Advocates for the Oppressed: Hispanos, Indians, Genízaros, and Their Land in New Mexico

by Malcolm Ebright

Overview

Struggles over land and water have determined much of New Mexico's long history. The outcome of such disputes, especially in colonial times, often depended on which party had a strong advocate to argue a case before a local tribunal or on appeal. This book is partly about the advocates who represented the parties to these disputes, but it is most of all about the Hispanos, Indians, and Genízaros (Hispanicized nomadic Indians) themselves and the land they lived on and fought for.

Having written about Hispano land grants and Pueblo Indian grants separately, Malcolm Ebright now brings these narratives together for the first time, reconnecting them and resurrecting lost histories. He emphasizes the success that advocates for Indians, Genízaros, and Hispanos have had in achieving justice for marginalized people through the return of lost lands and by reestablishing the right to use those lands for traditional purposes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826355058
Publisher:	University of New Mexico Press
Publication date:	12/01/2014
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Malcolm Ebright is a historian, an attorney, and the director of the Center for Land Grant Studies. His most recent book, written in collaboration with Rick Hendricks and Richard W. Hughes, is Four Square Leagues: Pueblo Indian Land in New Mexico (UNM Press).

Table of Contents

Introduction and Acknowledgments ix

Chapter 1 The Protector de Indios: Spanish Advocates for the Pueblo Indians 1

Chapter 2 A City Different than We Thought: Land Grants in Early Santa Fe 33

Chapter 3 The Ojo Caliente Grant 61

Chapter 4 The Cochiti Pueblo Pasture Grant and the Ojo del Espíritu Santo Grant 89

Chapter 5 La Ciénega and Cieneguilla Pueblos 115

Chapter 6 The San Cristóbal Pueblo Grant 145

Chapter 7 The San Marcos Pueblo Grant 165

Chapter 8 The Galisteo Pueblo Grant 177

Chapter 9 Tomas Vélez Cachupín and His Land Grants 193

Chapter 10 Tomás Vélez Cachupin and His Lawsuits 219

Chapter 11 The Vision of Governor Vélez Cachupín 237

Chapter 12 The Return of Zuni Pueblo's Sacred Lands and Artifacts 253

Epilogue: Being Spoken For or Speaking For Ourselves 265

Appendix 1 Advocates, Their Cases, and Land Grants 273

Appendix 2 Santa Fe Area Land Grants 277

Appendix 3 Land Grants in the Cebolleta/Mount Taylor Area on the Navajo Frontier 279

Appendix 4 Census of San Gabriel de las Nutrias Settlers by Vélez Cachupín 281

Notes 283

Glossary 373

Bibliography 377

Index 405

Editorial Reviews

"Malcolm Ebright is the only scholar who could have conducted the depth of archival research needed for this book, which is different from other books in the field. It does not duplicate studies of the more commonly known land grants but focuses on the lesser known Ojo Caliente Grant, the grazing grants to New Mexico Pueblos, and the Pueblo land grants in the Galisteo Basin that were later abandoned. There is also a key chapter about the early land grants in Santa Fe and the story of the nonexistent, mythical Santa Fe League. The broader issues in the eighteenth-century lawsuits that Ebright covers are still relevant today: disputes over the use of common lands, conflicts over land titles and boundaries, and disputes over Pueblo Indian land rights."—José A. Rivera, author of La Sociedad: Guardians of Hispanic Culture Along the Río Grande

From the Publisher