DEXTER TRUJILLO GATHERING MISTLETOE FROM A JUNIPER TREE


Like most Genízaro people in Abiquiú, Dexter Trujillo descends from a family that helped settle the community. In the mid- 1800s, Apache people abducted his ances- tor, Juan de Dios, as the boy strode along Abiquiú Creek. According to Trujillo family history, the boy was enslaved for more than nine years before he injured his leg and was left for dead. He survived by eating mistle- toe fungus from juniper trees (such as this, right) until U.S. Army soldiers discovered the boy and returned him to Abiquiú. Trujillo is a leader of Los Hermanos


Penitentes (The Penitent Brothers), a reli- gious brotherhood formed at Abiquiú by the 1800s. In addition to commemorating the Passion of Jesus Christ, the brotherhood prays on behalf of the community.


VIRGIL AND ISABEL TRUJILLO IN THEIR FAMILY APPLE ORCHARD


Virgil Trujillo (left in photo, brother of Dex- ter Trujillo) manages part of Abiquiú’s cen- turies-old “acequias,” or communal irrigation system. It combines Spanish and Indigenous practices to direct water into fields. “Our identity is tied to the land,” he says. “Ranch- ing and farming are the source of our life and freedom. Everything is tied to the land; every- thing starts as a natural resource.” Isabel Trujillo, Virgil’s wife, is the direc-


tor of the Pueblo de Abiquiú Library and Cultural Center. “Anthropologists and his- tory books have ignored our painful past, but many Abiquiú families have continu- ously honored our Indigenous ancestry with ceremony, dancing and feast days,” she says. “Today, there is a revival and resurgence of interest in our unique Genízaro identity, culture and history. You can’t take it out of our blood.”


18 AMERICAN INDIAN SUMMER 2020


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52