2019-2020 La Canoa Legacy Talks

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE: Mujeres Valerosas and the Hispanic Women’s Council

February 8, 2020

The Hispanic Women’s Council (HWC) was formed in Albuquerque in 1988 to “promote, support, and create opportunities for Hispanic Women.” Local women came together to help each other advance in their professions, increase the number of women participating in policy-making, and serve as role models for other women. Each woman in the HWC has her own story of success and accomplishment which have been captured in the book, Mujeres Valerosas, published by the HWC in 2000. Join us for readings by Dr. Carmen Samora and Vangie Samora from this book and for discussion about the Hispanic Women’s Council. Proceeds from the book support the HWC Scholarship Fund.

Dr. Carmen Samora is the 2019 HWC President and teaches courses in race and social justice at the University of New Mexico where she earned an MA in Secondary Education and a PhD in American Studies. She is the director of the Julian Samora Legacy Project (JSLP) and studies mid-twentieth century Latino activists.

Vangie Samora was born in Hernandez, NM, and was raised in Albuquerque. She earned a BA and MPA from UNM. Her career as an administrator and program manager includes ten years of federal service and ten years at UNM. She rounded out her career as Executive Director of the NHCC Foundation.

This lecture was part of the La Canoa lecture series presented by UNM's Center for Regional Studies and the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

NINA OTERO-WARREN: New Mexican 20th Century Mujerota

January 11, 2020

In celebration of the 2020 Women’s Vote Centennial, Dr. Anna Nogar explores the many facets of Nina Otero-Warren. Early 20th century nuevomexicana, Adelina “Nina” Otero-Warren, ran for national office as a Republican candidate to Congress from New Mexico in 1922, shortly after women had gained the right to vote. An advocate of suffrage, Otero-Warren achieved political prominence for her promotion of Spanish/English education and involvement in educational and health efforts supporting Indo-Hispano nuevomexicanos. Otero-Warren authored Old Spain in Our Southwest (1936), was superintendent of schools, and an educator who supported herself and her extended family; in short, a nuevomexicana mujerota.

Anna Nogar is Associate Professor of Hispanic Southwest Studies in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at UNM. Dr. Nogar’s teaching and research specializations include Mexican American cultural and literary studies; colonial Mexico; early modern writers and communities of reading; and community oral histories.

This lecture was part of the La Canoa lecture series presented by UNM's Center for Regional Studies and the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

GIVING BAQUE: On Hemispheric Indigeneities and the Southern Border of New Mexico

December 14, 2019

Building on and departing from the work of interethnic thought leaders in New Mexico, Dr. Gregorio Gonzales considers how competing logics of settler statecraft and Native American nationhood operate in a place of both Native and nuevomexicanx led struggles for political autonomy and religious liberty. The current humanitarian crisis along New Mexico’s southern border demonstrates the urgency of Indigenous transnational existences as they transit and transgress the political integrities of settler states and tribal nations alike. Dr. Gonzales discusses the significance of New Mexico in building bridges of critical understanding and alliance inside this vital thoroughfare between Native America and Latin America.

Gregorio Gonzales is Genízaro and Comanche from the borderlands of Comanchería and Genízaro country in northern New Mexico. He is currently the 2019-2020 Riley Scholar-in-Residence in Anthropology and Southwest Studies at Colorado College. Earning his PhD from The University of Texas at Austin in 2017, Dr. Gonzales's writings have appeared in the New Mexico Magazine, Peace Review, and Red Ink, among others. As a community-engaged scholar and relative, Dr. Gonzales remains involved with the Albuquerque-based urban Indian nonprofit organization, Americans for Indian Opportunity, and continues his youth development work with relatives in the Taos and Rio Chama valleys.

This lecture was part of the La Canoa lecture series presented by UNM's Center for Regional Studies and the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

At the Intersection of Cultural Heritage and Climate Change: A Call to Action

October 19, 2019

Theresa Cárdenas discusses climate change and how it has become one of the most significant and fastest growing threats to people and their cultural heritage worldwide. In particular, Cárdenas talks about the historic impact of climate change on cultural heritage in New Mexico. The impacts of climate change are damaging infrastructure, ecosystems, and social systems that provide essential benefits and quality of life to communities. What does this mean for our lands and peoples of New Mexico? Is New Mexico prepared to face the unprecedented, systemic threat to people and their cultural heritage? Creating bridges and cooperation between experts and decision makers involved in the sectors of heritage, culture, and climate science is important to inspire and stimulate new approaches to taking climate action.

Theresa Cárdenas is a sustainability practitioner working as a consultant at the intersection of public policy, environmental and social justice challenges. She is the founder of Noble Renewables Group of the West, a social enterprise advocating for environmental and social change by providing strategic guidance to organizations. She worked in partnership with the Union of Concerned Scientists to help advance clean energy policies in a legislative, regulatory and advisory setting and is the current Chair of the Middle Rio Grande Water Advocates. Ms. Cárdenas holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico and is a graduate of Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Executive Education in Leadership, Organizing and Action. She is a fellow of the National Hispana Leadership Institute and is currently in the Masters of Sustainability degree program at Arizona State University.

This lecture was part of the La Canoa lecture series presented by UNM's Center for Regional Studies and the National Hispanic Cultural Center.