Winter 2021 – El Palacio

A silver necklace with large round beads and squash blossom motifs, featuring a central circular pendant with two turquoise stones, displayed on a black stand. [gen-ai]

The Element of Beings

By Chela Lujan I am grateful for the land, for my hands. Grateful for the browned earth hardened by the sun, scented with chamisa and sage after the rain. Palms thick as groves of chokecherry, gnarled fingers like piñon, they are an extension of my Creator and my creation. Worn with lines like wind-carved arroyos, their cracks collect dust from silver and stone which lie waiting to be turned and pulled like water moving through old acequias.

By Chela Lujan

Categories: Framework, Indigenous arts and cultures

An old, dark building stands on a corner at night, illuminated by a single streetlamp on an empty, cobblestone street. [gen-ai]

Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

Easy Street. Or, The Year of Getting a Driver’s License and Exciting Eldritch Regions of Consciousness Taking a cue from the sweet effluvium or (so-called) sickle moon, maybe “the dead of night” is no valley of bones, just a figure of speech, the young kid itches to take the family car under screaming streetlamps on a spin; his soul escapes the house like air whizzing from an unknotted balloon, or a space craft hovering in pursuit of the facts which can be drawn from a colorful expression.

By Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

Categories: Essays and memoir, Poetry

A silver decorative piece with engraved patterns, set with seven turquoise stones and small turquoise dangles, displayed on a stand against a white background. [gen-ai]

Collecting Culture

By Ross Altshuler In 1932, Dr. Harry Percival Mera (1875-1951), curator at the Laboratory of Anthropology, embarked on a trip to the Navajo Nation with the purpose of assembling an assortment of Navajo silverwork to form the beginnings of the Lab’s jewelry collection. He visited traders throughout the reservation to compile examples with a variety of styles and techniques. Bracelets range from the early pieces with heavy silver and decoration made with the tip of a file, to later ones decorated with handmade or purchased stamps and set with turquoise.

By Kitty Leaken and Ross Altshuler

Categories: Indigenous arts and cultures

Sepia-toned portraits of a woman in a dark dress and a man in a suit with a striped shirt, both facing forward, set against a plain background. [gen-ai]

Excavating the Past and Present

By Robert Quintana Hopkins One email can radically change your understanding of yourself. I received that email in 2015 from Hannah Abelbeck, photo archivist at the New Mexico History Museum. A 1915 photo of Sam Adams at the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (see "Sam and the Adams Family") prompted a multi-year exploration into his life story by Hannah and me.

By Robert Quintana Hopkins

Categories: Southwestern history

An older man and a young boy wearing hats and suits stand in front of a rough stone wall, looking directly at the camera. [gen-ai]

Sam and the Adams Family

As a New Mexican, Samuel Adams stands out. Of African American heritage, Adams arrived in Colorado as a young man, one of a generation of freeborn and formerly enslaved people who courted new opportunities in the American West during an era of rigid, oppressive racism and rapid territorial expansion. He enlisted in the Civil War, serving the Union with the Colorado Volunteers, perhaps as their only African American recruit.

By Hannah Abelbeck

Categories: New Mexican history, Southwestern history

A young man wearing a suit, tie, and wide-brimmed hat sits in a wooden chair, with a table and other furniture visible in the background. [gen-ai]

A Bid for the Canon

By Dr. Richard I. Ford, Allison Colborne and Gary Hein Attorney Royal A. Prentice (1877-1958) was successful in every way imaginable. He was a wealthy rancher and land manager. He was an active member of several fraternal organizations. His political activity was constant as a Republican partisan. His contributions to the archaeology of eastern New Mexico were numerous, as were the 1,100 glyph sites that he revealed and recorded for the state.

By Allison Colborne, Dr. Richard I. Ford, and Gary Hein

Categories: Featured, Southwestern history

A man wearing glasses and a vest stands on railway tracks with hands pressed together in a prayer gesture. [gen-ai]

It’s In the Telling

By Molly Boyle On January 20, 2021, when 22-year-old Amanda Gorman read her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden, the pandemic-stricken world sat up and took notice. Gorman’s poetry, which combined nimble wordplay with the hopeful verve of youth at the dawn of a new era, was elevated by her electric delivery of 723 words.

By Kevin Lange and Molly Boyle

Categories: Featured, Visual art

Old, unused railroad tracks run through a grassy, shrub-filled landscape with hills and trees under a partly cloudy sky at sunset. [gen-ai]

Tracks Through Time

By Fred Friedman Confessions of a Trespasser Even before I was familiar with the Lamy branch line technically and historically, I was attracted to it. From the first time I stood in that 56.5-inch-wide space between the rusted rails, I seemed to have had a connection with it. It was easy, while walking on those old wooden ties, to imagine people and things moving over them more than one hundred and forty years ago.

By Fred Friedman and Tira Howard

Categories: Featured, Southwestern history

A woman wearing traditional clothing stands outside a wooden structure, holding a small child dressed warmly; both face the camera in a rural setting. [gen-ai]

The Home that Lives in the Heart

By Laurann Gilbertson At its most basic level, clothing provides warmth and protection from the elements. But clothing is so much more. It can be beautiful and valuable. It can express our emotions and beliefs. Clothing can communicate far morethan what might be printed on a T-shirt or baseball cap. Through our clothing and choices, we can show that we are part of a group or that we stand apart.

By Beverly Bennett Dobbs and Laurann Gilbertson

Categories: Featured, International folk art

A person in a black dress stands with arms crossed against a weathered wooden building in a rural, grassy area at sunset. Another building is visible in the background. [gen-ai]

Like Butta

by Charlotte Jusinski Ever have a whole chunk of time at work go so smoothly you barely have to think about it? All the puzzle pieces fall into place, everyone gets along with everyone else, the whole organization runs like a well-oiled machine? You are comfortable in your power, you and your colleagues are in perfect harmony, and the result of your work comes out impeccable, exactly as it should be?

By Charlotte Jusinski

Categories: Editor's Letter