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Mesquites and Quelites Revamped is a glimpse of thirteen women. They form a line of mother-daughter relationships from the 16th century to the 21st. They were the daughters of European fathers and native American mothers. The first one came in 1598 to the area which evolved into Santa Fe, New Mexico. Through the centuries they remained rooted to the earth, planting crops, bearing children, defying the hostile climate. They had only the equivocal support of the Roman Catholic Church, the somewhat shaky assistance of the Spanish monarchy, a culture arising from conflict, and, of course, their husbands.

The first lady mentioned is my mother, what I knew of her personally and what I found in public documents. The second is my grandmother who I also knew. From the third mother back in time, my great-grandmother, the women weren’t known by me so I have relied on archived material. The story runs back from 2012 to 1591 giving as much detail as possible (or as much speculation as I dared) about each generation. Births spread across the ages: Modesta Garcia 1922, Rosa Candelaria 1897, Mariana Ortega 1879, Ana Maria Apodaca 1850, Francisca Santillanes 1814, Luisa Garcia de Noriega 1784, Barbara Romero 1760, Antonia Duran y Chaves 1732, Juana Montano de Sotomayor 1693, Ysabel Jorje de Vera 1660, Gertrudis Baca 1625, Yumar Perez de Bustillo 1591.

They are my mothers. They depict the United States and its history of immigration and amalgamation of culture and ethos. I am proud of my heritage even though I have had to tease it out of musty pages. They came and they stayed. I am an assimilated native American, and have never lived (nor do I want to live) on a reservation. I have no idea from what tribe I am descended, but I am glad that my mitochondrial DNA is native American.

Mesquites and Quelites Revamped is available for purchase here.

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