Northern New Mexico Virtual Archive



How to Contribute to the Archive

Membership & Participation
Possible Subjects for Archiving
Writing About Local Cultures
Writing About Family Photographs
Writing About Places
Writing About Objects & Artifacts
Writing About Historical Documents
Interviewing Community Members
Collection Methods
Collection Resources
Presentation Formats
How to Submit an Article to the Archive


Send us your articles
of local cultural interest
for publication on the Web!

Membership & Participation

You may become a member of the archive through your participation. By writing something of interest to you about your culture - Hispanic, Native American, or Anglo-American - and by sending it to one of our archive representatives listed below, you join us in furthering multicultural education, understanding, and pride.

Membership is not limited by where you live.

If you are interested in submiting an article, please e-mail us atchan@laplaza.org, or contact us at one of the addresses listed below.


Local Members

This archive is created largely by members of the community, so if you live here, you already will have a wealth of information to share. The area currently served by the archive is within the Peñasco Independent School District (see "Communities" for a listing of communities involved).

Regional Members

If you live in another area of Northern New Mexico, we welcome your involvement and will be glad to assist you in developing your area's archive.

Global Members

If you are visiting from another part of the world, we are also interested in information you may have which compares or contrasts with our cultures, or you may have information relating to the history of our cultures as derived from your. For example, you may know something about adobe homes of the Middle East or of Africa; you may have recognized the striking similarities between native Mongolian and Native American dances; you may have recepies for cooking habas, or fava beans, which the Spanish brought with them when they settled here, or you may be interested in an ancestor who moved to New Mexico hundreds of years ago. In any event, please take time to think of how you might contribute to the archive. Below are some suggestions!

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Possible Subjects for Archiving

    Family history, using family photographs

    A history of your community

    Foods grown locally, such as, habas, chilies, fruit, & corn.

    The Horno: its history, how it is made, & how it is used.

    Recepies of your favorite foods. (We are especially in need of recepies for habas.)

    Stories told by your family.

    Hunting & fishing.

    Lowriders: how they are made, their history, & how they relate to pride in yourself and your culture.

    Furniture making

    Activites: Feast days, pilgrimmages, Los Pasados

    Los Matachies

    Desconces

    Superstitions

    Make a historical map of your community

    Weddings, La Entrega

Native plants and their uses

Arifacts: old tools, wagons, furniture, bultos, retablos, toys.

Games people used to play: "Tejas", "Cows", others?

Interviews with local artists & crafts people.

Interviews with people who know alot about the history of the area

Animals of the area, habitats and ways of life

The Acequia: its history, management & value.

Adobe making & home construction

Your Church: its history, construction & community

Santos: bultos & retablos

Weaving, wool & sheep.

Pottery: gathering the earth, techniques.

Curanderismo & home remedies for illness

Music, musicians & local songs

Velorios (wakes)

Historically interesting photographs

Community meetings

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Writing About Local Cultures

When writing about culture, it is best to write about some subject we know well. Also, since the culture is the way of life of a group of people, it is good to be sensitive to how others will feel about what we write. Think about the viewpoints others in the culture may have on the subject. It can also be helpful to have a person who knows the culture well to read what we have written. This is especially true when we are writing about someone else. For example, if you have written an article about a local potter, read your article to the potter or ask him/her to read it and to make suggestions for how it can be improved.

In writing about your community, there are many approaches you can take. You can write about the physical community - the buidlings, the acequias, roads, and their history in general. You can write about the people who first began your community, their ancestors, and important events in the life of the community. And, you can write about traditions, and things that make your community different from others. One of the best ways to make a good project about your community is to collect photographs from family and friends that will make a photographic history, and then write a history following the pictures in some order.

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Collection Methods

Collection Resources

Presentation Formats

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How to Submit an Article to the Archive

Please contact us at one of these addresses:

Send your project to one of the archive's representatives at:

Peñasco Independent Schools
c/o (a representatives name)
P. O. Box 520
Peñasco, New Mexico 87553

Representatives at the high school:
At the elementary school:

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