First Lt. Gov. Paul Torres, left, Gov. Frank Lujan, center, and
Second Lt. Gov. Antonio Chewiwi, right, stand for a picture at the governor’s
office. Lujan says revenue from gaming has helped support improvements to
infrastructure in the pueblo.
News-Bulletin file photo
Tiwa communities and the Piro and
Tompiro-speaking villages to the
south and east, most of which reset-
tled in Isleta during the early Spanish
Colonial period.
“Over 3,000 years,” it states, “the
Pueblo people developed agricultural
practices suitable to the harsh envi-
ronment of the American Southwest.”
The pueblo developed an intricate
irrigation system that allowed them to
grow maize, beans, squash and cot-
ton, a practice that continued through
250 years of Spanish rule, which
began in 1598, and “survived through
the beginning of the American acqui-
sition of New Mexico.”
The latter part of the 19th century
October 20, 2012 7
saw rapid change for the pueblo that
began “its greatest transition with
traditional ways of life being dramati-
cally affected” with the railroad arriv-
ing in 1881, which “forcibly took land
and built rail lines through the center
of the pueblo.”
A double edged sword, the railroad
disrupted Pueblo life, but also brought
in railroad passengers eager to buy
Isletan pottery and crafts, a trend that
has survived into the present day.
During a recent drive to San.
Augustine Church, Gov. Lujan
pointed out landmarks from his youth
and reminisced about selling his own
little handmade items to tourists as a
child. Today, art continues to play an
important role in the lives of many
Isleta people, both culturally and eco-
nomically.
The pueblo is perhaps best known
for its pottery and storyteller dolls,
but is also home to a wealth of jewel-
ers, painters, leather workers, textile
artists, drum and rattle makers, wood
workers and beyond.
In the pueblo, art is more than a
hobby, it is an integral part of life, and
many crafts that are today prized for
their art value originated hundreds of
years ago as tools for everyday life.
Where the governor and his lieuten-
ants seemed uncertain where to begin
with the pueblo’s history, they make
no hesitation when it comes to the
future of Isleta. Lujan says the tribe’s
casino has been vital in supporting
economic development in the pueblo.
“The tribal budgets are about 80
percent funded from revenues gener-
ated (by the casino),” the governor
said. “That supplements the very little
money we get from state and federal
government.”
He cites the pueblo’s recreation cen-
ter, upgrades to infrastructures, the
elementary school and library as pro-
grams that have been funded in part
by casino revenue.
“Education: it’s helped send kids
to college, help them prepare,” he
said. “We have programs here that
help everybody in one way or another
and it’s from revenue generated from
gaming.”
The governor says that with
Albuquerque to the north and the
“fastest growing” county to the
south, he’s heard it said that one day
the pueblo might resemble Central
Park, an oasis of green surrounded
by urbanization, continuing as it has
done for more than 700 years.
8 October 20, 2012 LOCALS 2012: HERITAGE Valencia County News-Bulletin

TOMAS SERNA, left, and Blake O’Hare, right, went into business together to start a farming opera- Deborah Fox-News-Bulletin photos
tion in Peralta as a means to help them offset their college expenses. The O’Hare-Serna Farm market ALFALFA WAS BROUGHT to the Americas by Spanish explorers back in the 17th century to feed their
stand is located next to Walgreens at the “Y” in Los Lunas. horses in the New World.

Agriculture: A thriving way of life

By Deborah Fox
News-Bulletin Staff Writer
dfox@news-bulletin.com
The shiny, bright green and
red food staple of New Mexico
shaped the culture that grew
along side it by gathering com-
munities together at harvest
time.
At this time of year, the air
around the local farmers mar-
kets is heavily scented by the
smoky, spicy aroma of roasting
chile, and flaming red strings of
chile pods, called ristras, hang
from market rafters.
The ristras are used today as
decorations, but in the old days,
ristras were strung simply as a
means to dry and store the chile,
like beans, for future meals,
said Teresa Chavez, of Chavez
Farms.
It was the whole winter food
supply, she said.
It seems uncertain who
originally brought chile to New
Mexico, but Teresa’s husband,
David, was taught it was the
Spanish who brought chile into
the region.
It may be that Spanish explor-
ers brought chile up to North
America from the southern
continent, or it could be that
New Mexican Native peoples
traded with indigenous South
Americans for it long before, but
however it got here, it is a crop
that has had enormous influence
on the people who settled in
New Mexico.
In fact, it was the early
Spanish settlers who cultivated
the long chile we are familiar
with today, said Dr. Stephanie
Walker, New Mexico University
extension vegetable specialist.
Though some of the short chile
from central South America are
still grown in northern parts of
the state, she said.
In the early years of Spanish
settlement, there were a few pri-
mary staple crops.
Native Americans had long
been cultivating corn, squash,
beans and perhaps chile, but
alfalfa was brought to the
Americas by Spanish colonizers
as feed for their horses.
Today, communities up and
down the Rio Abajo grow a
large variety of crops, including
chile, corn, beans, squash, mel-
ons, wheat, alfalfa, cucumbers,
onions, tomatoes, grapes, apples
and many others.
The Chavez Farm in Los
Lunas is known for their tasty
chile, but if there is a special
technique, David Chavez isn’t
telling.
“I grow chile like they did 100
years ago,” Chavez said. “That’s
the secret, if it’s a secret.”
The Chavez Farm doesn’t
use any synthetic fertilizers or
chemical pesticides, and they
rotate their crop fields every
year.
“Everything I grow here is
organic,” he said. “It’s not certi-
fied organic, but it’s organic.”
He rotates his alfalfa fields
about every six to seven years,
turning alfalfa fields to chile
crops, providing them with a
richly fertilized soil from the
nitrogen-fixing bacteria that
live symbiotically on the alfalfa
plant root.
In turn, Chavez rotates his
chile fields to alfalfa, often
allowing his cattle to graze the
chile stubble in a cycle of natu-
ral soil fertilization.
It takes all winter to prepare
for the chile season in mid-
April, when chile seeds will be
sown, he said.
Then there are the arduous
tasks of nurturing the plants
by pulling weeds, irrigating at
the right time and in the right
amount, then harvesting the
pods plant-by-plant.
The sun beats down on the
parked cars at the Chavez mar-
ket, while shoppers inspect the
chile, apples, cucumbers and
other produce under the shelter-
ing relief of canopies that cover
the produce stand.
Teresa, in blue jeans and
sneakers, with her cell phone
attached to the strap of her hip
pouch, balances sale transac-
tions at the counter and weigh-
ing chile with incoming phone
orders.
A young hired hand roasts
green chile under an aroma-
filled adjacent canopy, while
David sits and visits with the
customers.
“Ask the boss,” he answers
CHILE ON THE CHAVEZ FARM in Los Lunas is grown the tradition-
al way without chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers.
one shopper’s query, because it
is Teresa who runs and operates
the market.
The scene is almost an identi-
cal repeat of a market 100 years
ago, when Teresa’s grandfather,
Ernest Sichler, farmed the land,
and his prodigy worked under
the canopy.
It was a time when stringing
ristras was a social occasion
and local farmers and neighbors
gathered to do the work and
visit with one another.
The Chavezes work their
Los Lentes land that has been
farmed for more than 200 years
— land that belonged to Silverio
and Ernestine Sais.
“Silverio told me that his
father’s father had farmed the
land,” said David.
Ernestine is Ernest Sichler’s
sister, children of George and
Mary Sichler II, who came to
Valencia County from Germany
in 1882, and began farming in
Los Lentes, said Rico Gonzales,
museum technician and oral his-
tory coordinator with the Los
Lunas Museum of Heritage and
Arts. He is working on a histori-
cal account of agricultural fami-
lies in the Los Lunas area.
Ernest, Ernestine and George
Sichler are three of 13 siblings
who farmed in Los Lunas, and
the other siblings, two of whom
died, went on to California and
different places. George, who
is now 96, is the only survivor,
Teresa said.
Sichler and Sais are two his-
torical family names in the area,
known for their chile and alfalfa
crops. The early communities
were close-knit because every-
body participated, Chavez said.
“The women did the chile
and the cooking, the men usu-
ally did the slaughtering, you
know, it was a joint effort for
everything,” he said. “Alifas
(Valenzuela) would sometimes
slaughter a pig just to have
people over, and they drank a lot
of homemade wine.”
“I grew up selling chile since I
was little,” Teresa said. “right by
Blake’s Lotaburger where Tai’s
(Chinese) restaurant is, and that
was before it was sacks — it
was bushels.”
Her family farmed chile and
alfalfa, and all the land behind
the Luna Mansion was her
grandfather’s orchard, she said.
And down Sichler Road, it was
all orchard.
“We still farm that,” Teresa
said. “We don’t own it, we rent
it from my brother. We’re still
farming land that belonged to
my grandfather.”
At harvest time, locals are so
anxious to try the new crop of
chile they will warm a tortilla
and put in a peeled, freshly
roasted chile, sprinkled with
a bit of garlic salt, a piece of
cheese and roll it up to eat it just
like that, said Alex Aragon, a
regular customer at the Chavez
Farm.
The busy market is filled with
melodic Spanish banter, occa-
sionally muted by the roasters
that sound like mythic dragons
spewing flames.
The Chavezes grow a variety
of chile, including a few plants
of Lumbre, which is probably
one of the hottest chiles, bark-
er’s, which is the next hottest,
then Sandia hots, the medium
hot Big Jim’s, and the mild New
Mexico Heritage chile.
“And that’s really tasty,”
Teresa said. “That goes back to
the heritage seed.”
Among the old time tradi-
tional farmers of the county, an
occasional new farmer comes to
the area. Clovis friends Blake
O’Hare, 21, and Tomas Serna,
19, started farming in Peralta
last year. They currently have
nine acres and hope to expand
to 30 acres next year.
They grow chile, alfalfa and
corn, selling the sweet corn to
the local school district.
The young men worked
with O’Hare’s father, Mike,
who farms wheat and corn in
Clovis, and picked up an inter-
est in farming. That led them to
consider farming and to form a
partnership to raise money for
their college expenses, O’Hare
said.
Serna has a few friends in
Isleta Pueblo who shared their
farming know-how with him,
and local farmers, such as Dan
Warring, of K.D. Farms, and
Jim Wagner, have also shared
their farming practices.
They have also turned to the
University of New Mexico's
research on chile varieties to
select their seeds.
“We use all New Mexican
varieties for our chile,” O’Hare
said. “And we’ve done a lot of
research on the chile grown
here, versus the chile grown in
Hatch.”
Valencia County is a per-
fect place to grow good chile
because of its particular eleva-
tion, water and soil, they said.
“The soil sediment here is
really, really good,” said O’Hare.
“That’s what the Middle Rio
Grande Valley is kind of known
for — the quality of the soil.
Also, the alkali in the water isn’t
something we have to deal with
either, and that’s what makes a
chile taste really bitter.”
Serna said NMSU is doing
a lot of research on capsaicin
extraction, the substances that
gives chile peppers its heat,
because there is a good market
for it as an additive for salsa and
other spicy foods.
“They try to do as much
development as they can to help
put New Mexico on the map for
pepper growing, because we
obviously have one of the best
climates to support that,” Serna
said. “They’re trying to make us
more competitive by mechaniza-
tion, too.”
The chile the new farmers
have grown has received posi-
tive reviews and recognition,
they said.
“Our farm is right there
next to the road,” Serna said.
“They’ve seen us out there from
day one working hard. It’s kind
of cool for them to see. It’s a
little bit different view on the
way they get their food. It’s not
just straight supermarket, there’s
actually a feeling associated
with it now.”
Amid the sounds of rush hour
traffic on Main Street in east
Los Lunas, the O’Hare Serna
Farm produce stand is nestled
next to Walgreens at the “Y,”
and the vibrant color of the chile
ristras hanging from the rafters
is a sentinel of New Mexican
culture.

W H AT ’ S N E W AT J U B I L E E ?
Everything!
Matanzas have a long history in our community. In fact,
the matanza tradition came to New Mexico from Spain.
Many who attend a matanza for the first time ask why
matanzas are held during our coldest time of the year.
Traditionally, matanza season starts before Christmas. The
main focus is to bring family and friends together. It’s a
very social event usually ending with homemade tortillas,
red chile and pork, tamales & chicharones to celebrate. In
earlier times, without refrigeration, the cold winter kept the
food from spoiling and easier to store and dry meat. Though
times are different, the culture and tradition are still popular
and what a better way to embrace this heritage by joining in
on the 13th Annual Hispano Matanza 2013.

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Valencia County News-Bulletin LOCALS 2012: HERITAGE October 20, 2012 9

Submitted photo News-Bulletin file photo

PREPARING A HOG for the annual Valencia County Hispano Chamber of Commerce Matanza is Willie THE TRAVEL CHANNEL’S ‘Bizarre Foods’ host Andrew Zimmern, left, learns about matanza prepara-
Lucero Robert VanOrman and David Gonzales. The event will mark its 13th year in January. tion from Steve Otero, right, during the filming of the popular television show in November 2011.

Matanzas: Family, community and tradition

By Mike Stearns
News-Bulletin Staff Writer
mstearns@news-bulletin.com
Early in the morning, men
gather to select a well-fed pig.
The jaras and discos are
ready, boiling with water, tradi-
tionally over a wood fire. The
bottles of wine, knives sharp-
ened and tall tales are ready for
the day-long preparation and
eating of the pig. It is a shared
experience. It is matanza.
A tried and true feast
According to Maggie
McDonald, who has a doctor-
ate in American Studies and
who wrote her dissertation on
Belen’s culture and history, the
word “matanza” comes from the
Spanish word “matar,” meaning
to kill.
She noted that the practice
developed in Spain in the sev-
enth century and did not neces-
sarily use pigs. Goats, lambs
and other animals would be
killed and cooked in a family or
community setting.
It became a politically-
charged event as the Moors took
over Spain. Because there were
religious differences involving
the consumption of pork for
both the Muslims and the Jews,
matanzas using a pig became
a way of identifying those of
a faith differing from Spanish
Catholicism.
“They could find out if you
were a Jew or not by offering
you pork,” McDonald said. “If
you didn’t eat pork, then you
were a Jew or a Muslim. It was
a very distinguishing feature.”
Matanzas came from Spain
along with the explorers and
they can even be traced back to
Christopher Columbus.
Pigs are not native to North
America and the traditional
ways of preparing the animal
and the need for meat through
the winter made the tradition
of matanza a practical event
for even Francisco Vásquez de
Coronado and Juan de Oñate,
the early explorers of the Rio
Abajo in New Mexico.
“Oñate brought pigs with him
when he came up from Mexico,”
McDonald said. “You can just
put pigs out in the wild and they
will eat anything.
“From Spain, they were
brought to the new world,” she
said. “Columbus brought them
with him on his ships.”
In the early settlements in the
Rio Abajo, making it through
the winter required a storage of
meat.
“The only way to survive was
with the help of your neigh-
bors,” said McDonald.
It starts with parts
After the animal is slaugh-
tered and drained, the organs
are cut from the rest of the meat.
The back fat is cut into long
strips, called longas, and hung
to cure while the rest of the
animal is processed. These are
later used to make chicharrones
and render for lard to be used
throughout the winter.
The heart, liver, kidneys and
other organs are chopped up
and grilled with onions. It is
a reward, called the matanza
breakfast, for those gathered to
cook.
One of the distinguishing
features of the matanza, as
compared with other hog roasts,
such as the Hawaiian Luau, is
that every part of the animal is
used.
Morcela is a blood pudding
that is made with sweet onions
and raisins.
“They don’t use blenders,
it is all mixed by hand,” said
McDonald.
The tail and ears are cut off
and cooked directly in the fire.
“It is a delicacy,” McDonald
said, noting that many people
are hesitant to try the blood pud-
ding.
McDonald said that it is
because of our English tradition
that it is a squeamish part for a
lot of people new to matanza.
“We have an aversion to
blood,” said the historian. “In
the Victorian culture, it is
taboo to drink blood. Many
people don’t eat the organ meets
because of those Victorian aver-
sions.”
Several dishes are prepared
IF YOU HAVE good chicharrones, then your matanza is a success,
according to Steven Otero, a local expert on the tradition and who
was featured on ‘Bizzare Foods.’
from the main part of the pig.
Carne asada and carnitos are
usual staples at matanzas.
In the olden days, when the
families needed to store meat
for the winter, only a small por-
tion was used and the rest was
wrapped in lard and stored.
The longas are taken down
and cut into cubes to be used in
part for the lard and some for
the chicharrones.
Chowing on chicharrones
Steven Otero has gained a
reputation as a matanza expert.
He can trace his family matanza
tradition back several genera-
tions in the Rio Abajo.
According to Otero, the chich-
arrones are everything when it
News-Bulletin file photo
comes to matanzas.
“If you have great chichar-
rones and everything else was
terrible, then you had a great
matanza,” said Otero. “The
chicharrones is the gage of the
success of the feast for that day.”
Otero was featured on the
Travel Channel’s “Bizzare
Foods” show earlier this year.
The segment was actually
filmed last November.
“What Andrew Zimmern of
‘Bizzare Foods’ told me that
impressed him the most was
that there was community of
the people and each individual
knew exactly what their part
was,” said Otero.
It was what distinguished
the matanza from the other
approximately 40 ways to have
a pig roast, according to what
Zimmern told Otero during the
filming of the show.
The ‘poor man’s butter’
The rendered fat of the pig
was an important part of mak-
ing it through an old-time New
Mexico winter. It had the ability
to seal food and keep it fresh
before the advent of refrigera-
tors.
“This is what you primarily
having the matanza for, is the
lard,” said McDonald. “It is
used primarily in New Mexican
cooking.”
McDonald said that cooking
oils and butter have replaced the
need for lard, but her preference
is for the old-fashioned way.
“I think that tamales that are
made with shortening and not
lard are not as good,” she said.
“The same with biscochitos.”
Otero calls the lard “poor
man’s butter.”
“It is the reason they would
get the pig as fat as they could,
is that it would be good for the
lard,” said Otero.
He described an old tradition
of storing the ham and bacon
sealed in lard to make it last
through the winter. A family
could take out the meat, cut off
a portion and the lard would seal
and preserve it.
McDonald joked about the
high-calorie diet.
“In the olden days, the people
worked harder and they needed
those calories,” she said. “Today,
we don’t work as hard.”
“I tell people that in the Rio
Abajo, chicharrones and lard
do not have calories,” said
McDonald.
A community matanza
The Valencia County Hispano
Chamber of Commerce holds a
matanza every year in order to
preserve the tradition. Matanzas
are usually held starting in
November to keep the food from
spoiling.
According to Valencia County
Hispano Chamber of Commerce
President Yvonne Sanchez, the
community organization decid-
ed to have a matanza as a way
to raise money for a scholarship
fund the weekend between the
NFL playoffs and the Super
Bowl.
“We wanted to do something
unique that would raise money
and highlight our tradition. We
all knew and loved matanzas,”
she said. “We were not sure if
the public would buy into it and
would love it the way we did.”
Last year’s matanza, the 12th
annual, broke records for atten-
dance and money raised for the
scholarship fund.
“This is also a celebration,”
said Sanchez, explaining that
the cost has been held steady for
the event to encourage the com-
munity gathering.
“We do not want to nickle-
and-dime the community. We
want people to come and share.
We have kept the prices at that.”
Celebrating tradition
“It has to go back over 400
years in this valley,” Sanchez
said of the tradition. “Still, to
this day, it is the men who do
the slaughtering and preparing
and cooking. The men do most
of the labor-intensive part.”
She did say that the use of the
matanza has changed a little
from the political protests in
Spain in the seventh century
to today’s political rallies and
fundraisers for all types of
causes.
But Sanchez loves the family
gathering that reminds her of
her childhood.
“We loved to go to matanzas
because that is where you would
see your cousins,” Sanchez said.
“The meat that they saved is
what they would use to make
tamales for Christmas. It is so
much ingrained in this valley.”
The gathering of friends and
family is a celebration, a time
for singing and sharing.
“I have been to matanzas
where people know that they are
dying and their wish is to have
a matanza,” she said. “It is the
open place where you can walk
in and visit with your neighbor
and release all of your stresses.
You are just there celebrating
a meal together and a glass of
wine. It is a celebration.”

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