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Nación Genízara
Ethnogenesis, Place, and Identity in New Mexico
Edited by Moises Gonzales and Enrique R. Lamadrid
Published by: University of New Mexico Press
Winner of the 2021 Heritage Publication Award from the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division
Second Place Winner of the 2020 International Latino Book Award for Best History Book
Nación Genízara examines the history, cultural evolution, and survival of the Genízaro people. The contributors to this volume cover topics including ethnogenesis, slavery, settlements, poetics, religion, gender, family history, and mestizo genetics. Fray Angélico Chávez defined Genízaro as the ethnic term given to indigenous people of mixed tribal origins living among the Hispano population in Spanish fashion. They entered colonial society as captives taken during wars with Utes, Apaches, Comanches, Kiowas, Navajos, and Pawnees. Genízaros comprised a third of the population by 1800. Many assimilated into Hispano and Pueblo society, but others in the land-grant communities maintained their identity through ritual, self-government, and kinship.
Today the persistence of Genízaro identity blurs the lines of distinction between Native and Hispanic frameworks of race and cultural affiliation. This is the first study to focus exclusively on the detribalized Native experience of the Genízaro in New Mexico.
Moises Gonzales is an associate professor of urban design in community and regional planning in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of New Mexico. He currently serves on the board of trustees of the Carnué Land Grant and has written various articles on the history and culture of Genízaro settlements.
"Editors Moises Gonzales and Enrique R. Lamadrid have crafted a landmark volume on the history, culture, and contemporary valences of these peoples. . . . This impressive collection of essays brings us that much closer to understanding the often painfully complicated lives and richly complex heritage that grows ever more vital among the descendants of those children (of war)."--James F. Brooks, Journal of American Ethnic History
"The edited volume provides multi- and interdisciplinary approaches to the history, memorialization, cultural practices, art, language, socioeconomic status, and archaeology of Genízaros in New Mexico and southern Colorado from the eighteenth century until the present day. . . . Most importantly, the volume clearly shows that prior claims that Genízaro identity and culture were lost after 1821 are false and, instead, documents a complicated, and vibrant ongoing history and an active present-day community."--Rebecca Brückmann, H-Net
"Underscoring the rootedness of place and the importance of resistance in the persistence and continuation of Genízaro cultural identity, this work stands at the forefront of Genízaro scholarship. Highly recommended."--G. R Campbell, Choice
"A historical shroud has long concealed the history and legacy of an important segment of the New Mexico population, Indian slaves known as genízaros. With the help of experts in many fields, Nación Genízara has removed much of this shroud, revealing a rich new layer of regional society and culture."--Richard Melzer, coauthor of A History of New Mexico Since Statehood
"This groundbreaking anthology brings together the latest scholarship on Genízaros, a uniquely New Mexican ethnic identity, which is the object of a burgeoning, multidisciplinary field of study."--Rick Hendricks, coauthor of Four Square Leagues: Pueblo Indian Land in New Mexico
List of Illustrations
Foreword. Recordando el Futuro / Remembering the Future: Mal-Criados, Memory, and Memorials
Estevan Rael-Gálvez
Estrellita Reluciente del Pueblo de Abiquiú: Coplas de Entrada / Little Shining Star of the Pueblo of Abiquiú: Verses of Entry
David F. García
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction. Nación Genízara: Ethnogenesis, Place, and Identity in New Mexico
Enrique R. Lamadrid and Moises Gonzales
Chapter One. Visualizing Genízaro Cultural Memory and Ritual Celebration
Miguel A. Gandert
Chapter Two. Mexican Indians and Genízaros: Soldier-Farmer Allies in the Defense and Agricultural Development of New Mexico
Tomás Martínez Saldaña, Enrique R. Lamadrid, and José A. Rivera
Chapter Three. Genízaros and Cultural Systems of Slavery in the Hispanic Southwest
William S. Kiser
Chapter Four. Genízara Self-Advocacy in Eighteenth-Century New Mexico
Cristina Durán
Chapter Five. The Genízaro Origins of the Hermanos Penitentes
Ramón A. Gutiérrez
Chapter Six. The Colonial Genízaro Mission Pueblo of Belén
Samuel E. Sisneros
Chapter Seven. Genízaro Ethnogenesis and the Archaeological Record
Charles M. Carrillo
Chapter Eight. Survival of Captivity: Hybrid Identities, Gender, and Culture in Territorial Colorado
Virginia Sánchez
Chapter Nine. Genízaro Settlements of the Sierra Sandía: Resilience and Identity in the Land Grants of San Miguel del Cañón de Carnué and San Antonio de las Huertas
Moises Gonzales
Chapter Ten. Huellas de Sangre, Amor, y Lágrimas: Rescatando a Mis Cautivas / Trails of Blood, Love, and Tears: Rescuing My Captives
Susan M. Gandert
Chapter Eleven. Genízaro Salvation: The Poetics of G. Benito Córdova's Genízaro Nation
Michael L. Trujillo
Chapter Twelve. Sangre de Indio que Corre en Mis Venas: Nativo Poetics and Nuevomexicano Identity
Levi Romero
Chapter Thirteen. Genízaro Identity and DNA: The Helix of Our Native American Genetic History
Miguel A. Tórrez
Chapter Fourteen. Epilogue: Persistence and Resistance in Genízaro Identity
Teresa Córdova
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