Taos Weekend Review: Hopper, TVAA, And UNM Graduation
The Ward Lockwood image of “Justice Begets Content” on the right is a reproduction of the historic fresco in the courtroom of the Old County Courthouse. The image seems particularly apt when describing weekend events. One can consider justice a form of harmony and fairness; call it access to social, political, and natural resources in the polis or community. Most human beings have an instinct for “fairness” and celebrate “justice” when they experience its expression.
Friday Night
On Friday night the Sagebrush Convention Center was packed as family members and friends celebrated UNM Taos graduates, who received their GEDs (over a hundred), Associates and Certificate degrees from the Branch, and Bachelor’s and Graduate Degrees from the Extended University in Taos. The varied list of accomplishments included a list of specific skills that will lead to jobs as well as degrees in liberal arts that speak to the enhancement of life and individual fulfillment.
While UNM in general is considered a Spanish serving institution and the commencement speaker, Dr. Mario Rivas, expressed his sentiments in Spanish and English, the Taos Pueblo Tribal Flag Song and Honor Song was performed by Richard Archuleta, John C. Romero, and Gilbert Suazo. And Gilbert recited the closing prayer in Tiwa. In between speakers expressed themselves in English.
While the Bachelors and Graduate program has been in Taos for 21 years and the lower division’s roots a bit longer, the broader community’s acknowledgment of higher “education” as an important part of the polis is a fairly recent phenomena. Americans, though Taosenos less so, tend to ignore history. As recently as 1940, George Sanchez, in “The Forgotten People” documented the lack of standard public school education during the early part of the 20th Century in Taos. Even today some folks, who question and resent their educated peers, still urge their own children to take advantage of the local opportunities.
Saturday Mid-day
On the agenda for the annual meeting of the Taos Valley Acequia Association (TVAA) meeting was a curious item, “The Reorganization of Ed and Trudy Healy.” As Palemon Martinez explained, it was a typo and referred rather to “The Recognition of Ed and Trudy Healy.” Palemon said the TVAA was awarding a “shovel” to the Mayordomo’s daughter for her and Ed’s support of the organization, including a one-time desperate appeal for funds to pay John Shomaker, the organization’s hydrologist, hired for his expertise in the long drawn out negotiations to settle the Abeyta—Taos Pueblo Water Settlement.
Dr. Shomaker presented a power point about the hydrological conditions of Taos Valley, which model shows how water essentially flows from the mountains and down through several different layers into aquifers and toward the Rio Grande. Supply, Mitigation, and ASR (Aquifer storage and recovery) wells will be drilled down deep into aquifers in order to offset shallow residential drilling and the subsequent loss of surface and shallow ground water.
In turn the wells will effect the flow of water to the Rio Grande, which water rights will be offset by San-Juan Chama water rights, which rights originate with the Colorado River Compact and affect downstream water users below the Otowi Gauge, near the confluence of the Rio Grande and Chama by Espanola.
Shomaker and other representatives of the Settlement continue to remind the interested parties that the Settlement does nothing to cure drought but only attempts to maintain the historic patterns of irrigation and water flow in Taos Valley.
About 20 parciantes and 10 interested observers, including Rep. Bobby Gonzales and Town Councilor Fritz Hahn, attended the meeting itself. Rep. Gonzales cautioned parciantes to lobby legislators to correct the agricultural exemption being lost, due to drought and Councilor Hahn noted that the Town of Taos aims to correct the injustice done to the Spring Ditch and would like to enhance the acequia system in the Town itself.
Saturday Afternoon
A few hundred folks and about fifty motorcycles gathered on Taos Plaza Saturday afternoon to celebrate Dennis Hopper’s 78th birthday. Fans listened to live music based on the soundtrack of Easy Rider, danced, and watched the film upstairs in the old County Courthouse courtroom, above the jail where the filmmakers shot the famous scene of Jack Nicholson downstairs. Gallery owner Michael McCormick said fans of Dennis had been lobbying for the event since Gov. Richardson declared March 17 Dennis Hopper day throughout the state of New Mexico back in 2007. Sure Zorro showed up, riding his horse and flailing at the bad guys with his sword.
Thanks mostly to Town Manager Rick Bellis, the Hopper event came to fruition. El Bellis was everywhere, making contacts behind the scene, making sure the chairs were set, prompting the band to play, and reading proclamations from officialdom. Although the celebration felt more impromptu than staged or planned this year, the seeds were sown for future celebrations. With more planning one could envision an annual affair: film festival, motorcycle rally, and art exhibits featuring the “High Funk” of Taos. What a difference an election makes to reconciliation in the community.
The prior Town administration and their supporters were more interested in political movidas or parties with the Plumber than taking care of business. If you’re looking for news and publicity, Google the World Wide Web and you’ll find everywhere listed in tandem notices of Hopper and Taos. Effectively, the Barrone and Bellis administration are doing their best to bring all parts of the community, including the Spring Ditch parciantes, together in an attitude best characterized as reconciliation.