Pedro A. Casados Sr. 81 a lifelong farmer and rancher of El Guique, New Mexico passed on peacefully on January 20th. He and his wife Juanita Archuleta de Casados are notably known for their family’s widely recognized indigenous New Mexican food business known as the Casados Farms. He was influential in politics and in civic circles in and out of the Española Valley throughout his life. He prided himself in being self-reliant, “never working for anyone yet working very hard throughout his life to build his business and managing his beloved land.” As it is mentioned in his obituary, “He understood the value of land and the food that grows from it when you nurture the land.” He managed two farms, one in El Guique and the other in the neighboring community of Chamita. In addition to what he yielded from his own farms he worked together with other farmers from the valley to distribute various native food products such as pozol, chicos, atole, and chile in addition to other products such as sopapilla mix. The Casados family sustained their business using traditional methods in managing the land. In addition, their food products under the leadership of Mr. Casados were prepared using native technologies such as the horno to cook or dehydrating dried foods in the sun. These products would then go on to be distributed locally and nation wide. His respect for native methods extended to the native method of growing crops only during the short spring and summer seasons and allowing the land rest during the fall and winter months. Pedro A Casados knowledge of the land included a profound knowledge of managing the water. As the saying goes, “Agua es vida,” Mr. Casados knew that practices of irrigation extended beyond the confines of his own ranches and stretched into the community. Here he served as community leader on the San Rafael del Guique Acequia for many years as both a Mayordomo and as part of the Comisión of the Acequia. In this capacity he helped the community of El Guique organize the building of it’s drainage diversion dams which prevented much erosion from causing harm to the valuable agricultural lands below. One of the legacies of Pedro A. Casados Sr. left the greater Acequia community was his ability to affirm our traditional knowledges and make a sustainable and honorable livelihood by the sweat of his brow. He showed us the dignity of knowing and working the land. He his remembered most vividly by many of his friends riding his horse in the mountains checking up on his cattle, working at what he loved best. I personally never met Mr. Casados, however I was asked by the family to sing at Mr. Casados’ funeral this past week. They requested I sing “Canción de las Acequias.” His son Peter Casados Jr. shared with me his sentiment, “That song is what my father's life was about.” So as they laid this well respected man to rest in the land he worked and loved so much, we honored his memory by intoning these words:

La noche esta llegando,

Yo sigo trabajando,

Para mantener,

Lo que yo quiero tanto.

Pedro A Casados Sr. QEPD

David F. García NMAA Community Education

I would like to write about a community that I have had worked with on a project for about a year now. Acequia de Tecolotito, not to be confused with Acequia de Tecolote, this acequia begins in San Miguel County and continues for 7 miles into Guadalupe County. This acequia runs approximately 7 miles into the communities of Los Ranchitos and Anton Chico. Historically they have had a Comisión General which included a commissioner from each acequia set up rules to operate under. They are hoping to revive the old custom which includes repartamiento de agua or the sharing and distribution of water. They divert from the Pecos River which was adjudicated in the 1932 Hope Decree and will undergo a re-adjudication in the very near future. Keeping waters flowing means having a good functioning acequia and a good team of commissioners and mayordomo and support from the parciantes. My colleague Patrick Jaramillo and I along with Quita Ortiz have loaned support to this acequia with infrastructure planning, mapping and with updating bylaws. They had a meeting yesterday which I attended and presented the bylaws that I helped draft. The annual meeting was like any other, with an election of Commissioners, discussion of who is delinquent, what parts of the acequia need attention etc. Then after listening to all of this plus their discussion of reinstating their old customs I presented the bylaws. I read as fast as I could so we could get out of the meeting before midnight but was cautious to take time and discuss the sections that needed attention. Bylaws not only help protect their rights it, they are an agreement among members on how they are going to vote, how they will vote when the meeting will be held, what their rights and obligations are and how they will operate. At the end of this meeting they voted to adopt bylaws and kept their Commissioners and mayordomo who have been serving for one year. I am hoping to attach photos of the acequia that I took this summer in June. It was a hot day and I was amazed at how this acequia flows through rough terrain and the mayordomo was as spry as a kid jumping in and out of the ditch. Hats off to a community who is working together to keep their farming alive.

Activities preparing for the Holidays are always so tedious, but the cooking with my family is always the most important. Along with raising our animals, and harvesting crops, is the importance of preparing these ingredients so we can eat and enjoy them with our families.  I have memories of my childhood, with my Mom, Dad, brothers and sisters around the table preparing food. Together we made bread, cakes, cookies, pies, but my favorite has always been the Tamales. Some of us procrastinate; some of us make excuses, and my younger sister makes sure that no one skips out. 

This year, my brother in law prepared the harina de maiz from posole that he made with his own harvest of corn, and we were fortunate to raise pigs, so after the Matanza, roasts were put away for the Christmas tamales.

I have a brother that insists on vegetarian Tamales, because "how many pork Tamales can one really eat?"  Need I answer that question, or just assist with preparing veggie Tamales for my brother. These consist of harvested calabazita rueditas, corn, cheese, and green chile. Yum…OK… They too are so delicious.

The activity is of great importance, as we hope to pass this tradition to our children as it has been passed down to us. My family has continued this practice throughout my lifetime, and now that we are all grown with our own families it is a challenge logistically. There are so many dynamics involved  in preparing for the Holidays, and then somehow, magically, it just comes together.  This year we were all blessed to be in the company of each other, feasting on really good food, and confident that someday our children will make tamales with their children.

The following is an excerpt from a story written by Kenny Salazar, illustrating how the coupling of patience and unwavering determination among acequia leaders in Cordova lead to the completion of a project that will serve its community for many years to come.

After the workshop ended, three gentlemen approached me and introduced themselves as the Romeros (Frankie, Roy, and Benny) from Acequia del Medio de la Plaza in Cordova. They were very impressed with the workshop and admitted that their acequia needed a lot of help. I gave them my business card and told them to contact me and I’d assist them as much as I could.

Well, the next day the phone rang and it was Frankie. “Our acequia needs bylaws”, he told me. I quickly got started using the NMAA template after he delivered the old version they had been using. The acequia description section needed a lot of work so I called Frankie. He told me he would have a written description delivered ASAP to the Santa Cruz Irrigation District (SCID) office. The following afternoon, his wife delivered the written description to SCID since Frankie had to go to work. Then and there I knew these guys were serious. I met with the acequia commissioners a few times in the course of a month and a bylaw draft was ready for presentation to the parciantes. They didn’t waste time organizing a bylaw parciante meeting either. A parciantes-approved set of bylaws were approved in short order making sure the Open Meetings Act provisions were followed. I thought it was going to end there.

A week later, Frankie called me again asking, “We’d like to show you our acequia on Saturday if you have the time”. How could I turn down such enthusiastic Commissioners? I went to Cordova and they showed me their point of diversion on the Rio Quemado. It consisted of large rocks, boards, anything that had weight and could divert water. They definitely needed a diversion structure.

I told them that the first thing they needed to do was to get the diversion engineered so they could then seek the funding. I advised then to contact the Santa Fe/Pojoaque Soil and Water Conservation District’s NRCS conservationist. They did and were told the waiting list was long and that it would be at least 3 years before NRCS could get to their acequia.

As luck would have it, at this crucial time I received a phone call from a childhood friend, Floyd Archuleta, who was now a consultant for Portage, Inc., an engineering firm. Floyd told me that Portage’s contract with LANL required community service and he knew I was in the acequia business. I immediately thought of the acequia in Cordova and so Floyd, Ray Schwaller (Portage Engineer) and I went to the Acequia del Medio de la Plaza’s diversion to look at the possibility of assisting them with the engineering.

The full version will be featured in NMAA's winter issue of Noticias de las Acequias in January.

Yesterday, December 21^st marked the winter solstice in Earth’s northern hemisphere. It is a special period for many Acequia communities who celebrate various festivities over the span of the month. The solstice, though not specifically celebrated in these communities, marks the time when the earth’s northern hemisphere is tilted furthest away from the sun. Following this day the earth’s tilt reverses and the hours of the day grow longer until the next summer solstice. In many land based communities in the northern hemisphere these natural occurrences coincide with important celebrations during last month of the calendar year.

Though many Acequias lay dormant during the winter months it is a time of planning and observation of the natural world. The mountain snows are among the most scrutinized phenomena on this high desert landscape. In addition, it is an important time for Acequias communities to process many ritual foods that were harvested during the year. Among the most commonly prepared indigenous foods during this time of year are tamales, pozole, and chile con carne. In addition there are many fine desserts such as pastelitos de calabaza, molletes, and bizcochitos. The preparation and consumption of these foods are enmeshed in the ritual significance of religious observances.

The Christian observance of la navidad (the Nativity of Jesus) in New Mexico is perhaps the most recognizable of these. The celebration of the Christmas season was perhaps culturally celebrated to coincide with the solstice to symbolically link the birth of Jesus with the coming of the light. This symbolic meshing of the natural world with religious belief was a well know concept of the Franciscan order of missionaries who first brought the belief systems of Christianity to the indigenous populations of these areas in the 16^th century. As folklore scholar Enrique Lamadrid has noted, “seeing God revealed in Nature,” was a way for these missionaries of sacrilizing the landscape.

This most notably this can be perceived in the alboradas or songs honoring the dawn. The most popular of these are what are commonly known in greater Mexico as Mañanitas. These are ritual songs that honor the Christ Child, the Virgin Mary and various saints at daybreak on their feast days. The Mexican song “Las Mañanitas” is fact is an alborada which has become so popularized that it has lost much of its earlier significance of marking a religious saint's day, it has now become a typical birthday song. In New Mexico the significance of the alborada can still be perceived in ritual religious songs such as the Canto al alba which is sung in many Acequia communities after all night velorios (vigils) as the sun is rising the next day.

On Thursday, December 8th we held a workshop on acequia easements. It was well attended with 42 participants plus NMAA staff and NM Legal Aid attorney David Benavides. In this meeting we tried a new approach to presenting information and problem solving. Using an assessment tool from La Escuelita de las Acequias model we were able to engage participants in lively discussions about how to look at a problem and talk about solutions. We recognize the valuable experience that our Comisionados and mayordomos have in protecting the bordo of the acequia as well as other easement issues, legal issues, compounded with drought, broken infrastructure and much more. La Escuelita recognizes that we are all maestros. These acequia experts came from communities, throughout the state, Upper Hondo, Coyote, Chimayo, Santa Cruz, El Rito and the South Valley of Albuquerque, just to name a few communities and regions represented.
David Benavides did a fantastic job presenting legal information and facilitating the conversation. The entire NMAA staff worked so hard in preparing for this workshop and also did a fabulous job at the workshop. It is really fun to be part of such a dynamic team, we have come a long way from the days when I started working with only a staff of three.
I look forward to our future workshops and trying out new ideas and gathering with our maestros from throughout Nuevo Mejico. íQue vivan las acequias!

The first week of November, we held a Pumpkin workshop. It is late in the season to expect anything to dry outside, but with harvest behind us, more time available, and a nice crop of native pumpkins, it was perfect. The practice of making tasajos  I have only ever  heard about.   My father remembers the end product, but doesn't remember how it is done, but his big sister, my Tia Alcarita, who is ten years older, remembers the process.  We asked her to facilitate the workshop, and learned the basics from her. She shared with us that the last time she can recall it being practiced, she was a little girl.  I had asked many people about it, and told by so many how  delicious the end product was, but of all these people that I spoke with, no one really remembered how it was done.

The morning began with firing the Horno, which had to  burn at least two hours. The rules with firing the Horno, is that good wood needs to be used, as the flavor of the wood will permeate the food. Throughout the season, we have used cedar, pieces of brazos from the apple and plum trees that were cut when the trees were pruned early in the Spring. For the pumpkin workshop, we were down to jaras de manzana.  

The pumpkins were wiped clean of any dirt, then cut in half so the seeds and fiber could be removed. When the horno was ready, the ashes were pushed to the back of the horno, and the pumpkins were placed inside. The pumpkins were left  to cook for about 30 minutes. We then took them out and they were allowed to cool for a while.  The pumpkins then needed to be peeled.  The outer shell of the pumpkin is removed so that the pumpkin can dry quicker, and more thoroughly. The pumpkin then looks like a beautiful orange bowl.

This bowl is then placed on a fence post outside to dry for a few days.  The bowls are then taken down, and the bowl is spiral cut, so it could be pulled into one long piece. After it completely  dried, the pumpkin is stored in sacos de harina. These are flour sacks that are re-used for food storage.

It was late in the season, so we were not able to dry them this way.  When the pumpkins cooled, we sliced them in 1" pieces, and put them in the dehydrator. They dried in about 12 hours, and my family has really enjoyed them. They're much like dried fruit, and they are delicious. Next year, we will start earlier in the season, and practice the method traditionally through the finished product.

¡Mayordomos, Parciantes, Comisionados, todos, lleguen al Congreso de las Acequias!

Come join us for the 12th annual Congreso de las Acequias tomorrow, Saturday, November 12th at the Santa Fe Convention Center.

Registration starts at 8:30 am.

Don't miss this chance meet with Acequieros from all over the state to visit, share information and catch up on acequia issues.

In the morning there be a discussion about USDA program opportunities featuring one farmer and one rancher who will talk about how the NRCS and USDA improved their property and helped their ag operation.

Senator Carlos Cisneros will be on hand to talk about various acequia funding opportunities available through the State.

There will be food and live music by Davíd García and Carlos Medina y Trío Los Gallos.

¡Allí les watcho!