The University of New Mexico Chicano Hispano Mexicano Studies, Water Resources Program and the UNM-Taos Water Institute present, 'Acequia Culture and Systems of New Mexico and Chihuahua Documentary Field School,' set for June 8 to July 3, during the first summer session.
Weeks 1, 2 and 4 will be held on campus from 9 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday, while week 3 will take place in Valle de Allende, Chihuahua, Mexico.
“The field seminar features a field based survey of acequia culture and systems of New Mexico and Chihuahua. Special attention will be paid to folkways associated with traditional management of land, water and agriculture,” said Enrique Lamadrid, director, Chicano Hispano Mexicano Studies.
This overview of the ecology, history, ethnography, and sustainable systems of the region is accompanied by training in digital documentary technology, interview techniques, field notes, archiving, analysis and the ethics of cultural representation. Day trip fieldwork will be conducted in Albuquerque and Carnuel, with extended field trip to Valle de Allende in the state of Chihuahua.
The field site in Valle de Allende was founded in 1569 and originally named San Bartolomé. The beautiful spring-fed valley fed the Santa Bárbara mines. An 80 mile riparian forest of native pecans is the ecological setting.
“In 1598 the colonists who settled New Mexico spent many months here. Well into the 19th century Valle de Allende was the aduana or entry point into New Mexico. The area was the cradle of the new agriculture of New Mexico and is still home to an astounding variety of heritage crops. The acequia system also dates to the 16th century and is remarkable for its transition from rural to urban zones, where it flows alongside streets, under sidewalks, and through houses, where precious water is captured in patio fountains and aljibes or stone water cisterns,” Lamadrid said.
Course objectives include a special emphasis on cultural mapping and qualitative research. Training in contemporary ethnographic techniques and digital documentation; observation of the landscape, settlements, village plazas, etc. and an analysis of small scale irrigation systems and the “acequia culture”: its ecological landscape, soils, rivers, aquifers, flora and fauna; as well as its material bases such as dams, ditches, canals and irrigated plots, is also included. Another objective is exploring Chihuahua and New Mexico acequia systems with overview of cultural history and the development of agriculture.
For more information contact Enrique Lamadrid, lamadrid@unm.edu.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu