Darrin Muenzberg: “Our Presence in Caja Del Rio as Traditional Hispano Communities Is a Testament That We Have Sustained This Environment That Has Continued To Support Us”
By Darrin Muenzberg, Chairman La Bajada Traditional Village Committee.
Caja del Rio is a plateau between the Rio Grande and the Santa Fe River. This is a place dear to my family because it has been our ancestral homeland since 1727. I'm an eighth-generation resident of the traditional village of La Bajada, at the bottom of the escarpment, probably the southernmost point of Caja.
This incredibly large, beautiful, and fertile volcanic plateau located between two rivers has been a pathway for wildlife for eons and human beings for millennia.
People from all walks of life have come in successive waves. There are countless petroglyphs and ruins spread in this region from ancient travelers making their way through this rich land where they found rest and sustenance.
Every part of Caja del Rio has been influenced by human intervention. Our presence in this area as traditional Hispano communities is a testament to the fact that we have sustained this environment that has continued to support us for centuries and through our common pueblo ancestors before that.
This is a plateau rich in culture and history but also abundant in accessible and functioning farmsteads and pastures that show and ensure that we're a model for food security, environmental stewardship, and sustainability through the 21st century despite the challenges of climate change and radical changes in ecology.
The lessons we learn from nature, wildlife, our ancestors, our blended cultures, history, and even our sense of spirituality are how we find our part in this environment with harmony.
Because of our vibrant and, in many ways, ancient culture, we have a different understanding of what public lands are. There is a tendency to believe that we need to exercise some ownership of the public lands to keep people out to protect them. We forget that in previous modern American culture, common (public) lands were used where people shared and managed resources communally, cooperatively, and sustainably.
Our acequia culture and livestock culture mean being in harmony with wildlife, agriculture, and the natural environment for the benefit of future generations of all Americans.
This is the model we bring from our Nuevo Mexicano culture to the broader conversation of how to manage public lands in the United States of America in 2023 and beyond.
What's threatening our public lands now? It is a lack of appreciation due to the absence of understanding and exposure. People come here to Caja to let loose and take out all the hostility of modern life that burdens them, resulting in the abuse of the resources and environment that could be used to rejuvenate and revitalize these same individuals.
There is an opportunity for the education of traditional lifeways and a new understanding that preservation and protection don't mean pushing people out but progressing together in synergy.