Fracking in La Cebolla?

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is a Federal Agency within the Department of the Interior.  They hold what is called the "mineral estate" of public lands.  Private companies can nominate a federal mineral estate.  What that means is that the BLM becomes engaged in the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process to assess whether the nominating company (or any companies) can drill on a parcel of land.  Currently, 16 parcels of land in the La Cebolla, New Mexico area were nominated.  The NEPA process on these parcels began two years ago.  But, the BLM has decided to begin again because there hadn't been enough public input in the process.

One of the things that's changed in re-doing the NEPA process is that Rio Arriba County has become a partner in this process by Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).  Rio Arriba County passed an ordinance protecting the surface of the land in 2009.  BUT, the Federal Mineral Estate has primacy over the surface of the land

Tuesday (12/3/13) evening, the BLM re-started the process by holding a Public Comment Meeting to determine the Scope of the Environmental Assessment.  Here's some more information on the Public Comment Period and the BLM's NEPA process:

Rio Arriba County Oil and Gas Ordinance:   
http://www.rio-arriba.org/pdf/2009-01_rio_arriba_county_oil_and_gas_ordinance.pdf

To View BML's NEPA process:

http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/energy/oil_and_gas/lease_sale_notices/2013_lease_sales/january_2013_lease.html

To View BLM's report on the 2013 previous NEPAprocess, which they decided to re-do:
 http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/nm/programs/0/og_sale_notices_and/2013/january_2013.Par.55042.File.dat/January%202013%20Oil%20and%20Gas%20Lease%20Sale%20EA_TFO.pdf

Public Comment Deadline for Scope of the Environmental Assessment: Extended to 1/4/14

Email Comments to: Bradley Higdon, BLM bhigdon@blm.gov or snail mail your comments to Brad at: Taos Field Office, Bureau of Land Management. 226 Cruz Alta Road, Taos, NM 87571-5983

Snail Mail Comments to:  Bradley Higdon, Taos Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, 226 Cruz Alta Road, Taos, NM 87575-5983

Questions?  Call Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Taos Office at: 575-751-4725


REMEMBER FOLKS, your comment does not have to have a scientific basis!  Your opinion, your experience with the land, air, water, and communities that fracking COULD effect are JUST AS IMPORTANT as science!  Oil and gas companies can hire scientist after scientist to debate on the safety of fracking.  The oil and gas companies CANNOT debate your cultural expertise or experience of the community!  Even if you're not from northern New Mexico, your experience of land-based cultures and your fears regarding the safety of land, air, water, and life are VALID.  Write 'em up and email or snail mail them in BEFORE 1/4/13!  Thank you!

ANOTHER IMPORTANT STEP:  If you're going to mail or email a comment, please consider asking family, friends, neighbors and community members to sign on to your letter.  Even children could sign on.  I think this is the best way to show the BLM how many want the NEPA process to stop and the possibility of fracking to be defeated!

Senator Tom Udall Hosts Women's Success Career Conference 2013

Career Conference 2012, Hosted by Senator Tom Udall

First of all, let me just say, WOW!  Any woman who wants to start or grow her own business can receive an amazing amount of support through all of the organizations located in the Hispano Chamber of Commerce, in Albuquerque, NM. As it turns out, one of those women is me.  That's why I signed up for and attended a women's conference on the subject.

The information presented during Women's Career Success Conference & Job Fair 2013, Hosted by Senator Tom Udall and the Hispano Chamber of Commerce was PHENOMENAL!  The conference's welcoming remarks were given by:  Bianca Ortiz Wertheim, State Director, Office of Senator Tom Udall; Alex Romero, President, Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce; and, Tom Udall, U. S. Senator, via video.

Our keynote speaker, Erin Andrew, Assistant Administrator for Women's Business Ownership, U. S. Small Business Administration, gave us insights on what it takes to be a successful small business owner.  There were many points made, but the one stood out most clearly  for me is Mentorship.  Ms. Andrew started out with a quote from Madeline Albright, "There is a special place in Hell for women who don't help other women."  It was a great way to start.  All the attendees were women looking for help. And, the majority of presenters were women who were there TO help.

The help began to roll out with our first panel speaker, Monica Armenta - former newscaster at KOB TV, in Albuquerque; current Public Information Officer of the Albuquerque Public Schools.  Ms. Armenta talked about her first mentors, her parents. She talked about her own mentoring of women.  Besides the amazing generosity displayed by Ms. Armenta, what was remarkable about her portion of the presentation was the way she talked to us.  She was intimate, she was vulnerable, she was evocative, she was unafraid of what was real.  It made many of us cry.

Mrs. Armenta set the tone and the rest of the speakers followed.  Dr. Alexis Artery, Senior Director of Manufacutring Operations, at Eclipse Aerospace started with tears in her eyes over Ms. Armenta's talk and went on to tell us what it was like being a Ph.D. from MIT in a world of work where only four out of 150 engineers are women.  Tina Cordova, President of Queston Construction told us about finding opportunity and seizing it.  Katherine Garza, Director at the Aveda Institute in Albuquerque, NM, talked about keeping a dream alive through physical abuse, substance abuse, and poverty. Four amazing women in New Mexico, lent themselves to us that day and gave me courage, knowledge, perseverance, adaptability, truth, and justice.

I spent the lunch time networking with conference attendees.  An idea was born for me there, I could help women in my community to focus not on getting a job - but, creating small businesses.  I've always been interested in micro-businesses.  I think they're the cornerstone of New Mexican economy.  It is the perfect time to engage women in my community on this subject! With the support of the organizations represented at the conference - Small Business Administration (SBA), Small Business Development Center (SBDC), WESST Enterprise Center, SBDC's Procurement Technical Assistance Program (PTAP) - we can succeed.

Our afternoon was rounded out with talks from the South Valley Economic Development Center (SVEDC), and two of their clients, one of whom had gone from micro to small business by baking traditional bizcochitos.  The other, Valerie Clark, who owns What the Fudge?  Valerie is from Española, is a chocolatier by trade, and runs a business aimed at providing a product to be used for fundraising in schools and by community organizations.

I loved hearing these women's stories!  It was said over and over again - don't worry about the money, just start your business.  And, through help from the multitude of helpful organizations, a woman can . . .

On a personal note:  I have made an appointment to begin working with WESST, I plan on applying for a Value Added Grant through the USDA, and I hope to develop a relationship with What the Fudge? to assist in our fundraising for our current project that includes re-developing a system of barter in nothern New Mexico via a Time Bank, Mentoring Program and Traditions Classes all planned to reaffirm New Mexican culture.  You'll hear more about this in the coming days through my blog posts.

For those of you thinking - this was in Albuquerque, what about Santa Fe or Española - the answer is yes!  In speaking with the State Director of Senator Udall's office, Bianca Ortiz Wertheim, I learned that the Senator would be interested in hosting the same type of training for our area next year.  How exciting is that?

A great big ¡THANK YOU/GRACIAS! to Senator Tom Udall, Bianca Ortiz Wertheim, and all of the staff; Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce; all of the organizations and presenters; and, to those women brave enough to create a new beginning in local economic development through entrepreneurship!  ¡Que Viva las Mujeres!

MLC - Our Treasure

Photo by:  Barbara Baumann

Mary Lou Cook

April 29th, 1918 - October 7th, 2013

Mary Lou Cook's last words to us:  Our job is to be happy.  Ask for spiritual help, it is always available.  Establish healthy boundaries.  Guilt is optional.  Be creative, have fun, embrace life.  Live in joy even though you have all the facts.  Live in the present and realize freedom.  Forgiveness is the key for happiness.  We have a choice between peace and fear.  Make your own rules, forget "ought" and "should".  Find your authentic self.

Mary Lou Cook was my first mentor in community organizing and progressive politics.  She was the kind of person people dream of being.  She was brave, thoughtful, and kind.  She lived peace and was a great example of that reality.  MLC was human, she had her trials and tribulations, as do we all.  She showed me how to rise above during countless hours in the sitting area of her bedroom.

Co-organizing the Dennis Kucinich for President Campaign in 2003, galvanized us into a great thinking, feeling, being of action.  MLC provided the spiritual power of tapping into the universe for decision making via our discussions.  I provided the "down on the ground" data and made our visions happen.  We were a real team.

Everyone who knows MLC has a story about her.  Yesterday, at her memorial, I heard lots of them.  I also heard the facts about her.  But, I want this piece to illuminate WHO she was - not in context of any other person.

MLC had a book of names and phones number (something most of us can no longer imagine).  This was her book of real world power.  She had the numbers of the movers and shakers, stars and politicians, spiritual leaders and 1%er CEOs. Every one of them was at MLC's beck and call.

Why?  Because she listened.  And, gave "consejos".  Consejos may translate from Spanish to English as advice, but that's not really the gist of it.  It's that life advice that only the most wise of our grandmothers can give that I define as consejos.  Mary Lou Cook listened and she gave consejos.  It's a lost art.  Something of a bygone era.  MLC's consejos were always right on target.  Sometimes, a person couldn't stand how on target they were!

Mary Lou Cook lived her life as a woman who "ladies" emulated.  She had a grace that was evident in her every movement.  She was deliberate and expected the same of others.  Some people may have thought of her as an old lady when they first met her.  But, the more you were around her, the more you realized that her grace and deliberateness belied the absolutely joyous spirit with unbound energy who lived within that tiny body.  MLC was a sprite clothed as a graceful grandmother.

MLC's eyes twinkled.  Stars were jealous of those blue beauties. They seldom wept, despite the heaviness she often encountered in the world.  Her smile illuminated Santa Fe.  In fact, PNM probably owes her a bundle for that light.

I'll never forget the silver fingernails, and the huge silver octagon-shaped waffle patterned ring that sat on her hand.  That ring was the fly on the wall.  It heard all, saw all, knew all.  Her daughter, Karen, now wears it.  It hold so much of us - those whom Mary Lou mentored.

MLC paid attention.  She knew who and what belonged where.  She knew what timing meant.  She was able to speed things up or slow them down if needed.  She made sure things happened as they should.

I said before that Mary Lou Cook was human.  But, in writing this, I now wonder - was she really?  So much of her was from a place beyond the physical world. I've always called MLC the Grand Dame of Spirituality.  I can't wait to see her work as pure spirit, now.

Mary Lou Cook was my mentor.  She called me sister.  I live by her words and in her spirit!  Te quiero mucho, MLC!  Que descanse en paz, comadre!


 http://www.silverplanet.com/lifestyles/silver-stars/silver-star-mary-lou-cook/54130#.UnLHPicdTpo

Seed Sovereignty Symposium, (a. k. a., Traditional Agriculture and Sustainable Living Conference) 2013

 

Keynote Speaker Vandana Shiva; Phillip Charos & Claissa Durán, Registrars

Seed Sovereignty Symposium/Traditional Agriculture & Sustainable Living Conference

    Conference Website:  http://4bridges.org/annual-conference/2013-conference/

   

    This was my seventh year and my husband, Phillip's, third year as Conference Registrars.  Each year I've sat at the table for two straight days, greeting old friends, neighbors, and like-minded newcomers to one of the most spiritual and thought provoking experiences available.  Our conference comes out of Tesuque Pueblo and the work to preserve traditional tribal agriculture, spirituality - life.  As organizers, many of us have worked the gamut from public demonstrations to lobbying for bills in the New Mexico Legislature, and working to educate our Congresspeople.  But, it is this conference that creates the opportunity for true healing and life-honoring change.

     At the heart of the conference sits the spiritual leaders of indigenous nations and communities (including the annual participation of the Thirteen Grandmothers).  After listening to one spiritual leader's words in one of the conference panels, a native friend and former conference volunteer said that her DNA had been changed by the Mayan spiritual leader's talk.  This is not to be taken lightly, especially in considering my friend's involvement in her own sovereign nation and her position at a native college.  

    This year we hosted over 400 students from local schools (the majority of whom were 5th graders).  This was a brilliant step taken by conference organizers.  Planting seeds early gives the indigenous communities time to water and care for seeds that will mature and bear their own seeds.  Our area's youth were given an education in a world in which the sickness of materialism and modern life have no roots.  

    Each year the conference is different.  This year, I felt the abundance in our community.  We heard the messages and felt the spirit together.  We prayed and were blessed.  We broke bread together and lingered in dynamic conversations.  We learned about one another and our work to uphold the sovereignty of traditional cultures.  We laughed together and held each other's gaze respectfully.  Our hearts beat together.  Many experiences.  One people.

Power House

El Parasol North is the perfect place to confront your demons and to be told that addiction to thoughts about those demons can be released.  As, for the releasing of the demon, I'll be praying that it can be released, too.

My demon now has a very succinct name:  Institutionalized Capitalism.  I'd like to thank my friend, Donna House (powerful woman, long time organizer and member of the Diné nation) for sitting with me and helping me to come into a stronger understanding about my fear of the corrupting power of cash.

Institutionalized Capitalism, in my definition, is the dehumanizing effect of capitalism on individuals and their families, which allows them to abuse the resources with which Mother Earth blesses us.  It allows them not only to benefit from the abuse of resources on a cash basis, but on a power level that is ALL about subjugating other beings.

I'm thinking a lot about this, because when I'm working in the community, for community, my fears come up.  I keep cycling through them until I can release them.  This is part of my purpose - to heal myself and prepare myself for what happens after I leave this earth as pure spirit.

If you have anything to add or experiences you'd like to share about Institutionalized Capitalism, please feel free to do so here.  If you don't want your post posted publically, please state that and I will treat it as a private message (I have to approve each post individually to make them viewable by the public).

Thanks!
Clarissa

Recently "American"

I've been thinking a lot about the subject of assimilation into "American" society since our Durán family reunion this summer.  Our family was fortunate that a few of our cousins had worked on our family tree/history and built a website so that we could share the knowledge previous to the reunion.

During the reunion, our cousin Dr. José Rivera spoke on our family tree/history.   This gave me an entirely new perspective on the broad European and Native Mesoamerican mix that I embody.  Further, our reunion committee held several meetings.  My father was the reunion director.  I was the registrar.  My father and I traveled to Las Vegas, New Mexico (where the reunion was held) several times to these meetings.  We discussed his recent readings on the history of northern New Mexico.  We debated.  We discussed.  He talked. I listened. I learned.

I learned that a part of my family that I disliked - namely the ambition to "succeed" in mainstream American society (one that immigrants often adopt in order to survive) - was a normal response to a genocidal situation.

The problem was that I've never seen myself as an immigrant.  I've always thought of myself as native to this land.  Sure, I took History of New Mexico at Northern New Mexico College, but the phrase, "we didn't cross the border, the border crossed us" never mattered much to me except as phrase used in organizing for social justice.  It's become very personal to me.

At our Compadrazco on the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo this Spring, I learned that when the U.S. came to what is now called northern New Mexico, they burned our villages and burned our seeds. We hid in the hills.  We were hunted.  They wanted us dead.  If they couldn't kill us now, they would get us by ensuring we starved to death without seeds/crops/food. This thought always brings me to tears.  My father reminds me - we were at war.  It is a different perspective than the Holocaust.

However, those whose families lived in the outposts of the Spanish/Mexican empire know, it wasn't a war for us.  We didn't have the defenses that could match our enemy.  It was genocide.  As a people of mixed history who owned a piece of American leaders' Manifest Destiny, we were expendable.  As a people who would not be beaten down, we were better left dead.  Yes.  We were nearly on the same plane as our tribal brothers and sisters.  We were not human.  We held no value.  Nor do we now.

That is what we as Chicanas/os live each day.  We are a people of many peoples. We fought the country in which we now find ourselves as citizens.  Our land was taken from us through chicanery.  Our relationships with our native brothers and sisters was broken and used as a tool to divide us.  We have had to declare ourselves not native, but European to survive.  We have held ourselves as only half people to this country's government.  We may only hold ourselves as whole - Meztizos, Chicanos, Genizaros - within our own families, circle, communities.

Like our native sisters and brothers, we have hidden the depth of our religion(s), our ceremonies and traditions.  We have watched as some tried to sell our sacred.  We have fought.  Sometimes we've won.  Mostly, we have fallen into a bog and been confused by mist as to the way to get free.  Mostly, we struggle.  That is not a meek word - struggle.  It denotes a constant battle that takes strength, stamina, determination and faith to continue waging.  Mostly, we are constantly seeking ourselves in this foreign world.

Immigrants. My grandfather remembered someone coming to his family's home when he was a child and telling them that the family had to choose whether to remain in "America" and become U. S. citizens or to move further south and remain part of the country that had only recently become "Mexico".  Choose the victor and remain as peasants on their land or choose the way we'd known for both 400 years (as Europeans) and milenia (as native peoples).  What was this choice to them?  How did they make it?  Many of our families went south.  Why did we stay?

This blog is now my personal journal to knowing the mysteries of ME along with all of the actions I choose to undertake in the struggle.  It's the time to learn and know myself through the deepest part of me - the part that IS powerful, whole and free.

Bioneers Cultivating Women's Leadership Training 2013 at Ocamora

I've entered a new world.  A world of light.  My dreams are playing themselves out before my eyes.  Every resource comes to me as I think of it - sometimes before. Every opportunity becomes my gift. This is the world into which CWL inducted me.  And, I am not alone.

I spent five days in my Durán family homeland:  Ocaté, New Mexico.  

                           Photo by:  Dalene Coriz


I was visited by the spirit of my people.  I asked for and found my path illuminated.  I was protected, guided, and healed by formed and formless.  I was lead on a journey by our facilitators Toby and Sarah.  There, I found a concentrated power named Clarissa.

My CWL sisters held the mirror and I came shining through.  Most people will never truly know themselves on a soul level.  Most people will never be offered the experience to gain that knowledge.  I am grateful to have been.

 I can't really say more about it.  It's just something you'd have to know.  My experience has changed me profoundly.  And, for that I'm grateful, too.

Thank you all! 

Compadrazco: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo & Beyond

It's been a long time since I've put words down.  I often have poems/words travel through me, but these days I haven't made the effort to focus them into physical form.  Yesterday, however, I was so inspired by the speakers of the event organized by Luis Peña, Compadrazco:  Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo & Beyond, that I had to write.  And, here's what I've written:

One of the things that came out of the Compadrazco: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo & Beyond for me (yesterday) was that we seek to know who we are, our place in the world, our importance through a very individual lens and that what Jorge Alberto Garcia Atilano was getting to was the coming together through compassion, via a larger spirituality that allows for all things and all beings, where the center of the spiral is the destiny of each individual life and our lives as one simultaneously. What we care for is our destiny. Our destiny defines us. And, we are whole within the consciousness of that reality.

That was my post on Facebook.  Then I listened to Jorge's words again

http://culturalenergy.org/serna.htm

and here's what my focus and intention are now:

My conscious mind cannot fathom the diversity of all that we represented when we came as Conquerors and settlers under the Spanish flag:  Crypto-Jew, Muslims/Moors, Greek, Portuguese, Italian, Basque, on and on . . .

I cannot fathom who we met and conquered:  Caribe Natives; Aztecs - who had been any number of pueblos and past civilizations, such as Mayans; Tewa, Apache, Comanche, Ute (Aztecas), Zuni, on and on . . .

WE - out of all these civilizations, nations, peoples, ancestors - developed a life in northern New Mexico that is so unique, we take offense at being recognized as anything but that culture.

Our culture holds all the seeds of that past and gives life through ceremony and tradition.  We may argue and discuss amongst one another about who knows more, embodies more, practices more of our culture, but in the end, those interactions only strengthen us.

We have come to the place where we can see ourselves as EVERYTHING; not nothing, but EVERYTHING, because we ARE defined.  Our peoples, our past have brought us to this moment where WE ARE.

I look in the mirror and see more than smoke.  I see that we are all the ancestors from every lineage smiling back at us in the mirror.  We are ALL.  We hold ourselves as a people.  We must use our traditions and ceremonies to strengthen that identity.

Take hold of your piece of the collective, with me.  Let us pull it taut, like a blanket off which our children and grandchildren can leap into a higher consciousness - a place where We ARE Sovereign.

 

 

íCHILE FEST 2012!

Chile, chile y mas chile!  I love chile.  Who doesn't?  My mom is one of those who has chile for every meal.  In fact, she loves it so much that she takes packets of it with her when she travels abroad!  Now that's a chile lover!

Monday, September 3rd we have the privilege of celebrating this beloved food, crop, plant.  We join together to celebrate our cultura, comida, y familias!  Chile has sustained the people of this area for hundreds if not thousands of years.  It knocks out colds, it warms the heart, and sometimes burns the tongue - giving us that heady rush of endorphins!

The Española Farmers' Market has held a chile roasting and tasting for several years.  This year ¡El Tiempo! Nuevo México is honored to take part by holding a traditional NM green chile cook-off!  We invite everyone to enter.  Our discerning judges will award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes to the best chile in the land! 

If you'd like to enter the cook-off, please see the website for official rules:  www.eltiemponm.org   Click on the CHILE FEST title and you will be taken to an information page with the official rules.  We hope you will take part; it's a great day of celebration for the Farmers' Market and the cook-off will add to the festivities!

See you there!

Date:  Monday, September 3rd

Location:  Española Farmers' Market  (click here for a map:  https://www.facebook.com/events/306816042750066/)

Time:  10am-5pm  - Cook-off entries must be present by 1pm, judging at 1:30pm

Tabling at the NM Legislature & Opening a Dialog with NMSU Board of Regents

My mother sat in full Norteña regalia, complete with squash blossom and newly acquired (from the Diné table) colored corn necklace. Passersby stopped to see why our table announced that we were celebrating 100 Years of New Mexico's Traditional Chile and why there was a banner with a flaming chile. Tabling at the NM Legislature is fun!

Close to 100 people signed up to win either a bag of NM Traditional Red Chile Pods or an íEl Tiempo! Nuevo México bumper sticker


Available at: http://www.zazzle.com/eltiemponm


And, in taking the time to sign-up, our guests were asked questions about their thoughts on GMO chile. NOT ONE PERSON WAS FOR GMO CHILE! Not even those who grew chile! Not even the Legislators who stopped by. So, why is NMSU conducting research and possibly developing GMO chile? Why did our legislators give NMSU the money to conduct the research and development?

Well, we're still not sure. So, as good investigators, Miguel Santistevan and I set out to talk to the NMSU Board of Regents about this matter. We attended the Board of Regents meeting in Santa Fe, on January 30th, at the Inn at Loretto. We spoke during the Public Comment portion of the meeting.

Javier Gonzales serves as the of the Chair of the State Democratic Party. And, he serves as an NMSU Regent. He was the only Regent who came up to us before the meeting and asked us what we had signed up to speak on during the Public Comment segment. He was engaging and listened intently, as he did when Miguel, Ehtan, Michael, and I spoke during that segment. He made me feel human and less nervous about opening a dialog with the Regents on the issue of GMO chile research and development (R & D). He cared.

I talked to the Regents about who I was, where my family was from, what made me want to stop the R & D of GMO chile. I asked them to start a relationship with me; to begin a dialog based on mutual respect as fellow New Mexicans who care about our culture, industry, and local economy. For the most part, I felt listened to. There were a few steely eyed Regents & staff members who I think believed that I was going to pull an "Occupy Mic Check" on them. But, I didn't. I wouldn't. At this point, I have more respect for the NMSU Regents than to do something like that.

My training in conflict resolution tells me that we can work this issue out in a civilized manner. Don't get me wrong, I've participated in many an in-your-face confrontations!!! Especially in regard to LANS' building of nuclear bomb triggers that will compromise the health and safety of workers from my community. But, I've always started by telling my story and worked into "speaking truth to power" without ranting.

Ok, true, I did rant at the Airforce when I went to the public comment meeting on their intent to conduct "low elevation fly-overs" in northern NM and southern CO. But, the military is a real sore spot for me. I'm a war wife. And, I'll never forgive the military for the PTSD-riddled man they sent home to me after Desert Storm! But, that's another story for another time.

Back to chile! Miguel presented the NMSU Board of Regents with a packet that contained a letter that the NM Acequia Association had mailed out regarding the proposed research and development of GMO chile. This letter was written in 2008 by all the members of the NM Seed Alliance and was addressed to key NM Legislators, Pueblo Leaders, and the NMSU Board of Regents. It asked the Regents to meet with the NM Seed Alliance leadership. That meeting never took place.

The packet also contained the Seed Sovereignty Declaration (link at the bottom of the page), the Joint Memorial that the legislature passed in 2008 based on the Declaration, and the movie, "GEnetic Chile: The Movie", by Chris Dudley. Miguel talked about his concern for small chile growers, as did I. He talked about why GMO chile isn't a viable option for the large scale chile producers. He talked about solving this issue together.

The other two individuals who spoke on this issue, Ethan Genauer, and a young man I know only as Michael, spoke passionately in favor of ending the R & D on GMO chile. Michael made comments supporting Traditional Chile and calling for the R & D of GMO chile to stop. Ethan read part of the Seed Sovereignty Declaration and called for a boycott on all of the members of the NM Chile Association (including Bueno Foods) because of their high level of involvement on the issue.

I came away from the meeting wondering what the true reaction of the Regents was. I hope to find out more by continuing the dialog we started at the NMSU Board of Regents Meeting in Santa Fe. I hope that they will see the seriousness of the threat GMO chile would pose to our Traditional Chile. And, I hope they will act to protect New Mexicans and New Mexican culture, as they are mandated to do by our State Constitution, The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and The Morrill Act (which established NMSU as a land-grant, agricultural institution of higher learning)! Aver . . .



NM Seed Alliance's Seed Sovereignty Declaration: http://www.lasacequias.org/programs/seed-alliance/seed-declaration/

Our Website: https://eltiemponm.org

Good is Simple

Sitting together on the couch, my husband and I look over magazines we've been too busy to read. We planned and put on the 1st Annual NM Traditional Chile Summit. We're working on the Traditional Chile Day at the Legislature. Reading is a luxury at this point.

Unfortunately, we've both hit on recipes for Posole in some major foodie magazines. They've got it all wrong. They make it too complicated. What's best about our culture's food is the complexity of tastes from simple ingredients.

During the Traditional Chile Summit, I asked our Keynote Speaker, Miguel Santistevan what he thought about the menu. Beans, posole, tortillas, cookies, clementines, punch, coffee, water, and of course the star: pots and crockpots of traditional red and green chile. Miguel said he loved it. He said it was basic: beans and corn. And, that if "people didn't like beans and corn they were going to HAVE to get to like them, 'cuz that is the way we are going."

This week I made my husband fideo. He'd never had it. I told him it's like Chicano Mac 'n Cheese; something simple to feed the kids. But, if you ask me, it's one of the best dishes I make. Fideo. Fideo and Beans. Fideo, Beans, and fresh Tortillas. Because when life is good, it's simple.

Official Traditional Chile Cook-off Rules

1st Annual NM Traditional Chile Summit


Categories
Traditional Red Chile
Traditional Green Chile
Most Unusual Chile Dish


1. ONLY Traditional Chile may be used in any submission to the cook-off.

2. Submission must be made by 11:30 a.m. on January 7th, 2012, at the Oñate Center - submit to Registration Table to receive further direction.

3. A person may enter any and all categories - each will be judged separately.

4. A company may enter any and all categories- each will be judged separately.

5. A company may not sponsor the summit and enter the cook-off simultaneously.

6. Each submitted dish must have at least 60 "taste" servings. "Taste" servings will be provided to each Summit participant. "Taste" servings may be up to 1 Tbsps. each; totaling 60 Tbsps.; 3-3/4 cup; 1/4 gallon; 30 fluid ounces*. Serving "cups" will be provided.

7. Traditional Chile Judging will take place at 12 Noon.

8. Prizes will be awarded before lunch begins.

*We encourage entrants to submit more than the required total in order to feed participants at lunch time! Thanks!

Española Pubic Schools - A Call to Action!

written by Jeremy Maestas

On Wednesday December 14, 2011, a meeting was held at the Commission Chambers inside the Rio Arriba County Annex building, in Española. During the meeting parents, staff, students, and community members from all over the area joined in conversation about issues that are occuring within the Española Public Schools and ways in which they can be resolved. During this meeting several people brought up their concerns about the lack of communication between the district and the outside members, as well as student safety, how money from the district is being spent, and also on academics and what our schools have done, and should be doing to prepare our students for college life.

This meeting was only the beginning to a new start for EPS. As mentioned in the meeting, we feel the time has come for us to gather together as a District to help our students. The issues are not to blame on just one certain individual but on everyone. It was decided that everyone should try and be a part in the process in order for things to get better. Members who joined in the meeting decided that it would be a good idea for our group to join forces with that of the District Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). Originally, District PAC President Regina Martinez, stated that the meeting scheduled for this month had been cancelled due to bad weather. But, all the members in the meeting asked that there be an emergency meeting called so that some of these items could be discussed further and so that new members could officially join the PAC. It would also serve as a good time to prepare major items we feel need to be done, so that a request for a work session or presentation in front of EPS school board can be done.

We encourage all interested Parents, or Community Members to take part in the PAC meeting which will be held on Monday December 19, 2011, at the EPS Central Administration building, located at 714 Calle Don Diego, in Española. The meeting will be held inside the board room, starting at 5:30 p.m. Please come out and support this event. If you should have further questions you can contact us via email at j.maestas_evhs@yahoo.com and we will be glad to answer any questions you may have concerning this event.

A little bit about Jeremy:

My name is Jeremy Maestas and I am a resident of the beautiful Española Valley. I attended the Public Schools in Española for 12 years not including my year in preschool. I have always had an interest in public education and serving students in our community. I served as a Substitute Teacher with the Española Public Schools for two and a half years before leaving. During my term as a Substitute I became close with some of the students I worked with at Carlos Vigil Middle School, who now are currently freshman, and sophomores at the high school. I was always available for students to come and talk with me about issues they were having or just to see how they were. I began being a part of this process to help the schools because being a former student I know that these are the most crucial years of your life and you don’t get them back, I feel as the students who confided in me need my help and to me they felt like they were my adopted kids. I will do everything I can to support these kids all the way because they are the future to not only our town and communities but to our world, and I wish for nothing more than to see them succeed in everything they set their minds and hearts to do!

For more information, go to this Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/183655448396588/

Speaker Biographies - Traditional Chile Summit 2012

1st Annual New Mexico Traditional Chile Summit

For more info: www.ElTiempoNM.org

Speaker Biographies

Emcee

David F. García, MA, is from the community of El Guache, New Mexico. He is currently completing a PhD. Program in Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin. As a researcher investigating local knowledge systems in northern New Mexico and practices, his interests include: acequias, foodways, religion, spirituality, folkloristics, and cultural space, as they relate to sustainability and cultural survival of Indo-Hispano communities. He is specifically interested in how shifts in economic bases relate to transformations in the relationships that people have to the environment and local resources. He is currently the Community Education Coordinator for the New Mexico Acequia Association. In addition to the above duties he is also a multi-talented musician and performer of local Spanish music as a solo artist and also a member of the statewide recognized Blue Ventures.

Keynote Speaker

Miguel Santistevan: With a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of New Mexico and a Master of Science degree in Ecology from the University of California, Davis, Miguel Santistevan is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Biology at the University of New Mexico. His research interests are in the traditional acequia-irrigated and dryland agricultural systems of the Upper Rio Grande and Sangre de Cristo mountains. Miguel is certified in Permaculture and ZERI Design and has been a High School science teacher in Pecos, Peñasco, and Taos school districts. He has directed youth-in-agriculture programs such as ePlaza of Hands Across Cultures and the Regional Development Corporation and the Sembrando Semillas youth-in-agriculture project of the New Mexico Acequia Association (NMAA). He has produced video and public radio programming (¡Que Vivan las Acequias!) with the NMAA and Cultural Energy, of which he is a Board Member. He maintains a conservation farm with his wife and daughter in Taos called Sol Feliz where many visitors have participated in educational presentations, tours, and hands-on workshops (www.solfelizfarm.org). Miguel coordinates a ‘Living Seed Library’ program through the Agriculture Implementation, Research, and Education non-profit corporation he is co-founding (www.growfarmers.org). Miguel has recently been elected Chairman of the Acequia Sur de Río de Don Fernando de Taos for the 2010-2011 growing season of which he is a parciante (irrigator) and past Mayordomo (ditch boss). He also serves as a Board Member for the Taos Valley Acequia Association. More information on Miguel can be found at www.unm.edu/~msanti.

Panel Speakers

Ralph Vigil II, is a 8th generation farmer from Pecos, NM, focusing on seed propagation and seed saving of heritage crops. Ralph owns Molino de La Isla Farm where he works with youth from his community, mentoring them on acequia culture, s eed saving, food processing, food justice issues and seed sovereignty. Ralph is also Chairman of the NM Acequia Commission.

Beata Tsosie-Peña, is from Santa Clara Pueblo and El Rito. She is a poet, certified in infant massage, education

and permaculture design. The realities of living next to a nuclear weapons complex has called her into environ-

mental health and justice work with the local non-profit organization, Tewa Women United. She believes in the

practice and preservation of land-based knowledge, spirituality, language, seeds, our Earth, and family. Her

intentions are for healing, wellness and sustainability for future generations.

Bianca Encinias, is the owner of El Chante: Casa de Cultura focusing on community controlled economic

development. El Chante is an art gallery and boutique promoting local and regional art, crafts, and culture.

She is also a member of the Los Jardines Institute, an intergenerational organization that promotes

learning and implementing environmental justice through agriculture and education.

Lorraine Kahneratokwas Gray, has a diverse background, beginning with a Masters in Project Management.

She has been working in the area of traditional agricultural revival for the last 12 years. She was honored to be a

member of the Native Delegation to Terra Madre 2006 and 2010, in Turin, Italy. Honored for her work in the

Mohawk community of Akwesasne, New York, Gray co-founded Kanenhi:io Ionkwaienthonhakie (We Are

Planting Good Seeds), which built a substantial community greenhouse, established a community farmers’

market on the reservation, and supports community gardens, and individual family farms. Gray is now living in

the South West, and is the Conference Coordinator for the Traditional Agriculture & Sustainable Living

Conference

Film Maker

Chris Dudley, is an award winning New Mexico documentary filmmaker who has worked under grants from PBS, P.O.V, Frontline World and KNME among others. His film Genetic Chile is currently screening around the world. His next film, Building John Henry, explores the rationality of the war machine and the rise of the burgeoning American police state. http://buildingjohnhenry.com/

http://buildingjohnhenry.com/