꩜ HISTORY OF LOS SILVESTRES ꩜

The area of Abiquiú where the Dome is located is known as Los Silvestres, meaning: ‘The Place of the Wild Ones’. It was settled in 1734 as a buffer between the Pueblo of Abiquiú and the wild lands of the Piedra Lumbre, west of the Chama River Canyon, at the edge of the Colorado Plateau. In the mid-1700s, an acequia (irrigation ditch) was constructed to channel the life-giving water of the Chama River to crops along the valley corridor. This acequia is still in use today and is a vital part of the farming and ranching legacy of the valley.

There are amazing stories and history that occurred in the Abiquiú area. The land where the Dome now stands has seen many travelers throughout history. Artifacts, ruins, ancient rock art, rock structures, and adobe ruins speak to other times when Ice Age hunters, early hunter-gatherers, and later Pueblo clans, migrated along the Rio Grande tributaries. The Chama River Canyon above Abiquiú was often the trail through which the clans traveled to settle the many Pueblos located throughout New Mexico. If you hike in the Abiquiú area you will most likely find an artifact like a stone flake from the abundant obsidian or chert in the area or a piece of ancient pottery as they are all plentiful in this area. Also, the bones of Ice Age animals have been found near Abiquiú Reservoir, along with stone tools from the same period.

With the arrival of the Spanish in 1598, a new era in the southwest was born.  New Mexico was home to the Pueblo people as well as other nomadic tribes coming in from the north.  The Abiquiú area was in constant turmoil from clans and tribes entering the valuable hunting areas along the river drainages and high country to the west and north.

The Domínguez–Escalante expedition was a Spanish journey of exploration conducted in 1776 by two Franciscan priests, Atanasio Domínguez, and Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, to find an overland route from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to their Roman Catholic mission in Monterey, on the coast of modern-day central California. The expedition left for the wilderness after departing the Pueblo of Abiquiú heading west through the Chama River Canyon on what would later be known as The Old Spanish Trail.  This ‘jumping off point’ was later used for trade in the 1830s by mule, foot, and horses, terminating at Olivera Street in Los Angeles, California. Some families of Abiquiú also used the trail to immigrate to California. The Chavez family settled in what is now the home of Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine.

Courtesty of Russel Albert Daniels, National Museum of the American Indian

The Genízaro (heˈnēsǝrō) people of Abiquiú have a profound sense of community. They have lived upon the same land in New Mexico for nearly 300 years. Their history, however, is born out of violence and slavery.

Spain and the Catholic Church profoundly impacted the lives of the Indigenous ancestors of the Genízaro people. Beginning in the early 1600s, Spanish colonists sought to “reeducate” (some say “detribalize”) the Native people of the Southwest.

Funded by the Spanish Crown, the Spanish first abducted and then later purchased war captives from surrounding tribes. Those “ransomed” were primarily from mixed tribal heritage, including Apache, Comanche, Kiowa, Navajo, Pawnee, and Ute. The colonists took these individuals to their households, where they were taught Spanish and converted to Catholicism. They were forced to work as household servants, tend fields, herd livestock, and serve as frontier militia to protect Spanish settlements. Many endured physical abuse, including sexual assault. The Spanish called these captives and their children “Genízaro.” The term originated from a Turkish word for slaves trained as soldiers.

This conflict and oppression affected the lives of several thousand Native people, trampling their cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. Outside of Genízaro communities such as Abiquiú, this history has been slipping from memory. For the Genízaro people, however, it is embedded in their land and commemorated in their observances. Today, they are reasserting their Genízaro identity and culture. Read more here.