Contributors

For over a century, El Palacio has been a forum for voices exploring New Mexico’s art, archaeology, history, and landscape. Explore the writers, photographers, historians, and scientists whose perspectives have defined the magazine’s pages—past and present.

Arthur Sze

Arthur Sze is the current U.S. Poet Laureate. Sze is a poet, translator, and editor. He is the author of twelve books, including Into the Hush, Sight Lines, and others. Sze’s poems have been translated into fifteen languages, and he is the recipient of the National Book Award among many other honors. He lives in Santa Fe.

Deborah Jackson Taffa

Deborah Jackson Taffa is a citizen of the Quechan Nation and Laguna Pueblo. Her memoir Whiskey Tender was a 2024 National Book Award Finalist and was longlisted for the 2025 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. Taffa serves as the director of the MFA in creative writing program at the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Cara Romero

Cara Romero is an award-winning contemporary fine art photographer. An enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Romero’s expansive oeuvre has been informed by formal training in film, digital, fine art, and commercial photography. She maintains a studio in Santa Fe, regularly participates in Native American art fairs, and was featured in PBS’ Craft in America (2019).

Rebecca Ward

Rebecca Ward is the instructional coordinator at Los Luceros Historic Site in Alcalde. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Museum Studies and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology.

Two groups of sheep in a barn separated by a metal divider

A Brief History of Navajo-Churro Sheep

After shearing a Navajo-Churro sheep, the raw wool is still warm when it is handed off for processing. The fleece is first skirted—a process in which burrs, animal waste, second cuts, and ratty wool is removed prior to washing. The lanolin, which provides the sheep with natural waterproofing, gives the fleece a slightly sticky texture. The fleece from each sheep is bagged separately because many fiber artists prefer to know that the wool they are using comes from only one sheep.