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10-23-2006, 09:52 PM
Alamo Navajo Chapter Indian Days Festival
Celebrates Native Culture / Attracts Thousands
By: Steppin' Out Staff
© 2006 SONewMex.com Reprint permission granted
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Alamo, NM - October 15: It was a cloudy and slightly cool morning that threatened rain as I drove up the mountain south and west from Socorro to Magdalena on Route 60. On the western edge of Magdalena, I turned north up the lightly-traveled two-lane road from Magdalena toward the Alamo Navajo Reservation and the village of Alamo. The trip from Magdalena to Alamo isn't long -- just 30 miles. Yet with each mile one travels up that road the clock spins backward 5 years. So by the time one reaches the edge of the Alamo Navajo Reservation 20 miles north of Magdalena, its seems as if you've have traveled back in time nearly a century. From the reservation's edge to Alamo Chapter's main village is another 10 miles.
The landscape seen as one makes this trip is breathtaking. The road winds like a snake as the land rolls and hills and small mesas rise up to meet the traveler telling a little known story as they do. This land is a place of refuge where few white men ever went. Indeed for nearly 3 generations it safely hid a small community of Navajos who miraculously managed to escape from the shameful forced march and migration Navajos now call "The Long Walk". Here they would hide out from U.S. Army Troops who would have -- if they'd found them -- dragged them back to the death march that needlessly killed hundreds of Navajos as they were moved by the U.S. Army from their traditional homeland up north near what is now Gallup to the "new land" they'd been promised far to the east near Fort Sumner. This forced relocation even the Army realized was a dismal failure when they finally allowed the surviving Navajos to go home again, four sad and death-filled years later. *
This land is the place where "The Long Walk" ended for ancestors of those who now call Alamo home. It proved such a safe hiding place for those few refugees that it was almost 50 years before they were found again by the U.S. Government during the 1910 census. The Alamo Chapter itself is so far off the beaten path it's only in this year that they finally managed to convince the Postal Service to bring mail there. Believe it or not, until 2006, the closest mail delivery was Magdalena -- 30 miles away. Even now it's a place with no local gas station and no grocery we could find either.
The hardy folks who live in this community are hard working, devoted to their traditions, love the place they live and rightly proud of what they've achieved here. Despite all odds they managed to survive in their chosen homeland and build a stable, thriving - but struggling - community. This year as in each of the past 25, Alamo Chapter and the surrounding community set aside October 13 - 15 as the days to celebrate Alamo Indian Days. As Steppin' Out's reporter, I was there to capture their proud moment... and as usual I was running late!
The parade was scheduled to begin at 10:00am. It was just after 10 when I crested the last hill and started my final descent into Alamo. To my surprise, the road into the village was lined with hundreds of vehicles and a couple of thousand spectators. This was clearly a big event - perhaps the biggest of the year - for everyone in that audience. It was soon evident every current and past resident of Alamo Chapter who could manage to make the trip plus friends from far away had traveled to this location to enjoy Alamo's big day. I drove clear down to the village and beyond the far end of the crowd but found few parking spaces where I dared park my large sedan. In the end, I reversed course and traveled back south to the spot where the parade was about to begin.
Rushing now, because I could see the parade was ready-to-roll. I quickly pulled my cameras and tripod out of the car and rushed across the highway just opposite from the entrance to the parade grounds.
As the slow moving pickups, small tractors and bicycles began to roll out from the parade grounds, I started shooting video and snapping pictures. For a full 30 minutes I did nothing else. Even if one ignored the many grinning politicians who were obviously there to seek the community's votes, smiling faces still seemed to be everywhere. Proud children rode in some floats... smiling teens male-and-female occupied others. Even the Headstart program had a float though their "king and queen" seemed barely old enough to wear their crowns -- let alone understand what the hoopla was all about. Some walked, some danced and some rode; but down to the last pre-schooler everyone was proud and held their heads high. There were even Native Dancers in full feather headdress dancing to the beat of ancient drums. This was their community's big moment and they were rightly proud to be a part of it. For that reason, I felt proud too -- proud of them and especially honored to be allowed to record their moment in the sun.
The gallery attached to this article (http://sonewmex.com/pp-514/showgallery.php/cat/587) records and reports on Alamo's big day. But beyond that... It celebrates both their achievement AND their survival in this hard-bitten land. It's almost as if they were saying, "Colonel Kit Carson was dead and buried long ago. But Alamo Chapter is STILL HERE! Look at what we've achieved. Despite all the adversity, look at what we've done. May God Bless this village and its people and grant us the right to live here forever!"
To that triumphal cry, all Steppin' Out can add is, "Amen!"
* (Editor's Comment: There are many versions of this story. Not everyone agrees this is how the Alamo settlement got started but Jackson Piño respected historian in Alamo agreed many Alamo residents do believe this version of Alamo history. As Mr. Piño says, "We may never know for sure.")</TD><TD vAlign=top width=175><CENTER><a href=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3689_web.jpg><img src=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3689_web_tn.jpg border=1 alt="Click for Larger Image"></a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a href=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3697_web.jpg><img src=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3697_web_tn.jpg border=1 alt="Click for Larger Image"></a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a href=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3702_web.jpg><img src=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3702_web_tn.jpg border=1 alt="Click for Larger Image"></a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a href=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3706_web.jpg><img src=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3706_web_tn.jpg border=1 alt="Click for Larger Image"></a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a href=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3714_web.jpg><img src=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3714_web_tn.jpg border=1 alt="Click for Larger Image"></a><br></CENTER></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Celebrates Native Culture / Attracts Thousands
By: Steppin' Out Staff
© 2006 SONewMex.com Reprint permission granted
<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Alamo, NM - October 15: It was a cloudy and slightly cool morning that threatened rain as I drove up the mountain south and west from Socorro to Magdalena on Route 60. On the western edge of Magdalena, I turned north up the lightly-traveled two-lane road from Magdalena toward the Alamo Navajo Reservation and the village of Alamo. The trip from Magdalena to Alamo isn't long -- just 30 miles. Yet with each mile one travels up that road the clock spins backward 5 years. So by the time one reaches the edge of the Alamo Navajo Reservation 20 miles north of Magdalena, its seems as if you've have traveled back in time nearly a century. From the reservation's edge to Alamo Chapter's main village is another 10 miles.
The landscape seen as one makes this trip is breathtaking. The road winds like a snake as the land rolls and hills and small mesas rise up to meet the traveler telling a little known story as they do. This land is a place of refuge where few white men ever went. Indeed for nearly 3 generations it safely hid a small community of Navajos who miraculously managed to escape from the shameful forced march and migration Navajos now call "The Long Walk". Here they would hide out from U.S. Army Troops who would have -- if they'd found them -- dragged them back to the death march that needlessly killed hundreds of Navajos as they were moved by the U.S. Army from their traditional homeland up north near what is now Gallup to the "new land" they'd been promised far to the east near Fort Sumner. This forced relocation even the Army realized was a dismal failure when they finally allowed the surviving Navajos to go home again, four sad and death-filled years later. *
This land is the place where "The Long Walk" ended for ancestors of those who now call Alamo home. It proved such a safe hiding place for those few refugees that it was almost 50 years before they were found again by the U.S. Government during the 1910 census. The Alamo Chapter itself is so far off the beaten path it's only in this year that they finally managed to convince the Postal Service to bring mail there. Believe it or not, until 2006, the closest mail delivery was Magdalena -- 30 miles away. Even now it's a place with no local gas station and no grocery we could find either.
The hardy folks who live in this community are hard working, devoted to their traditions, love the place they live and rightly proud of what they've achieved here. Despite all odds they managed to survive in their chosen homeland and build a stable, thriving - but struggling - community. This year as in each of the past 25, Alamo Chapter and the surrounding community set aside October 13 - 15 as the days to celebrate Alamo Indian Days. As Steppin' Out's reporter, I was there to capture their proud moment... and as usual I was running late!
The parade was scheduled to begin at 10:00am. It was just after 10 when I crested the last hill and started my final descent into Alamo. To my surprise, the road into the village was lined with hundreds of vehicles and a couple of thousand spectators. This was clearly a big event - perhaps the biggest of the year - for everyone in that audience. It was soon evident every current and past resident of Alamo Chapter who could manage to make the trip plus friends from far away had traveled to this location to enjoy Alamo's big day. I drove clear down to the village and beyond the far end of the crowd but found few parking spaces where I dared park my large sedan. In the end, I reversed course and traveled back south to the spot where the parade was about to begin.
Rushing now, because I could see the parade was ready-to-roll. I quickly pulled my cameras and tripod out of the car and rushed across the highway just opposite from the entrance to the parade grounds.
As the slow moving pickups, small tractors and bicycles began to roll out from the parade grounds, I started shooting video and snapping pictures. For a full 30 minutes I did nothing else. Even if one ignored the many grinning politicians who were obviously there to seek the community's votes, smiling faces still seemed to be everywhere. Proud children rode in some floats... smiling teens male-and-female occupied others. Even the Headstart program had a float though their "king and queen" seemed barely old enough to wear their crowns -- let alone understand what the hoopla was all about. Some walked, some danced and some rode; but down to the last pre-schooler everyone was proud and held their heads high. There were even Native Dancers in full feather headdress dancing to the beat of ancient drums. This was their community's big moment and they were rightly proud to be a part of it. For that reason, I felt proud too -- proud of them and especially honored to be allowed to record their moment in the sun.
The gallery attached to this article (http://sonewmex.com/pp-514/showgallery.php/cat/587) records and reports on Alamo's big day. But beyond that... It celebrates both their achievement AND their survival in this hard-bitten land. It's almost as if they were saying, "Colonel Kit Carson was dead and buried long ago. But Alamo Chapter is STILL HERE! Look at what we've achieved. Despite all the adversity, look at what we've done. May God Bless this village and its people and grant us the right to live here forever!"
To that triumphal cry, all Steppin' Out can add is, "Amen!"
* (Editor's Comment: There are many versions of this story. Not everyone agrees this is how the Alamo settlement got started but Jackson Piño respected historian in Alamo agreed many Alamo residents do believe this version of Alamo history. As Mr. Piño says, "We may never know for sure.")</TD><TD vAlign=top width=175><CENTER><a href=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3689_web.jpg><img src=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3689_web_tn.jpg border=1 alt="Click for Larger Image"></a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a href=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3697_web.jpg><img src=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3697_web_tn.jpg border=1 alt="Click for Larger Image"></a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a href=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3702_web.jpg><img src=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3702_web_tn.jpg border=1 alt="Click for Larger Image"></a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a href=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3706_web.jpg><img src=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3706_web_tn.jpg border=1 alt="Click for Larger Image"></a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><a href=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3714_web.jpg><img src=http://sonewmex.com/images/IMG_3714_web_tn.jpg border=1 alt="Click for Larger Image"></a><br></CENTER></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>