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TAOSNEWS.COM/TAOSWOMAN • TAOS WOMAN 2016 3

4 TAOS WOMAN 2016 • TAOSNEWS.COM/TAOSWOMAN

Taos News StaffRobin Martin, owner

Chris Baker, publisher

Joan Livingston, editor

Chris Wood, advertising manager

Scott Gerdes, special sections editor

Michelle M. Gutierrez, lead editorial designer

Karin Eberhardt, production manager, cover design

Katharine Egli, photographer

Staff writers: Cody Hooks, Gabriel Weinstein

Contributing writers: Virginia L. Clark, Teresa Dovalpage, William Hudson, Andy Jones, Monique Parker, Yvonne Pesquera, John Miller, Jim O’Donnell, Ted Wiard and Malinda Williams

taoswoman celebrating the feminine spirit

Timeless empowermentThe women of Taos have

different roles and occupations; they are on farms, in studios and in

family businesses, in a spectrum of employment and community activities. They are seekers and teachers. Their brilliance, wisdom and resolve are as timeless, varied and beautiful as the wildness and splendor of Taos itself. Every Taos woman is her own woman, yet they speak as one.

For centuries, Taos — even with its rustic isolation — has been a beacon attracting female nonconformists and has nurtured many more from birth, some who

are the glue keeping traditions intact while others transform, as all enhance our rural society. One such woman is Dawning-Pollen Shorty, who is a third- generation Taos Pueblo artist specializing in pottery (p. 46). “Through the Looking Glass” highlights pioneering woman Josephine Cordova, who left her indelible mark on Taos (p. 34); Taos Pueblo painter Eva Mirabal joined the WAC and became the first Native female comic strip creator (p. 26); the grander meaning of being a female musician in Taos is explored by Andy Jones (p. 16); The Taos News Sports Editor

Gabe Weinstein features three female multi-sport athletes from area high schools who thrive on and off the fields and courts (p. 38); and contributor John Miller spoke with Centinel Bank CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey about being named the president of the National Association of Independent Bankers (p.10). Also, Virginia L. Clark brings to light the strength and resolve of a domestic violence survivor (p. 20), Teresa Dovalpage spoke with some of Taos’ female veterans (p. 6) about their healing process and The Taos News reporter Cody Hooks takes a look at the three female superintendents running

the show for Taos County schools (p. 42).

Also inside are articles meant to further inform and empower Taos’ women, such as the benefits of yoga, advice on achieving and maintaining healthy relationships, continuing education programs, estate planning advice and coping with loss.

A Taoseña knows who she is and makes no excuses. She doesn’t always celebrate her achievements, which are many. So, in this edition of Taos Woman, we will do that for her.

— Scott Gerdes, special sections editor

‘I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as

a fingerprint — and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form

of service, working hard and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you.’

— Oprah Winfrey

Contents6 Sisters healing together: women veterans reach out to each other by Teresa Dovalpage

10 “I’m a community banker”: Centinel Bank of Taos CEO to lead national discussion, by John Miller

12 How yoga transforms my mind, my life by Monique Parker

14 The joy of planning your estate, by Bill Hudson

16 Sound opinions: musical performers discuss what it means to be a creative woman by Andy Jones

20 Speak up!: from victim to survivor to thriver by Virginia L. Clark

24 My relationship is … healthy/unhealthy? by Malinda Williams

26 In a small circle: Eah Ha Wa (Eva Mirabal): the best unknown Taos artist, by Scott Gerdes

30 Graceful and determined: UNM-Taos High School Equivalency students juggle daily responsibilities while working toward the future by Yvonne Pesquera 34 Through the looking glass: Arroyo Seco’s Josephine Cordova by Scott Gerdes

38 The joy of athletics: area high school girls get more than exercise from sports by Gabriel Weinstein

42 Head of the class: a female trio lead Taos County schools by Cody Hooks

46 Bathing in creativity: Dawning-Pollen Shorty carries on artistic legacy, her way by Jim O’Donnell

50 Loss of a loved one: transforming grief and chaos into new beginnings by Ted Wiard

On the Cover: Eah Ha Wa (Pfc. Eva Mirabal) pictured in 1944 while serving in the Air Force during World War II. Photo by AAF Air Service Command, courtesy of Jonathan Warm Day Coming.


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By Teresa Dovalpage

The cozy living room —complete with a fireplace and a big window that brings Taos Mountain

in — looks like the picture of serenity. The tantalizing smells of pozole and sopaipillas come from the kitchen. Outside, a young AmeriCorps volunteer feeds two miniature horses.

There is always someone around in the Sunset Park property, formerly known as “Ol Orinda” and now turned into Not Forgotten Outreach Military Family Respite Center.

“The center was established to provide therapeutic and recreational activities for military families and veterans, and that includes women veterans, of course,” said Kym Sanchez, founder and president of Not Forgotten Outreach.

Sanchez served in the first Infantry Division, Divisional Headquarters, in Iraq between 2004 and 2005. Her duties included burying more than 180 soldiers. She also buried her husband, Sergeant Timothy Sanchez, who was killed in action in Iraq.

In 2013, Sanchez drew from her personal experience and knowledge of veterans’ needs to create Not Forgotten Outreach Inc. A year later, Executive Director Don Peters and Sanchez launched a grass-roots campaign that resulted in the opening of the center, located on 2 acres with majestic views.

“Right now, we are inviting all our sisters, the women veterans of Taos, to come so we all can start a support group here,” said Sanchez.

A safe place to talkAmong the around 20 women

veterans who currently reside in

Taos is Amy O’Hern. Last year, she saw a sign on the side of Kit Carson Road, and it led her to Not Forgotten Outreach. O’Hern is now a regular at the center.

“This is such a soothing environment,” she said. “Look at that sunset! You just want to frame it. But it goes beyond that: we also get emotional support here, and it is a safe place to talk.”

Sanchez and Peters have gone through great lengths to make sure that the organization is responsive to the needs of women veterans.

“At first, we go through the same issues that male veterans

Sisters healing togetherWomen veterans reach out to each other

VETERANS continues on Page 8

Katharine Egli

Not Forgotten Outreach’s president, Kym Sanchez, talks to participants in the organization’s Veterans Ski Weekend at the Taos Ski Valley in January 2015.


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do,” said O’Hern. “When we come back, we need to find out about our benefits, such as medical and educational resources, and how to get them. Basically, we all need to get reconnected to civilian life.”

“For us, women’s issues are veterans’ issues,” Sanchez said.

And yet, they both admit that the fellowship of other women veterans makes these issues less daunting.

“The problems we may have are easy to deal with when another woman helps us navigate the system,” Sanchez said. “When women veterans get together we feel we can speak more freely … we understand where we are coming from. Together, we heal faster, that’s why we are so interested in starting our own group.”

Taoseña, veteranaSergeant Lesha R. Trujillo, a

native Taoseña, was in active duty in South Korea, Fort Bliss, Texas and Baghdad, Iraq, from 2001 to 2009. After working as a police officer in San Antonio, Texas, for three years, she came back to Taos, where she is a full-time student at UNM-Taos and a behavioral management provider at Enos Garcia Elementary School.

“It is more difficult for women veterans to get help from the VA,” she said. “I also wish the community and the town offer more support to the soldiers as we struggle to go back to civilian life.”

She was delighted with the idea of having a group of women veterans in Taos.

“I will definitely pay them a visit,” Trujillo said.

Healing body and soulThe services offered at the center

include peer-to-peer counseling to veterans, provided by others who have already “walked in their shoes” after returning from war.

“We use an innovative approach to integration and mental health at Not Forgotten,” Sanchez said. “And this applies to both women

and men. For example, we all get free yoga lessons, facilitated by Connected Warriors, in two different locations: Aura Fitness and Taos Yoga Therapy.”

“Instructor Carrie Levin has been awesome,” O’Hern adds.

Currently, the six-bedroom property is going through an extensive renovation. Once it is finished, there will also be spaces for painting and writing workshops.

In the meantime, they are harnessing the healing powers of animals. In addition to the miniature horses, the center is home to nine goats, two pigs, a peacock, two peahens and many chickens.

“Working with the goats, feeding them, even just spending time with them … this is all very therapeutic,” Sanchez said. “One of them, William, is very well trained and can even pull a cart. Come by and find out all we have to offer here!”

“We want to send a message to all women veterans: they are warmly welcomed in the center,” said Peters. “They are an intrinsic part of the military service, and our doors are opened to them.”

Katharine Egli

Kym Sanchez, president of Not Forgotten Outreach, welcomes families to the organization’s Military Respite Center in April 2015.

VETERANS continued from Page 6

Advice to military spousesUnderstand that there are

things a veteran doesn’t feel comfortable talking about. Listen if they want to talk, but don’t push them.

Make sure they get good quality sleep.

Understand that they probably won’t be the same as they were before, at least for a long time.

Don’t isolate. If your veteran is dealing with PTS, consider that there are others in the community that are going through the same issues and reach out to them.

‘We want to send a message to all women veterans:

they are warmly welcomed in the center. They are an

intrinsic part of the military service, and our doors are

opened to them.’— Don Peters


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By John Miller

Many who call Taos home, whether for a season or for a lifetime, understand

just how challenging it can be to live here. Those who endeavor to stay often wrestle with some very basic questions: “Where am I going to work? How will I pay my bills? How can I afford to raise a family? How can I start and sustain a business?”

The same questions arise in any other part of the United States, but in a historically homogenous and isolated economy, the answers can be particularly hard to find — driving many natives and transplants to seek opportunities in larger, urban areas.

For more than 40 years, the Romero family, founder of Centinel Bank of Taos, have been seeking solutions to these problems through the community banking model — a non-traditional form of lending that has been challenged by the economic swings of the past two decades, but may be one of the most promising options for investment and growth in small, rural communities like Taos.

In 1999, Rebeca Romero Rainey, current CEO and chairman for Centinel Bank of Taos, took up her family’s legacy and became the youngest bank president in the United States. Rainey has since served as chairman of the Minority Bank Council, a member of the Policy Development Committee and, in December 2009, was invited to the White House to discuss lending practices with President Obama in the midst of the late-2000s financial crisis.

In March of this year, she will assume another role as chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), leading a national discussion on the future of community banking that brings Taos’ singular economic example to the national stage.

One of her first priorities is to address the regulatory reforms that are threatening to undo the community banking model.

“Community banks are facing an incredible amount of ‘reg’ burden right now, and there’s the potential for even more,” said Rainey. “A big part of what I and others at the leadership level have been working on over the last several years is how

we define community banking, vis–à–vis banking. Once upon a time, I would have said that I’m a ‘banker.’ Today, I say that I’m a ‘community banker’ because they are really two very, very different business models.”

Unlike larger, commercial banks, community lending institutions like Centinel Bank operate on a kind of closed system, lending only to borrowers in their respective counties. Rainey explained that “an independent community bank is one where the interest is in the community — taking the assets of the community and reinvesting back within that community. ‘Independent’ means having that ability to make those decisions based on the needs of the community.”

Historically, this has granted municipalities greater control over where capital is directed and spent — a key financial mechanism in an area like Taos. But, new federal restrictions are blurring the definitions. Rainey hopes to find creative ways to reverse this trend.

“Driving tiered and proportionate regulation for community banking is a top priority,” Rainey said. “It is essential that we examine and regulate community banks proportionately to the risk that they represent — to the Deposit Insurance Fund, to the economy, to whatever it may be — we have to find that congruence and treat it appropriately.”

The ICBA represents more than 6,000 community banks across the United States and is led by an executive committee of 11 independent bankers. If you take a look at the current roster, more than 80 percent of the executives are men. Now at 39 years of age, Rainey is set to become the youngest chairman, and only the third female chairman in the ICBA’s 85-year history.

“I’m hopeful that I can be a voice and an example of a younger, female manager and what can be done within a community bank — how you can have fun and create new opportunities,” she said. “We need to think about how we preserve and protect the model so that we can continue to have fun and leverage community dollars to create and build local economies, and to that end, we have to get more people — younger men and women — interested in doing that.”

‘I’m a community banker’Centinel Bank of Taos CEO to lead national discussion

Robbie Steinbach

Rebeca Romero Rainey


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By Monique Parker

To say that the practice of yoga has transformed my life would be an understatement. The truth is that if it weren’t for yoga, the long shadow that

follows my life would never get illuminated.

You may know me or have heard my name (I own a yoga school and yoga therapy studio here in Taos). But what you don’t know about is personal and close to my heart, which is that yoga has and continues to help me understand and, more often than not, cope with the obstacles (physical, psychological, emotional, energetic — real and imagined) that trigger destructive behaviors that keep me stuck. In short, yoga saves my life — daily.

Early infant abandonment and domestic violence, including constant belittling and physical abuse, left emotional and psychological scars in my mind called “samskaras” (latent impressions or conditioning) in Raja Yoga.

As a result, I, like many adolescent girls, suffered from a lack of self-worth, chronic low-level depression and negative body image. These issues persisted into adulthood, morphing into a myriad of forms: bulimia, unaccountable fear, anxiety, anger, shame, unhealthy relationships, insomnia and high-functioning workaholism.

While not everyone who has endured a traumatic experience is scarred, everyone is shaped by our life experiences for better or worse. These memories and experiences (samskaras) are stored in our minds, shaping our beliefs, habits and behaviors. Thus, creating our reality.

Our conditioning afflicts our mind, even if we’ve never personally experienced trauma. From a yogic perspective, our cumulative storehouse of life experiences on our subconscious and unconscious minds gives rise to a host of vrttis — thoughts and emotions such as desire, fear, negativity, greed, doubt, prejudice, sorrow, arrogance, jealousy and self-delusion — that while essentially part and parcel of being human, constantly give us false assumptions about ourselves and the world around us.

These false assumptions (e.g., “I am unworthy,” “so-and-so doesn’t love me,” “this situation will never change” and “I am not fill-in-the-blank enough”) impact our health and well-being on all levels: physically, emotionally and psychologically. They reinforce our conditioning, which gives rise to similar thoughts and behaviors that contribute to our feeling “off”and somehow lacking.

Think of samskaras, or latent impressions, as bindweed, those invasive climbing vines that tightly wrap themselves around plants and other objects. Left uncontrolled, a single plant can spread out to 18 feet, their hardy roots

penetrating a depth of 20 feet.

Your thoughts and behaviors, left unchecked, have a similar effect. Negativity, fear, contempt, envy, worry and desire not only cover or veil our perceptions, they literally distribute more: more thoughts that keep us wanting or feeling stuck, more stress, more symptoms of dis-ease, more suffering.

It’s no wonder bindweed is referred to as “Morning Glories.” For a majority of the population, upon waking in the morning the mind is already rushing, worrying, feeling depressed for no reason and bombarded with seemingly uncontrollable and incessant thoughts.

Luckily, these vine-like perennials bloom beautiful pink and white flowers. When the sun is out, the flowers open in the morning and close at dusk. But if the sky is overcast and gloomy, the blossoms remain closed, like the mind.

The mind is capable of rising above the clinging, suffocating qualities of delusion. Yoga, as one of the oldest tools of personal development, offers a myriad of practices, such as japa meditation (repeating a mantra or sacred words), pranayama (breathing exercises) and pratipaksha bhavanam (looking at thoughts or situations from another perspective) that weaken habits of thought and behavior and bring us closer to our best, most authentic self.

Monique Parker owns Taos Yoga Therapy and Svastha Yoga Institute, the U.S.-affiliate school of Svastha Yoga & Ayurveda in Chennai, India. She offers private instruction, retreats and 200-hour yoga teacher certification. Learn more about what she does at taosyogatherapy.com and svasthayogainstitute.com.

How yoga transforms my mind, my life

Katharine Egli

Class in session at Taos Yoga Therapy with Monique Parker on Jan. 29.


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By William Hudson

Yes, you read that right ... joy! When done properly, the estate planning process gives most people

a profound sense of peace and the feeling that they are free to get on with the process of living.

Now that is joy!

The question is, how do you get to that place? Women outlive

men — on average 5 to 10 years longer. Women are formidable forces in today’s labor market; working women control more than 60 percent of all personal wealth in the U.S. Further, women are the primary breadwinners in 40 percent of American households and account for more than 50 percent of all stock ownership in the country. In my experience, women tend to be more concerned about relationships, family and

interconnectedness than men. And it’s a good thing they are. To protect their assets and loved ones, it is advised that women create an estate plan. Here are five essential steps in doing just that:

Step 1 Understand that planning is a

process. It requires that you think deeply about the people who may be affected by your disability or death. At the completion of the

process, what you end up with is a set of written instructions directed toward the people you trust to carry them out. Being clear about your intentions and instructions is the key.

And yes, you do have an estate. The term, estate, may sound a little grandiose, but it simply means any assets — money, real estate, vehicles, etc. and the “stuff” that you own.

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energy. They may have a personal agenda that will make it hard or impossible to fill the role in an unbiased way.

An alternative may be a professional fiduciary that provides financial management services for a fee. These include trust companies, attorneys, accountants and others who have the necessary skills and credentials.

Step 3 Identify all of your assets,

liabilities and other vital information. This is the information your fiduciary will have to work with. Ideally, you should be specific about types of assets (bank, investment and retirement accounts, real estate, vehicles, business interests and other assets of significant market value) and estimated market value. Make a list of creditors and include monthly payments and outstanding balances. Your fiduciary will have to make sure these are paid before distributing anything to your heirs. Identify your online accounts with usernames and passwords. These will have to be cancelled. Make a list of specific items of personal property, such as heirlooms, art, antiques, personal effects, etc. and the people who are to receive them. Make a list of your home and auto insurance carriers, tax preparer and other people who provide ongoing or periodic services.

Step 4 Identify the people who will

receive your assets. It is usually much easier to envision your estate as a pie chart with each heir receiving a percentage than it is to have specific persons as the recipients of specific assets. Be sure to identify alternate beneficiaries in case the first in line fails to survive you. If everything is to pass to a spouse or partner, decide whether the partner will have the right or ability to change the plan of distribution once you are deceased. Determine if you want an inheritance to be used for a specific purpose, such as education, care of pets, etc. In these situations, a trust may be in order.

Step 5Hire a competent estate planning

attorney. Estate planning is a creative, collaborative process. When done right, your estate will be distributed with a minimum of effort, time and expense for your loved ones.

William Hudson is an estate planning and probate attorney in Taos.


By Andy Jones

What does it mean to be a female musician? Should it mean anything different

than being a male musician? Are there legitimate obstacles that hinder success in an often male-dominated business?

These are some of the questions we asked four Taos-area musical performers. And the answers are as varied as the women themselves. Each artist we interviewed came from a unique background, both in terms of cultural and musical genres.

While some women reject the

notion of labeling someone a “woman musician,” others embrace the communal aspect that comes with being a female who just happens to also make music.

As with any topic, it’s clear that there are no easy answers when it comes to identifying oneself as a “woman” in any field. Is it a crutch, or something to legitimately embrace? Does it make sense to point out your gender, especially when men are never required to do the same thing?

Anne Speroni of the band Art of Flying makes some good points when she says the discussion is more harmful than helpful.

“I don’t think there even needs to be that conversation,” she says. “No one would ever ask, ‘Has your experience been colored differently by being a man in a band?’”

Living in the Questa and Taos area for almost 30 years, Speroni and David Costanza have been making music together since college, and since 1998, they’ve dubbed their unique brand of experimental music “Art of Flying.” They blend pop, rock, folk and other styles into something that is at once timeless and inventive.

Speroni plays bass, guitar, piano and usually sings for the band. They’ve worked with numerous

musicians from Taos and far beyond, and she says that being a woman hasn’t been a part of her musical equation.

“I do have an awareness that in my particular musical universe, there have been more men than women, but I never felt treated any differently,” she says.

On the flip side is local vocalist and DJ, Christalyn Concha, who performs as DJ Chrystalline. As the founder of a production company called Lady DJs (ladydjs.com) that advocates and promotes events featuring women entertainers in Taos, Santa Fe and Albuquerque, Concha has had a somewhat

Sound opinionsWhat it means to be a creative woman

File photo

David Costanza and Anne Speroni are the band Art of Flying.

MUSICIANS continues on Page 18


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different viewpoint.

“When I lived in an urban setting, where I was one of many DJs, but only one of a handful of women DJs, it was more of a mentality than a gender issue,” she says. “There was a feminine quality of being more open and sharing information, and it was less competitive.”

That said, Concha — who is of Taos Pueblo heritage — says that Lady DJs has never excluded men from its events.

“I would have Lady DJ events that were predominately supporting the Lady DJs collective, and we’d have male DJs that were supporting and sharing, rather than withholding,” she says. “There’s a lot of withholding in the music industry.”

Coming up in a completely different, and perhaps even more male-dominated genre (heavy metal), Taos-born and raised Sarah Martinez wasn’t surprised when she got to the Berklee College of Music in Boston and discovered that men outnumbered women three to one.

“In my program, there were only four girls,” she says, adding that most of the women at the college were singers. “But growing up playing music from the age of 12 and being really good at it, no one would believe me that I was really good. I had to prove myself.”

Martinez, who shreds the electric guitar like no one else around (she says she’s been told she plays guitar “like a man”), also records original electronic music, runs sound at Taos Mesa Brewing and teaches music to youth at Taos Academy and Taos Youth Music School.

She’s also working on a new band project with Heather Sparrow and Greg Thum (Vanilla Pop). “This is the first band I’ve ever worked in with another female,” Martinez says. “But I think it’s gotten a lot better in general. There are a lot of girls doing really awesome stuff, and it’s not as male dominated.”

Jazz singer Christine Autumn, who has a standing gig at The Alley every Sunday night, says that she hasn’t noticed as much sexism in her career, but that it seems like singers are sometimes relegated to a different class.

“I hadn’t thought about being

a woman making music, I just thought about making music,” she says. “But what I sometimes get [in jazz music] is that the voice isn’t equal to the instruments. There’s an all-boys club.”

She says she often gets the feeling that some players wouldn’t notice if she was gone or not.

“The world of instruments have always taken precedence,” she says. “I wish I played piano better and I’d see if I were treated better.”

While being a woman hasn’t necessarily affected her musically, Autumn says there have definitely been uncomfortable moments with drunken patrons making unwanted advances.

“They expect something from you,” she says. “Unless you’re famous and then you get treated differently.”

Whether or not there is a

different set of expectations for female musicians, most of the women interviewed agreed that the music community in Taos goes beyond any genre-based or gender-based barriers.

“I’ve felt so welcomed in Taos, and the people who DJ do work together,” Concha, who was born in Taos, but raised mostly in Albuquerque, says. “When I first came to back to Taos [in 2003], I was the only female DJ here. Now, there are other women who have started to DJ.”

Speroni says that while support and community aren’t things she necessarily needs to be creative, she does share “a certain sense of community with other musicians in town.”

“I’m always curious about what people are up to musically, and I’ve had some great opportunities to play with different people,” she says, adding that moving to New Mexico was “a brilliantly naive idea, which has proven to be the best possible choice we could have made.”

And Martinez says she doesn’t feel the need to prove herself here in Taos anymore.

“Now I don’t care,” she says. “I’m known in this town, a lot of people have heard me play. I have to be confident in myself and present myself that way, and it all goes over fine.”

Rick Romancito

Singer Christine Autumn

MUSICIANS continued from Page 16

‘I hadn’t thought about being a woman making

music, I just thought about making music.’

— Christine Autumn

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By Virginia L. Clark

Blame-the-victim stories make Stacie Cervantes see red. “When I see in the Albuquerque Journal

or wherever talk about rape: ‘… she had been drinking … I get so pissed and I’ll write in and say, ‘Are you victim blaming?’”

As a former administrative assistant at Community Against Violence in Taos for four years and as a survivor of rape and childhood abuse, this 45-year-old mother of two learned a lot about what helps victims of domestic and sexual assault and what makes things worse.

Unfortunately, Cervantes noted

in a phone interview from her home in Albuquerque, journalists unwittingly promote a social fiction

about rape and alcohol. Reports of rape almost invariably note that alcohol may or may not have been involved, thus implying, she says, that the rape wouldn’t have happened if the woman hadn’t been drinking.

Which is turning out not to be true. More recent studies find rapists use the presence of alcohol as an excuse to get away with the rape, as though it would not have happened if the “demon rum” hadn’t been involved. As law student Laura Dunn wrote in a 2014 Huffington Post criticism of a Slate magazine article:

“For far too long our society has sent messages solely to women

about sexual violence: ‘don’t walk alone,’ ‘don’t be out at night,’ and now ‘don’t drink.’ Basically, it is a ‘don’t get raped’ message that places responsibility on victims, who by definition are not responsible for the crime done to them. This has been justified as risk reduction, but our society can reduce risk by messaging to young men rather than placing responsibility for their actions upon their victims.” (huffingtonpost.com/laura-l-dunn/victim-blaming_b_4132630.html)

“That’s why I didn’t report that I was raped at 16 — because I had been drinking. And when I was going to the hospital, the police and the nurse said, ‘Well, I guess

Speak up!From victim to survivor to thriver

SURVIVOR continues on Page 22

Courtesy photo

Social justice worker and domestic violence survivor Stacie Cervantes.


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you learned your lesson this time about drinking.’ That’s blaming the victim!” Cervantes says, and sadly, the results are almost 100 percent predictable.

“I was almost 40 years old before I told anyone about sexual or domestic assault. Actually, I told once as a kid and no one believed me. And that shut me down. It makes a huge difference to have someone believe you.

“Growing up, I was sexually abused as a child, but at the time I didn’t know what it was. After a few years of that, it can set you up for more victimization. I experienced a lot of violence throughout my life, but I never really questioned it because I’d never experienced anything else.”

Now she knows better, and that knowledge has helped shape her life plans. She is in her third year at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and will be applying to UNM’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in 2017, ultimately planning to get Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner certification.

“I came to Taos from El Paso and answered an ad for a job at CAV, and I got it! I never even knew what domestic violence was when I started. There was (a kidnapping incident) at the shelter, and we all had to see a therapist; and I started

seeing her afterwards. I am very passionate about the work. It was a huge change to get support, and it changed my life.

“I work really hard to get the message out about the dynamics of sexual assault and the crisis services available. During the time I was there in Taos, my life changed completely. I started going to school — I didn’t graduate high school — I got my GED; now I do 40 hours a week in social justice work and go to school full time.”

Plus, she’s a full-time mom. “I don’t think I even knew how to parent. It takes a lot of work. You make mistakes and you roll with it.”

Her son has benefited greatly, it would seem. When he was 7, she said he came to her about a girl classmate and friend who hadn’t been to school for a whole week; he felt there was a problem going on — and it turned out he was right.

“He’s very aware, very watchful, very smart,” she says. “That’s the difference between him growing up and me growing up.”

Before leaving for school down south, she worked in donor management for CAV, among other projects, and co-managed the first One Billion Rising event held in Taos, Feb.14, 2013 — Eve Ensler’s flash-mob-inspired Valentine’s Day demonstration that is now a world-wide phenomenon in such unlikely places as Iraq and India, among many other nations in the world.

Upon hitting the big city of Albuquerque, she said she expected to find a bigger version of CAV, but not so. All the crisis services are available, of course, but they are spread throughout the whole region.

“CAV (Taos), for being in such a small town, it’s a model for other places,” Cervantes says, “because

they have outreach and education and they go into the schools. Taos has a forensic examiner who goes way north. We also do the batterers/offenders 52-week class; they do rape crisis work, they have advocates and counseling, transitional housing. When I worked there, I didn’t realize what all CAV really does — it’s huge. I was kind of wowed.

“I really want to emphasize how the crisis services save lives. It is so important to talk about it. It’s a terrible subject, no one wants to talk about it. You do still carry it with you afterwards, but in a different way.”

“Now I open my mouth more, especially when they’re victim blaming. And it’s not just low income, low education, marginalized people; there are wealthy, highly educated victims. That first interaction is super important, it sets the tone for the rest of your life.”

One in three women and one in six men have been sexually or domestically abused or assaulted, and they are our neighbors and family members and friends.

To find out more, see the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence (nmcadv.org); and Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) at rainn.org.

SURVIVOR continued from Page 20

One in three women and one in six men have been

sexually or domestically abused or assaulted, and they are our neighbors and family

members and friends.


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By Malinda Williams

Healthy relationships are built on an understanding between two people who recognize how their

actions affect their partner and how important it is to negotiate, empathize, apologize, support and love one another. Two people who struggle to make these things important and do not realize how their decisions affect one another may be in an unhealthy relationship.

Even people who are raised in families built on healthy relationships don’t always approach their own relationships with a knowledge and appreciation of what it takes to be in a healthy relationship. It often takes work and discussion for each to understand the other’s needs.

You cannot create a loving and supportive relationship alone. Healthy relationships are based on trust, mutual respect and compassion. They are ones in which partners:

• Support each other through rough spots. Caring about the other means being willing to compromise and seek mutually satisfying solutions.

• Contribute honest, respectful

communication, share power, build trust, support each other’s goals and give each other the benefit of the doubt.

• Focus energy on the positive; they’re each clear about what their partner does well and what it is about them they appreciate and enjoy. (This does not mean to ignore serious problems or violence, which are dangerous issues that need serious attention.) A healthy partner complements the other, encourages them to achieve goals and does not resent the other’s accomplishments.

• Acknowledges the other’s point of view and is willing to compromise; neither expects their way all the time.

• Fights fair. Sticks to the subject of the disagreement, tries to understand the other’s point of view and seeks reasonable solutions.

• Helps create a safe space for their partner to share their feelings. If one needs time or space to sort out feelings first, the other respects that and waits until s/he is ready to talk.

• Respect each other and their individuality. Each understands the other’s needs to have time alone and to hang out with other friends or family members.

Many people know that a relationship where violence (verbal, physical, sexual, spiritual, financial, etc.) is used to coercively control the other is unacceptable and falls squarely into the unhealthy category. That kind of relationship dynamic is domestic violence. Other unhealthy or “toxic” relationships can sometimes be identified by several red flags.

Unhealthy relationships may be ones in which one or both partners:

• Call each other belittling names, makes fun of or puts the other down, especially in front of someone else or on social media. (Individuals may find themselves apologizing frequently and making excuses for the partner’s bad behavior.)

• Checks up on their partner constantly by calling or texting and asking where they are, what they’re doing, who they’re with, or checks the other’s cell phone or email without permission.

• Becomes jealous when their partner gets attention from other people. They may also try to keep their partner from talking with or spending time with others, including family and friends. Demands to know every moment of their partner’s time; tries to control their partner’s behavior, how they dress,

or who they talk with. (To try to “keep the peace,” their partner may begin to lose interest in activities they used to enjoy, thinking “it’s just not worth it.”)

• Has explosive anger, violently loses their temper, often striking or breaking things. (The other partner may begin shutting down and avoid sharing thoughts or feelings that may trigger their partner’s rages.)

• Does not take responsibility or apologize for actions and constantly blames others for everything, ignoring facts or their role in an issue.

• Other signs of an unhealthy relationship include a partner who keeps the relationship out of balance by continuing to raise old arguments; ceaseless complaining; or unwillingness to address serious issues, such as chronic depression or other mental health issues or alcohol and substance abuse.

It is important to honestly evaluate your relationship. When you better understand qualities of healthy and unhealthy relationships and can step back to look at your own, you can decide whether to leave or limit it, or whether you want to invest in it to help the relationship become one in which you both feel supported and loved.

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By Scott Gerdes

‘Art is where you find it. And it seems queer to me that artists should go into foreign art

techniques before they have made use of the one that is nearest.”

Eva Mirabal (her preferred name is Eah Ha Wa, which means “Fast Growing Corn” in Tiwa tongue) stated that belief in a University of Southern Illinois radio program in circa 1946. She maintained an obligation to interpret and show Native art to white people throughout her life, yet her name and work is largely unknown.

Eah Ha Wa was born in Taos Pueblo in 1920 and at a very young age was introduced to some of the area’s most prolific artists. Her father, Pedro Beaded Shirt Mirabal, was a favorite portrait subject for Russian painter Nicolai Fechin and printmaker Joseph Imhof. Their creations inspired and excited the youngster, who showed artistic talent early on. When she was just 19 years old, her work was included in a Chicago gallery’s exhibition.

The Santa Fe Indian School provided painting studies for Eah Ha Wa in the mid-1930s. It was apparent she had a flair for incorporating the native forests, mountains and informal, ancestral ceremonies onto her paper canvases in a most delicate way. Eah Ha Wa mostly gravitated toward painting the daily life of Taos Pueblo’s inhabitants — taking particular care of attention to decorative detail in depiction of traditional dress, routine chores and everyday utensils and in the area’s wildlife and vegetation.

Her works in water-based paints employed warm, subtle colors even as she gravitated from a more traditional Native style to modernism. She also found herself being drawn to cartooning, which began as doodles.

Serving her country Even though Eah Ha Wa

realized being an artist was a realistic, attainable career, she wasn’t content to sit along the sidelines painting and drawing when World War II broke out. As her oldest son, Taos Pueblo artist and storyteller Jonathan Warm Day Coming tells it, the military recruited Native students at Santa Fe Indian School, and he feels that is what possibly got her interested in the war effort.

On May 6, 1943, she secretly enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). Along with a friend from the Pueblo, the girls decided to enlist without their parents’ consent. Warm Day Coming figures such an act was just in her nature. He also figures his grandparents wouldn’t have been so keen on the idea. Eah Ha Wa was one of several hundred Native women to serve during World War II.

“She had a spirit to experience life in its fullest,” Warm Day Coming shared with pride in his voice. “She probably didn’t know what she was getting into, even though she didn’t see any combat.”

Warm Day Coming produced a yellowed clipping from an unknown newspaper. It told a short story on Eah Ha Wa’s enlistment. The eldest of two daughters is quoted as saying because the family had no sons, she felt compelled to join the fight.

“My people,” she said, “are a proud people who use their hands to make strong their hold on the land. This is our soil, and we have sent more than 95 percent of our young men to fight.”

On Aug. 5, 1943, Eah Ha Wa was designated Occupational Specialty 296 (or artist) for the Army Air Force and assigned as a cartoonist while stationed at Wright-Patterson Field outside Dayton, Ohio, swiftly making her way to sergeant. The soles of her shoes never left stateside. Her artistic talents were best kept on U.S. soil.

Eah Ha Wa’s “G.I. Gerti” comic strip series — her first

assignment — appeared in the WAC publication The Air WAC, making her the first published Native female cartoonist — not to mention one of the earliest American women to produce a comic strip. The strip put Gertie in all types of military-related situations, often comedic. Lesser known is that Eah Ha Wa also created war bonds posters. One of her posters used by the military featured a Native man making smoke signals that spelled out “Buy War Bonds.”

She also assisted in creating murals such as the 40-foot “A Bridge of Wings” at the world headquarters of Air Service Command, where she was stationed. It is a depiction of the improving relations between North and South America at the time. It still stands. She also assisted on murals at Pittsburgh’s Buhl Planetarium, at the Santa Fe Indian School when a student, at the Veteran’s Hospital in Albuquerque and her deer adorn archways at Southern Illinois’ Shyrock Auditorium.

Back to civilian life Eah Ha Wa continued her

art studies after the war ended

In a small circleEah Ha Wa (Eva Mirabal): the best unknown Taos artist

Courtesy photo

Pfc. Mirabal works on her military comic strip, “G.I. Gertie.” EVA MIRABAL continues on Page 28


in 1945 as an artist in residence at Southern Illinois University (1946-47) in Carbondale. In “The Southern Hour” campus radio show in 1946, she expressed a personal responsibility tied to her work:

“I am the only one from my village that [has chosen art as a profession] ... As an Indian representative, I feel I have a very definite obligation in explaining and illustrating our art to the American white people. ...”

With help from the G.I. Bill, she later studied at the Taos Valley Art School. In 1946, she was the only woman to enter the First National Exhibition of Indian Painting at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her entry was a painting of a Pueblo drummer. Her most praised piece is the 1940 tempura on paper work titled “Picking Wild Berries.” The painting was shown in a 1953 exhibit at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

From early on, she had a very clear sense of the purpose and meaning of every stroke of paint. “Carry a message whether you will it or not. The stroke is like an artist at the time he makes it. All certainties, all the uncertainties, all the bigness of his spirit and all the littleness are in it,” she wrote in the early 1940s on the back page of a worn leather, pocket-size phone book Warm Day

Coming found in her side-table drawer.

“She was very prolific in a lot of things that a lot of artists to this day didn’t accomplish,” Warm Day Coming expressed. “For Native people, if you wanted to make your name known, Santa Fe is the place. A lot of her art she left behind when she enlisted. A lot of her work in the war went unnoticed because it was meant strictly for the military. The same goes for her comic strip, so a lot of people didn’t see it.”

Because of that, the era and being a Native woman, Warm Day Coming added, her work was kept “in a small circle.”

A style all her ownWarm Day Coming has many

images of his mother’s work and some originals. Her paintings speak more to him about her and his ancestors than her words ever did. She really didn’t talk to her sons, Warm Day Coming and Christopher Gomez (of Albuquerque), about her time in the military — not because of being quiet or reserved. “She was busy,” Warm Day Coming said with a grin.

Within his mother’s pocket-size phone book were doodles and more personal thoughts. On the back page, she described her creative

inspiration: “The people I like to paint are my people — whoever they may be — who are in some way expressing themselves naturally along the lines nature intended for them.”

Even though she didn’t speak about her life before becoming a mother, Warm Day Coming is finding out new things about her nearly every day, such as the major influence Santa Fe Indian School art instructor Dorothy Dunn had on her work. Together they were at the forefront of the Southwest Native art movement. Eah Ha Wa had a modernist knack driven by a natural ability to change deep-lying, undefined characteristics into the reality of color, form and action.

“Dorothy taught her about color, materials, everything,” Warm Day Coming learned. In turn, his mother influenced his passion for art.

“As a young kid she introduced me to Taos artists,” he recalled. Like his mother’s work, the subjects of his paintings and illustrations also tend to serve as a record of the traditional life of his people.

But even with all of her artistic accomplishments, Eah Ha Wa’s name did not often appear in books or other discussions of the era’s art. Although, she was the subject of

an article in the July 1944 edition of Mademoiselle magazine and her work can be found in a spattering of books on Native artists. And in 2015, the U.S. Army Women’s Museum in Fort Lee, Virginia, produced a video honoring Native women who served in the military during World War II, which includes Eah Ha Wa. Her art also became a permanent part of military history.

To this day, however, her works are not shown in museums around the country. Warm Day Coming is constantly amazed that no one seems to know about his mother and that he gets no calls about exhibiting her pieces outside of Taos. (The Harwood Museum of Art had a joint exhibition of Eah Ha Wa and Warm Day Coming’s works in 2013.)

Fully immersed in the daily life and rituals of her birth home, up until her untimely death in 1968, Eah Ha Wa spent the rest of her days in Taos Pueblo painting the lives she saw and the life she lived.

“She accomplished a lot in a short time,” Warm Day Coming mused. “I always wonder what else she would have done had she lived longer. She was extraordinary. How many artists, not just Native, have a history like this? Not that many.”

EVA MIRABAL continues from Page 27

Pfc. Mirabal, on ladder, works on a mural at the Air Service Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force base in Ohio.

Air Service Command photo. Courtesy Jonathan Warm Day Coming.

From the book “Earth Songs, Moon Dreams”

“Picking Wild Berries,” 1940, tempura on paper.


By Yvonne Pesquera

For adults, there can be obstacles to pursuing higher education. But the University of New

Mexico-Taos Adult Learning Center has removed the barriers by helping adult students pass the High School Equivalency (HSE) exam in English and Spanish –– free of charge. Students receive individual attention and guidance, as well as distance education and

Questa classes. With a diploma in hand, students can then apply for college.

Juliana Maestas has lived in Taos for 23 years. She attended Vista Grande High school up to ninth grade, but found it difficult, so she dropped out. She has been studying to take her HSE and now only needs to complete the math test.

She recently completed the UNM Certified Nursing Assistant

exam and is scheduled to take the state exam in Santa Fe. Right now, she works with the elderly, but she wants to work with kids who have hearing problems or disabilities.

“I have a 4-year-old daughter who is deaf in her right ear. My daughter inspires me,” says Maestas. “I want to help prepare kids early for life. To work with kids who need more help.”

When asked to describe

the UNM HSE program, she explains, “They are really focused on what you’re trying to do. It’s very one-on-one. I feel accomplished. I improved my learning abilities in just six months. Thanks to Nina (Gonzales) and the teachers, I wouldn’t be where I am today. They are all so great, so helpful and so nice.”

Rossy Payero has been attending classes for one year and

Graceful and determinedUNM-Taos High School Equivalency students juggle daily responsibilities while working toward the future

Katharine Egli

In 2015, UNM-Taos beat out 26 other adult learning schools to win “Program of the Year,” which is a top honor from the New Mexico Higher Education Department.

UNM-TAOS continues on Page 32


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is expecting to receive her HSE diploma in May.

“The school work is easy. What’s hard is juggling school while working full time and taking care of my kids,” says Payero, who works at the Taos office of Rotman Electric & Association.

Payero completed seventh grade in the Dominican Republic. Her goal is to become a nurse because she loves helping people. “I want to keep going. After getting my HSE, I want to go to the university and study nursing.”

When asked what she would tell other women who are considering getting their high school diploma, Payero says, “It doesn’t matter how old you are. When you want something, go for it. Don’t let

excuses stop you. You can take your kids to class, they have babysitting.”

Judy Hofer is the director of the Adult Learning Center at UNM-Taos. In 2015, Taos beat out 26 other adult learning schools to win “Program of the Year,” which is a top honor from the New Mexico Higher Education Department.

Hofer says, “Our hats go off to the women in our program. Many parents face the incredible challenge of balancing work, family and school. Yet, for many of our mothers, their children are also their inspiration for getting their High School Equivalency.”

Nina Gonzales is the program specialist at the Adult Learning

Center and is one of the HSE teachers. She says, “One of the things I love about my job is to work with women who for many reasons were made to feel incapable or that they just don’t have what it takes to be successful and to be somebody. I find that these are often some of the most highly intelligent students that I know.”

Maya Lama has lived in Taos for almost three years, but is originally from Nepal. There she worked at a travel agency doing ticketing and receptionist duties. She studied economics and sociology, but having moved to America, she is now focused on nursing. In addition to the HSE program, Lama is enrolled

in the Certified Nursing Assistant program.

“I am getting my HSE because I want to complete my goals. I want to become a registered nurse. There is a need for nurses, and I like to help people,” she says.

Lama explains that her HSE schedule is every day from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and she never, ever skips school. Since English is not her first language, she works very hard and even works with a tutor.

When asked what she likes about Taos, Lama says, “I like the people, the food, the nature, the arts, the culture and the Ski Valley.”

UNM-TAOS continues from Page 30

Katharine Egli

UNM-Taos’ High School Equivilancy program sets many Taos women on a bright career path, such as in areas of health.


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By Scott Gerdes

Taoseños have long heralded no-nonsense trailblazers whether female or male, young or old. In that

vein, we take a glimpse into the past, featuring one of the many driven, talented women who has

helped shape Taos into the special community it is and forever shall be.

Josephine Martinez Cordova (1907-1998)

Expectations can either take the wind out of one’s sails or prod a person to push harder. Josephine Cordova’s path handed

her an oar, which she gladly took in hand with a firm, determined grip.

The petite, dark-eyed fire plug pursued an education and a career in an era where most women wouldn’t have dreamed of having a job outside of the home.

A love of reading and knowledge led to a lifetime serving Taos-area schools.

Josephine’s story began when her father, Francisco Martinez y Martinez, died when she was just 7 years old. He worked as a Taos County schools superintendent.

Through the looking glass:Arroyo Seco’s Josephine Cordova

Courtesy photo

Josephine and Willie Cordova

CORDOVA continues on Page 36


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The family moved from outside Questa to the Tres Piedres area soon after. The young girl found solace under an El Salto apple tree while reading books about the Knights of the Round Table, due to the early encouragement of her father and older half brother, attorney Esquipula Martinez. In the meantime, her mother, Maria de las Nieves, eventually swapped the Tres Piedres homestead land for a plot in Arroyo Seco. Josephine was one of a few females at the time who was striving for a high school education. While most women settled into the mother/housewife role as men expected them to — wake the children, make breakfast, make lunches, clean house, tend to animals, make dinner — Josephine Martinez had other immediate plans.

Those plans, however, hit a snag. She suffered through a bout with scarlet fever her senior year of high school, which kept her out of the classroom for months. But no matter, she ended up graduating with honors. That education provided her the opportunity to teach.

She began her career in a one-room schoolhouse in Cerro. There was no transportation available, so the single Josephine stayed with a local family for two years. She went on to teach elementary students in Arroyo Seco, El Prado and Taos.

Not satisfied with a high school diploma and aside from mounting years of teaching experience, Cordova earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education from New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas. Then, a chance to serve as a bilingual instructor in a pilot program took her to the San Jose School in Albuquerque.

During her 39 1/2-year career, Josephine also served as a principal, lunchroom supervisor, basketball and softball coach in El Prado and at the time was the first and only female administrator (a teaching principal) of Taos Municipal Schools. She also was a co-founder of the Taos Historical Society, prepared children for First Communion and would volunteer to write letters to government officials on behalf of the illiterate.

Because her father and half brother were so instrumental in Josephine’s education, she thought nothing of being a different type of woman in the early 1900s.

“There was no doubt she was going to get educated. Esquipula made sure of it,” son Arsenio Cordova relayed. “She prepared for it. She got approval from the men (in the schools) and with her getting an education, they gave her that stamp of approval.”

While the men in Josephine’s life were cheering her on, her mother

was a little more leery.

“Her mother was not as accepting,” Arsenio shared. “Maybe even a little skeptical of a woman going to school.”

Over time, however, mother Martinez recognized the strength in and success of her daughter.

A most notable success and strength was her impact as a teacher. She was always involved with the families, she loved putting on theatrical productions and was always up for a game of Horse on the dirt basketball court at El Prado School. Josephine is still remembered as everyone’s favorite teacher, because every student was her favorite. She understood the powerful influence of being an educator and a parent.

“Today, many of the young ones rule the home,” Josephine wrote in her 1976 book, “No Lloro Pero Me Acuerdo” (“I Don’t Cry But I Remember”). “Parents bow down to the children’s wishes, so the problems begin at home, and those children continue creating more problems at school.

“Some people will probably criticize me for making this statement, but remember this: I never go to bed before 11 p.m. I spend my evenings reading current newspapers and magazines, so I know what is happening in our country today.

“Why are schools having so

many walk-outs? Why are students turning against the teachers? Why are so many young ladies (not women) and young men (not gentlemen) walking along the roads setting bad examples? Why do we hear so much about the drug problem? Are all these things happening because we have given the children good example and discipline in the home?

“By our actions, we can weaken the teachers’ minds, and our schools will no longer function as a strong institution.”

Change, whether nationally or locally, was something Josephine expected herself to accept whether she liked it or not.

“I think she saw a change in moral values — a more systematic education opposed to a more grassroots education,” observed granddaughter Tessa Cordova. “She was open-minded, nonprovincial and taught with love and grace.”

Josephine had other loves than education. One of them was Willie Cordova, a sheep herder she wed in 1939. The union made Josephine an instant mother to Willie’s four children (Cora, Dan, Ruben and Fabiola). The brood doubled after the couple had four children of their own (Maria Elena, Arsenio, Fernando and Francis), while also raising a nephew and taking in Josephine’s mother.

CORDOVA continues from Page 34

Courtesy photos

From left: Josephine Cordova, on right, and an unkown friend take a break on the steps of Ilfeld Auditorium at New Mexico Highlands University while attending summer school in the 1930s; Cordovastands behind her El Prado class of 1949 (courtesy Lee Gonzales).


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By Gabriel Weinstein

Dedication, teamwork, pride and self-confidence. These are just a few of the traits,

lessons and skills Ashely Cintas of Questa High School (QHS), Estrella Gonzalez of Peñasco

High School (PHS) and Isabella Padilla of Taos High School (THS) have learned from their participation in multiple high school sports.

All three know that the lessons they have picked up on the volleyball court, cross-country

course, basketball court, soccer field and the track will help them when they are done playing for the Lady Cats, Lady Panthers and Lady Tigers.

Ashley CintasIn school, Ashley Cintas’

favorite subject is English.

Writing and literary analysis come easy for Cintas, who plays for the Lady Cats’ volleyball and basketball teams. Over the past three years, Cintas, a QHS junior, has authored a successful athletic career with the help of her teammates.

The joy of athleticsArea high school girls get more than exercise from sports

Gabriel Weinstein

Questa’s Ashley Cintas, right, enjoys the team aspect of volleyball and basketball.

ATHLETICS continues on Page 40


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Collaboration is at the heart of what Cintas enjoys about volleyball and basketball.

“I enjoy working as a team to get somewhere,” Cintas said about volleyball.

Cintas enjoys basketball’s competitive nature. She enjoys its aggressive spirit and the journey to determining the winner of a game.

Cintas has played sports for years. She started playing basketball in elementary school and joined the volleyball team in junior high.

“[Sports] looked interesting and fun. I just felt like it would be a great opportunity,” Cintas said.

Athletics keep Cintas busy. She balances practices and games with National Honors Society and her academic obligations. When she can, Cintas likes to camp and hunt.

Cintas credits sports with helping her develop her work ethic. Running a fast break and setting up a spike have taught her how to be an effective team player. She knows these skills will help her when she enters the workforce.

For young women considering joining a sports team for the first time, Cintas has simple advice.

“Stick with it,” she said.

“Do not give up. Keep trying. Eventually, it will get better.” As Cintas knows from her career with the Lady Cats, patience and perseverance pay off.

Estrella GonzalezEstrella Gonzalez likes sports

for many reasons. Through sports, the Peñasco High School sophomore has formed new friendships. She’s developed discipline and learned to embrace constructive criticism. Gonzalez enjoys exploring the different small towns she travels to with the Lady Panthers and takes pride in representing Peñasco.

Gonzalez enjoys the variety of being a three-sport athlete. Cross country gets her in shape for the long basketball season. The quick, explosive nature of basketball gets her ready to burst out of the blocks in track.

“I like them all,” Gonzalez said.

Outside of sports, Gonzalez enjoys riding motorcycles with her parents and spending time with her family. Gonzalez’s other academic passion is Spanish. She wants to become bilingual.

For Gonzalez, pushing her body in cross-country, basketball and track complements her academic interests in biology and medicine. She takes dual credit courses at Northern New Mexico college and is interested in

studying pharmacy in college.

Through Peñasco High School sports, Gonzalez has earned more than just accolades and medals. The small, close-knit PHS athletic community has made it easy for Gonzalez to forge strong bonds with the school’s coaches and athletic administrators.

“They [coaches] end up as mentors and people that you can look up to. I can ask them for help with whatever,” she said.

Athletics have helped shape Gonzalez’s identity. “[Sports] have made me,” she said. They have given her a strong core she will rely on for years to come.

Isabella PadillaSoccer, cross-country and

track have given THS sophomore Isabella Padilla more than trips to the state playoffs and state championship medals. The three sports have provided her with a strong social network. Defeats and setbacks have taught her how to handle adversity. But more than anything, sports have given Padilla a strong belief in herself.

“I feel confident when I play sports. It makes me love myself,” she said.

Padilla’s athletic career began on the soccer pitch. She started playing soccer when she was 4 years old. Padilla was inspired to take up the sport after watching

her older brother play. Her career in running had a similar start. Her brother’s participation in running inspired her to lace up her running shoes.

Athletics keep Padilla busy. She balances cross-country and track practice in the fall and track with club soccer in the spring.

“Running really helps me with my endurance. Soccer helps me with my speed and feet in running. They work really well together,” she said.

When she is not playing soccer or running, Padilla likes to cook, bake and create art. When she can, Padilla likes to hike to Wheeler Peak and Williams Lake in Taos Ski Valley.

Sports have influenced Padilla in other areas of her life. She has enjoyed learning about the body and is interested in a career in physical therapy. Through her different teams, she has learned about leadership and the importance of listening to and valuing others’ beliefs.

Padilla encourages other girls to get out and join a sports team or two.

“Just do it,” she said. “It’s fun. It just helps you in life. You learn how to communicate. You learn how to make friends. It just really makes you happier overall.”

ATHLETICS continues from Page 38

Gabriel Weinstein

Left: Peñasco’s Estrella Gonzlaez enjoys the variety of being a three sport athlete; Taos High School’s Isabella Padilla (9) says playing soccer and running cross country and track have given her a strong belief in herself. “I feel confident when I play sports. It makes me love myself,” she said.


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By Cody Hooks

When Lillian was a little girl living with her grandma in Tularosa, she didn’t speak a word of English. When Darlene was a little girl

in Santa Fe, her dad told her to always offer more. And when Valerie was a little girl moving back to her family’s home in Taos County, childhood wasn’t easy.

None of those three little girls could have imagined where their lives would take them.

But in 2016, superintendents Lillian Torrez, Darlene Ulibarri and Valerie Trujillo are at the helm of the three school districts of Taos County, bringing cooperation, understanding and stability to the rural north in a way that only three strong, Hispanic women from New Mexico could.

With the 21st century well underway, it might not at first seem like a big deal that Taos County’s school districts are headed by an ad-hoc team of Hispanic women from New Mexico.

“You’d think the gender inequalities would have gone away, but they really haven’t,” says Trujillo. “The majority of our supers in New Mexico are men.”

Sadly, that’s not just true for New Mexico. Even though women account for the majority of teachers, they only make up one-quarter of superintendents across the United States. Latina superintendents are even more underrepresented, clocking in at under 5 percent.

“Being one of three female supers is a wonderful thing” that goes beyond just professional respect, says Ulibarri, who is in her third year as superintendent of Peñasco schools.

“We all have similar struggles and similar celebrations,” she says.

From Questa to Taos to Peñasco, the area is plagued with lackluster and hard-to-come-by job opportunities for parents. And as leaders of school districts, all three face the financial

hurdles that come with having nine charter schools in a county of fewer than 35,000 people.

Trujillo, superintendent of Questa schools, has seen her kids and parents hit with one of the biggest blows in recent memory: the loss

of the Questa Chevron mine and the 300 jobs that went with it. Trujillo saw the remarkable power of solidarity within her own community. “When there are those hardships, like the mine closure, the community unites together. Instead of crumbling from within, they actually

‘The beauty of it’Three Hispanic women bring leadership to education

Katharine Egli

Taos Superintendant Lillian Torrez poses for a portrait near Parr Field, Oct. 3.

LEADERSHIP continues on Page 44


got stronger and found new ways to do what we do,” she says.

But that gumption isn’t limited to arbitrary boundaries of school districts. A superintendent could say they’re only going to take care of their own. That’s not the case, says Torrez, superintendent of Taos schools. “We want to make sure all of Northern New Mexico is taken care of.”

The impact of Taos County’s Hispanic and female leaderships isn’t just a matter of policy, of wheeling and dealing in the Roundhouse and trying to get state money for vital and innovative programs. It also means an awful lot to the students who see these women day in and day out.

“I was actually a teenage parent at 15,” says Trujillo.

“Having those stereotypes of a teenage parent was really difficult. I could have given up, easy. Having a baby, I could’ve just quit school. But it was always my goal to be in the top 10 of my class so I could ensure I go further and so I could further my education.”

“I feel it’s our responsibility to empower our students in any way to not give up,” she says.

At the end of the day, the challenges of Northern New Mexico also come with their blessings — mostly, it’s knowing the pride and privilege of feeling at home.

“I still know pretty much all my students by name,” says Trujillo. “We’re in a small district, and that’s the beauty of it.

LEADERSHIP continues from Page 42

Katharine Egli

Peñasco schools Superintendent Darlene Ulibarri stands in front of the high school’s newest bus, Feb. 8.

Katharine Egli

Questa Superintendent Valerie Trujillo poses for a portrait in her office at Questa High School, Feb. 4.


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THE DESIgN ISSUE


By Jim O’Donnell

There were no electric lights in her house when she was a child.

“I grew up out at the Pueblo. We only had natural light in the day. At night, we lit candles and kerosene lamps. My father brought out his sculptures and placed them so they created shadows that grew and danced on the soft walls of our home.”

Dawning-Pollen Shorty grew up bathing in creativity. “That’s all I saw,” she says. “I didn’t know another way to be.”

Shorty, an award-winning sculptor of Taos Pueblo, Lakota and Navajo heritage is the inheritor of an artistic legacy enshrined for generations. Her father, Robert Shorty, is himself an award-winning sculptor — and a painter, an actor, a dancer and a jeweler. Her mother, Bernadette Track, studied ballet and modern dance at Juilliard and is a celebrated ceramics teacher. “She still does acrylic paintings. And she cooks. She loves to cook, and she is good at it,” Shorty smiles. “Oh. And that’s one thing to know about me. I may not drive a nice car and I don’t have fancy

shoes, but I do eat well. I love good food.”

Dawning-Pollen is a direct translation of her Tiwa name. Or as close as you can come to rendering something along the lines of “gets corn pollen at first light” into English. “It’s more like a story,” she says. “It is the prayer-action at dawn when the corn is first opening and you can collect the pollen. The act is a prayer in itself. It isn’t a hippie name.”

Shorty finds inspiration in her culture. It’s in the difficulty of the Pueblo ceremonial life, in

the physical exertion of it that she finds splendor, she says. “I hear that beauty; see the colors, experience nature, feel the wonder of my people.”

As a kid, Shorty was fond of science and archaeology and anthropology and old portraits of Native peoples. Not the Edward Curtis shots, mind you, she found those much too staged. Instead, she gravitated toward the candid, immediate captures that documented what was real. She took to the camera herself at a very young age.

“You can’t get that light and

Bathing in creativityDawning-Pollen Shorty carries on artistic legacy, her way

Jim O’Donnell

Taos Pueblo artist Dawning-Pollen Shorty

SHORTY continues on Page 48


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Last night’s fresh snow crackled under my boots as I walked from my

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those shadows like we have at the Pueblo anywhere else. I wanted to document life there and the people passing and living. But, you know, we have a history of problems with photography at the Pueblo.” She felt uneasy about her project possibly being seen to exploit her own people and she set that aside. Still, photography, as an art form, continues to influence her work.

When asked how she would describe her work, she says: “Its aesthetics. Non-utilitarian. Not bowls. Sculpture. And then there is the political stuff. It’s cathartic. For me. I’m not going to tell you about that now.” And she smiles.

“Her art work is unique,” says Kathleen Michaels of the Millicent Rogers Museum. Shorty, she says, “has an amazing ability to take clay and with it

produce very beautiful, whimsical, refined masks and figurines that are stunning.”

As a teenager, Shorty opened the Red Rain Gallery at Taos Pueblo, where she displayed her early micaceous clay pieces. In the early ‘90s, she attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. Photography and archaeology then took her to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The 1990s also found her traveling in Europe, showing her work at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival and traveling to France, the Low Countries and east to Prague.

In the mid-2000s, she seemed to hit her stride. Her work appeared at the Millicent Rogers Museum, Indian Market, the Eight Northern Pueblo Juried Art Show and at Colorado State

University in Ft. Collins. Starr Interiors hosted Shorty’s first solo show in Taos in 2011, and her work can now be found in several private collections.

While Shorty finds her inspiration in her culture, she doesn’t see herself as an Indian artist. “My work is universal, not stereotypical.” Michaels of the Millicent Rogers Museum agrees. “It is a struggle faced by all Native American artists. If you get categorized as ‘Indian,’ people expect you to produce a certain type of art. Dawning-Pollen transcends that.” Her art may be influenced by her culture, “but she is much more than that. Her art is not typical. Not a stereotype.”

Dawning-Pollen Shorty is on a roll. From March 11-13, 2016, Millicent Rogers will host

the Fourth Annual Taos Pueblo Artist Winter Showcase — an exclusive, invitation-only event. Shorty’s newest creations, masks, miniatures and sculptures will be on display alongside the work of her uncle, John Suazo. One of her miniatures was also on view during the Millicent Rogers Annual Miniatures Show & Sale, which ran Feb. 5 to March 6. Perhaps most surprising to her was a recent call from the soon-to-open Detours in the La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe. The new contemporary art gallery selected Shorty as one of only 10 artists they will host. She is also teaching art nearly full time in the Taos schools.

“I think I have a lot of energy,” she laughs. “I take all that power and craziness and put it into art!”

SHORTY continues from Page 46

Jim O’Donnell

‘While Shorty finds her inspiration in her culture, she doesn’t see herself as an Indian artist.’


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By Ted Wiard

When I was young, I thought being a widow meant someone was elderly and her

husband had died from “old age.” My naiveté did mature, and I learned that people die at all ages, but somehow I never realized how a death impacts the entire family, especially the partner. When I was about 10 years old, a family friend died. I remember witnessing the mother, with a young child, caught in such a high level of shock, grief and a sense of an overwhelming fear of the future. My innocence and belief in death as a simple process was shattered.

The death of a partner leads to an unasked for and difficult rite of passage. The bereft must redefine many aspects of his/her world.

When there is a substantial change in a person’s life, there is a feeling of chaos. The familiar is gone. Not only is there the shattering of the heart, there are also so many secondary losses. We are used to making two pieces of toast, not one. We survived by talking with each other and making decisions together. We navigated the world together. Now that is gone.

Grief is an individual process that can be radically different for each person. In addition to an individualized undertaking, it is common for the genders to process grief in different ways. Often, women will seek out support for their emotional healing journey earlier than men. This may be due to the ways people are raised or just differences between the two genders on many levels. It is

impossible to stereotype people, and there are exceptions within all categories, but women seem to have a tendency to need and be more willing to process grief and share emotions in groups and with friends, like-minded others, spiritual leaders and professionals. Traditionally, vulnerability is more accepted by society when expressed by females. Permission to demonstrate vulnerability and express emotions can decrease resistance to receive help and allow healing rather than suppress feelings and cause delayed grief. Realizing each person is different and finding what works for each individual is important, and giving permission to express, ask for help and find healthy avenues to express emotions can allow life to start seeping back into what may

feel like a large void in someone’s life.

Finding avenues for support can also be very different for both genders; women are more apt to have the need to identify, express and process emotions. Healing from loss begins with action, which may come in the form of lighting a candle, going to a support group, finding friends that are willing to listen (rather than fix), going to church or some other type of spiritual sanctuary and even taking a bubble bath. Finding ways to be seen, heard and valued by others, as well as honoring personal needs and emotions, is a great start to a difficult but worthwhile journey to let life find its way back into the day.

Ted Wiard is the founder of Golden Willow Retreat.

Loss of a loved one Transforming grief and chaos into new beginnings

taos woman 2016

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