Tag Archives: Native Americans

1st Wednesday Lecture: Hoofbeats Through History

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This month, Cynthia Culbertson joins us to share the unique history of the horse in New Mexico.

When we think of New Mexico history we sometimes forget that the humans in the narrative have often been dependent on their equine companions. The influence of New Mexico on the history of the horse in the Americas is both fascinating and profound. From the pre-historic ancestors of the horse found here millions of years ago, the first horse breeding and racing in the Americas, the introduction of the horse to Native Americans and the subsequent development of some of the greatest horse cultures in history, New Mexico is arguably the most significant state when it comes to the history of the horse in the U.S. A horse lover since birth, Cynthia Culbertson is proud to have served as a consultant for multiple museum exhibitions featuring horses. She served as co-curator of an exhibition at the International Museum of the Horse featuring artifacts from 27 museums around the world, including such prestigious institutions as the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has also served as a consultant for the equine components of many other projects, including a UNESCO World Heritage museum. Cynthia is the author of several books on the subject of Arabian horses and is a regular contributor to international equine media. She has been a lecturer in more than ten countries and has scripted and narrated multiple educational videos, including a New York Times Vision Award recipient. Friends of History is a volunteer support group for the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Its mission is to raise funds and public awareness for the Museum’s exhibitions and programs. Friends of History fulfills its mission by offering high quality public history programs, including the First Wednesday Lecture Series. For more information, or to join the Friends of History, go to friendsofhistorynm.org

Marking NM’s Historic Women: Kewa Women’s Co-op

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Photo Credit: Palace of the Governors Photo Archives
Santo Domingo Indian Trading Post, Santo Domingo Pueblo, New Mexico
Creator: New Mexico Department of Tourism
Date: 1954?
Negative Number 059349

Kewa Women’s Co-op, Santo Domingo Pueblo

According to oral and recorded history, the Santo Domingo people have always made and traded jewelry. From prehistoric times heishi, drilled and ground shell beads, have been strung into necklaces. Generations of Santo Domingo women have passed down this art. Recent descendants have formed the Kewa Women’s Co-op to retain heishi and other traditions including pottery, embroidery, weaving, and Pueblo foods.

Roadside Marker Location: Pueblo of Santo Domingo; Sandoval County, US Hwy 22

You can view a county by county list of the Historic Women Mile Markers in this pdf.

You can view a map of the Historic Women Mile Markers at www.nmhistoricwomen.org

March is Women’s History Month. During this month we’ll be highlighting some of the women featured on New Mexico’s Historic Women Roadside Markers. Text provided by our colleagues at New Mexico Historic Preservation Division

Marking NM’s Historic Women: Maria Ramita Simbola Martinez, Cora Durand, and Virginia Duran

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Photo Credit: Palace of the Governors Photo Archives
Picurís Pueblo pottery exhibit at the first “Indian Fair,” Armory building, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Date: 1922
Negative Number 000738

Maria Ramita Simbola Martinez “Summer Harvest” (1884–1969), Cora Durand (1904–1981), and Virginia Duran (1904–1998), Picuris Pueblo

Maria Ramita Simbola Martinez, Cora Durand, and Virginia Duran helped to preserve the distinctive micaceous pottery tradition that is important in Picuris and other nearby pueblos. Made with locally mined mica-rich clay, these unusual pots have a glittery sheen. They are fired at a low temperature which makes them ideal for cooking. While valued for their utility, these pots are also now considered works of art.

Roadside Marker Location: Pueblo of Picuris; Taos County, US Hwy 75/ Indian Road, Mile Marker 11.5

You can view a county by county list of the Historic Women Mile Markers in this pdf.

You can view a map of the Historic Women Mile Markers at www.nmhistoricwomen.org

March is Women’s History Month. During this month we’ll be highlighting some of the women featured on New Mexico’s Historic Women Roadside Markers. Text provided by our colleagues at New Mexico Historic Preservation Division

Marking NM’s Historic Women: Maria Montoya Martinez

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Photo Credit: Palace of the Governors Photo Archives
Maria Martinez polishing pottery, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico
Photographer: Wyatt Davis
Date: 1938
Negative Number: 044192

Maria Montoya Martinez, Povika, “Pond Lily” (ca. 1886–1980)

Maria Martinez was a self-taught potter who helped elevate Pueblo pottery to a respected art form. She and her husband Julian were successful polychrome potters and together revived black pottery. Their work improved the economic conditions of the community. Recognized internationally, Maria was an innovator with strong spiritual and cultural awareness. Her skills and techniques have been carried on successfully by subsequent generations.

Roadside Marker Location: Pueblo of San Ildefonso; Rio Arriba County, US Hwy 502, Mile Marker 12.537

You can view a county by county list of the Historic Women Mile Markers in this pdf.

You can view a map of the Historic Women Mile Markers at www.nmhistoricwomen.org

March is Women’s History Month. During this month we’ll be highlighting some of the women featured on New Mexico’s Historic Women Roadside Markers. Text provided by our colleagues at New Mexico Historic Preservation Division

Update on the Portal Artisans Program

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Visitors browsing the merchandise of the Portal Artisans Program


Like other artist markets, fairs, and festivals, the Native American
vendor program (Portal Program) at the New Mexico History
Museum remains closed in accordance with the current Public Health
Order (PHO).
The New Mexico History Museum understands that this closure has
had a significant economic impact on program participants and their
families. We also recognize that many visitors look forward to meeting
Native vendors on the Portal and buying their work as part of their
Santa Fe experience.
The Portal Program will resume as soon as reopening is authorized.


Thank you for your patience and support of COVID Safe Practices.

Billy G. Garrett

Executive Director
New Mexico History Museum

Marking NM’s Historic Women: Zuni Olla Maidens

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Photo Credit: Palace of the Governors Photo Archives
Zuni olla carriers performing Dance for War and Peace, New Mexico
Photographer: Wyatt Davis
Date: 1943
Negative Number 090735

The Zuni Olla Maidens are an all-women’s group renowned for their skill and ability to balance fragile water jars or ollas on their heads. Historically, Zuni women collected water in ollas from nearby springs for everyday use. Today, they perform in parades and community events, walking with water jars placed on their heads while singing their own compositions and those traditionally sung by Zuni men.

Roadside Marker Location: Pueblo of Zuni; McKinley County, US Hwy 53, Mile Marker 17

You can view a county by county list of the Historic Women Mile Markers in this pdf.

You can view a map of the Historic Women Mile Markers at www.nmhistoricwomen.org

March is Women’s History Month. During this month we’ll be highlighting some of the women featured on New Mexico’s Historic Women Roadside Markers. Text provided by our colleagues at New Mexico Historic Preservation Division

Upcoming 1st Weds Lecture, Feb 3, 2021

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Colin G Colloway will be speaking on the impacts of the 1779 smallpox pandemic on Native American tribes throughout western North America.

Colin G. Calloway John Kimball Jr. 1943 Professor of History Professor of Native American Studies Dartmouth College.

The talk will trace the spread of the great smallpox epidemic that broke out in Mexico in 1779, traveled north to New Mexico, was transmitted from tribe to tribe across the American West, and reached eastern Canada by 1784. We will discuss its impact on Indian country and the multiple Native American communities it struck, and consider its significance for understanding the subsequent history of the United States.

Colin Calloway grew up in England and received his Ph.D. from the University of Leeds. In the US, he has worked at the Center for the History of the American Indian at the Newberry Library in Chicago, and taught at the University of Wyoming and Dartmouth College. He has published more than a dozen books, including One Vast Winter Count: The Native American West Before Lewis and Clark, which won six best book awards, and most recently The Indian World of George Washington, which was a National Book Award finalist and won the George Washington Prize. He has been President of the American Society for Ethnohistory and received the Western History Association’s American Indian History Lifetime Achievement Award.

Friends of History is a volunteer support group for the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Its mission is to raise funds and public awareness for the Museum’s exhibitions and programs. Friends of History fulfills its mission by offering high quality public history programs, including the First Wednesday Lecture Series. For more information, or to join the Friends of History, go to friendsofhistorynm.org

SWAIA Goes Virtual This Year

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Photo: Crowd in front of the Palace of the Governors, SWAIA Santa Fe, Indian Market 1991. New Mexico Palace of the Governors Photo Archives, New Mexico History Museum. Photograph by Annie Sahlin. HP.2013.12.073

Virtual Indian Market
August 1-31, 2020
At: swaia.org

The largest and most definitive annual event for Native American artists continues virtually this August 2020. The Southwest Association of Indian Arts (SWAIA) has taken up the monumental task of creating an online market for over four-hundred Native artists that will show and sell their works to a National and International audience. SWAIA’s nearly one-hundred-year mission of bringing Native arts to the world, connects New Mexico with Native Nations throughout the United States and Canada, and visitors from around the world.

Additional annual events will be conducted virtually as well, such as the juried competition for Grand Award (formerly known as “Best in Show”), the Native Fashion Show, and virtual talks with SWAIA artists. From August 1 -31, 2020, visitors to the website can buy directly from artists and virtually attend events during this year’s month-long Indian Market at swaia.org.

Our very own curator of Southwestern History, Cathy Notarnicola has served on SWAIA’s juries for many years. This year, Cathy was involved as a juror for the market’s textile class, or category. Stay tuned for as we will feature her thoughts on serving as a “virtual” juror in an upcoming post.