Nuestras Historias: Storytelling, Oral Histories, and La Resolana in the Embudo Valley.
September 2nd, 2020. Written by studio tour artist Tania Marines
Dixon, or as we know it, the Embudo Valley, is like a winding and branching set of rivers and tributary veins that eventually funnel into a unified history of shared culture and vibrant heritage practices. Many of which have stood the test of time or have been experiencing a revival, like that of acequias—centuries old irrigation ditches—and their preservation as a vital community building and resilience practice. We see a rich archaeological history evolve in this fertile valley; it is a history of Pueblo peoples who were here before most of us, to a history of the confluence of the Spanish-Hispanic, and channeling its way to the hippie and back-to-the-land movements of the 1960s. The many artists and crafters, to today’s more modern organic farmers, are an assortment of very enigmatic and impassioned souls. In short, Dixon is full of people with a lot of corazón (heart) though it is always in a state of evolution, akin to the rivers that feed our ditches as they too change with the seasons.
Many cultures around the world revere the art of storytelling, and in Northern New Mexico that is no exception, especially with its diversity of peoples, worldviews, and passions. We see storytelling manifest in many ways and serve a vital role in society: from Pueblo elders conveying invaluable wisdom to their youth, to Hispanos teaching their children about the democratic values of water sharing and the maintenance of acequias. A good ghost story is always at hand, like that of La Llorona and her many associations with rivers and waterways. La Llorona represents centuries worth of variation that saturated Latin America, flowing freely into the ríos of Northern New Mexico’s folklore, here, envisioned as one told by the crackling of a piñon wood stove fire. Storytelling can also refer to the vital information exchange and the occasional gossip that occurs in La Resolana, about the goings on of the town, and who’s taking too much water from the ditch. “La Resolana” is a Spanish term that refers to the south-facing side of a building where ‘la gente’ gather to talk in the warmth of the light. Storytelling can also express itself as the casual chit-chat about the droughts we often endure in our agricultural valley, which sparks a nostalgic sort of storytelling of good weather gone dry, about how the rains have not come and how the mountains used to be packed with snow. It is one of a constantly evolving tale of each generation learning how to adapt and survive while finding solace in each other’s shared experience of change.
Today, many of these storytelling traditions continue, including in a more digital sense. Recording and electronically documenting, as best possible, the pureness and essence of these oral histories is, understandably, of paramount importance. We hope they revitalize our spirits to bring the past together in active conversation with our present and in hopes of enriching the minds of our ‘jitos and ‘jitas (sons and daughters)—our future. In this spirit and at the heart of this important work is the Embudo Valley Library, helping our community preserve its witty and sometimes contentious history and along with it a reservoir of knowledge and wisdom collected through the generations. Nuestras Historias (Our Stories) is a project from Embudo’s own StoryCorps interviews. Check out these stories and more on the Embudo Valley Library website. Stay tuned for more content like this where we delve a little more into our beloved pueblito, covering topics like history, archaeology, geology, agriculture and acequias, poetry, community resilience and more about what makes the Embudo Valley, such a magnetic and inspiring place to live, love, and make art!
—Tania Marines