Three Peas in a Pod

From left to right: my lil bro Thomas, my grandma Emily, and my brother Brian (retired USAF)

Today I thought about 11s since it is 11.11, but I also took time to think about our veterans. These men and women who are serving and who have served our country are special people. This weekend, my older brother is visiting from Arizona. He recently retired from the United States Air Force. Today I take the time to remember all of the veterans in my family. I also take the time to thank them for my freedom.

What’s In a Day?

*****MY HOMETOWN*****
“Pojoaque,” New Mexico by Edward Curtis (1905)
Image No. LC-USZ62-118930m
Library of Congress– Prints and Photographs Division
Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

Today I spent my lunch and an afternoon break looking at the 1940 United States Census. I have been so excited to take a closer look, so I figured that today was a good day to start. I decided to take the day off from the gym. What?? Unfortunately, yesterday I lost one of my iPods. It was a particularly delightful topper on my already painful day. Since I use that iPod everyday, I turned into SuperB. I spent today detaching from my lost data and connecting with new data.

At first glance of the census data for New Mexico (Mora and Santa Fe Counties), I was a bit disappointed. I didn’t spend very long, but I didn’t see anybody I was looking for? Maybe I was not focused on the task at hand?? I will need to sit down, concentrate, make a plan. I found myself wondering why the National Archives and Records Administration archivists or technicians, or project managers, didn’t think about sorting the precincts chronologically before undertaking a costly microfilm/preservation project? I know it couldn’t have been the archival principals  of provenance and original order?? It is beyond me, but then again I am a Virgo and the first thing I would have done is sort things out!  

I checked the 1940 census for: my paternal line (Nambe for the Ortiz and Garduno families, Pojoaque and San Ildefonso Pueblo for the Lujan and Roybal families; and then my maternal line (Mora for the Valdez and Brazil families, and La Cueva for the Garcia family). I quickly realized that I need to formulate a better plan before I jump in next time. I will make an organizational chart. The chart will have the family names, the lines, and where they should have been in 1940 (which precinct and maybe ages). 

I did see some interesting things that I wasn’t looking for. Maria and Julian Martinez, the famous San Ildefonso potters were captured. I saw other family members (not the ones I was looking for). There were several people listing their jobs as “common.” How sad is that? What I found most interesting is that people were still calling humans “servants?” I did note that every entry I came across listing a servant was not someone from New Mexico. Almost every person keeping a servant was from the East Coast.  

Anyhow— maybe another day will be better, and I will find more? I know I probably will not find my beloved iPod, but I don’t want to think about it because I will just cry!

My Ancient Celtic Tongue

The Celtic Torc

On Friday, June 15, I attended a lecture to learn more about the Celt-Iberians and my yDNA (paternal). The lecture was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was held in conjunction with the 2012 Genealogical Society of Hispanic America Conference. I was thankful to Kathy Archuleta for allowing me to attend, and I will need to remember to call her and thank her personally.

The presenter started off by playing Spanish Celtic music which featured a Spanish bagpipe or Gaita. The artist was José Ángel Hevia Velasco, known professionally as Hevia. The majority of the presentation focused on a documentary about the Celts in Europe. The Celtic tribes were called “a great civilization” and the documentary featured ancient “galleries of rock art” which were used for rituals. The rock art depicted dwellings, hunting scenes, and tribal warriors with “exaggerated phallic displays.” An interesting archaeological excavation uncovered over 150 iron swords, spearheads, and daggers from the Lake Neuchatel site (La Tene, Switzerland).

Other archaeological discoveries included: royal tombs; Celtic art such as beautiful and intricate gold jewelry; plates with swirling patters and motifs; head dresses; gold vases; mirrors; bronze shields; and imagery of part animal/part human creatures. Some of the art work was called “nightmarish,” and was just my style. I am apparently a Spanish Celt at heart!! The artworks featured monsters, and there was one piece with a human head in a monster’s mouth. The commentator of this documentary said that this was “the art of the elite,” and that it “expresses authority.”

We learned about how the Celtic tribes plundered the Greeks, and the Gods were said to have intervened at the sacred site of Delphi. That is why I wrote about the Oracle last night. I learned that the Iberian Peninsula has been a problem for scholars for several reasons. Some of the ancient structures built by the Celts included: pit traps; defensive towers; circular dwellings; and hill forts for protection (many of which go back to the Bronze Age). We learned some about migration from the documentary, though there is apparently no evidence of mass immigration. I saw the first written record of land ownership carved in stone.

I love that warfare was an intrinsic part of Celtic life. I may write at some point about the carnyx, which was made of bronze, and was the Celtic “instrument of war.” The instrument made an eerie sound, known by all as a warning. One scholar interviewed in the documentary said that the Celts “made great slaughter and decapitated enemies.” They had “the ability to kill and kill and great numbers,” and were “a powerful and organized society.” I would also like to learn more about the torc, as a symbol of authority. This was an open-ended ring of metal worn around the neck.

A couple of interesting thoughts I came away with…

I must get some traits from my ancient forefathers. I was glad to learn that art and music were very important to the ancient Celtic tribes. I had never thought about this until Friday, but for years people from outside of New Mexico have asked if I was from Europe. Many people have asked if I was Scottish or Irish. Yeah I know— New Mexicans– strange ha? I have always thought it was funny, but as it turns out, maybe my tongue actually makes sounds indicative of an ancient Celtic nation? Apparently, “during the 1st millennium BC,” Celtic languages “were spoken across Europe,” and “in the Iberian Peninsula.” Hum? Another thought was how very appropriate it was that I was learning about my yDNA just a couple of days before Father’s Day!

Summoning my Inner Intellectual Warrior

*****Celt-Iberian Mercenary*****
The “S” is for “SUPER” Hahahahaha!

I am looking forward to attending a special lecture in conjunction with the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America Annual Meeting & Conference. This year the conference is titled Santa Fe –Where Trails and Cultures Meet, and Angel Cervantes will be presenting his research on the Celt-Iberians tomorrow. Angel is the administrator of the New Mexico DNA Project, and he has a research group for the Iberian Peninsula. My familial Y-DNA was connected to Haplogroup R1b1a2 in 2011. I am excited to see what Angel has learned since then. DNA has established that my ancient forefather was a Celt-Iberian. These Celtic people were living in the Iberian Peninsula in what is now north central Spain. It makes some sense that I would be connected to the Celt-Iberians, as I do hope my ancient forefather fought for what he believed in. I am a fighter— and I continuously summon my inner intellectual warrior. The article I included below was written a few days ago by the Senior Editor of Big News and Live Events for the Huffington Post. Craig Kanalle is apparently my contemporary, ancient cousin!

___________________________________________________

What a DNA Test Revealed About My Family History

by Craig Kanalle, Senior Editor, Big News & Live Events, The Huffington Post

Posted: 06/11/2012 5:31 pm

I’ve been researching my family tree since 1998, and I’ve long been curious about DNA as a way to learn more about your roots. The technology has come a long way in the last decade, and it’s become more affordable too. Finally, I went ahead and ordered a Y-DNA test (for my paternal line).

On Friday night, at 1:30 a.m., the results popped in my email inbox from the FamilyTreeDNA lab in Houston, Texas!

When I logged in to see the results, 29 “matches” popped up — these are living people today with whom I share a common direct male ancestor with in about the last 1,000 years. (To be clear, the Y-DNA only passes father to son, so this traces my father’s father’s father, etc., and same for them.) These matches live in Ireland, England, Scotland, South Africa, the United States and presumably elsewhere (some don’t list a location).

2 CLOSE MATCHES!

Of course, for any matches to come up, I need to have living blood relatives through the male line who took DNA tests themselves. And I’m so grateful and excited that two people I’m about to address did…

I had two close matches, genealogically-speaking, and the rest were more distant. The surnames to those closest matches? A Kennelly and a MacNeely, variations of my own last name. They both live in Ireland!

My relationship to the MacNeely, who I learned is about 28 years old today and lives in County Mayo, Ireland, goes back to a common male ancestor with the surname Kennelly (sometimes Mac an Fhaili in Ireland), MacNally, or McAnally who lived around the 1600s.

My relationship to the Kennelly is closer. He lives in Ireland today in County Cork near the border with County Limerick (where my great-great-great-grandfather Thomas Kennelly was born — he immigrated to Canada during the Potato Famine). We seem to both descend of a Kennelly born in the 1700s.

What makes the connection to these two men so interesting is that most Irish genealogical records burned in fires in Dublin and don’t exist today. Without them, it’s hard to trace Irish roots any further back than the 1800s. But nonetheless I’ve made links with long lost cousins, prior to that time so many Irish researchers hit a brick wall.

I’ve written emails to both of them and hope to hear back!

MORE LINKS + THE ‘ADAMS’ FAMILY

The rest of the matches are more distant, though interestingly I found both a McKee and a McGee, with whom I have a common male ancestor in Ireland who lived around the 1400s or earlier. Also a McSorley, a Koster, a Walker, a Crauford and a Hannon who all share common male ancestors with me back around the same period.

But what I found most interesting of the distant matches — the ADAMS connection. Three of my matches were males with the last name ADAMS. There was also one female whose maiden name was ADAMS (likely submitting a male relative’s DNA) and one Smith who says he traces back (father’s father’s father, etc.) to a male Adams. There was a second Smith who I suspect could also go back to an Adams.

In all, that’s five Adams descendants, possibly six, in my 29 matches. And sure enough, I learned the DNA subgroup / family group of former U.S. presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams matches my own.

John Adams and John Quincy Adams trace their Adams roots back to southwestern England, right across the water from southern Ireland, where my Kennelly roots lie.

My matches showed that my genealogical relationship to the Adams family lies in a common male ancestor way back, around the 1100s or 1200s. It’s my best guess that an Adams, or a member of the same family in which male relatives took Adams as a surname, migrated from southwestern England to Ireland around that time period or shortly after, and that my Kennellys descend from this family.

It’s also possible, however, that the connection goes back to before surnames were used at all, as they were just sprouting up around that time.

Either way, there is no doubt that I am blood related to the Adams family if you trace back through Y-DNA (my father’s father’s father, etc., and theirs). Eventually, we hit a single male figure who we both come from. And that’s pretty cool.

ANCIENT HISTORY

I did some more research on my Y-DNA haplogroup, R1b1a2, and if you keep going back (through my father’s father’s father, etc.), my direct male ancestors were Celtics. They seem to have lived in Western Europe at the time of Jesus Christ and the Ancient Romans and Ancient Greeks likely saw them as uncivilized barbarians. They were likely tribal people in B.C. times, nomadic herders, moving around as famines and droughts hit.

Migration patterns show that my DNA group likely originated in western Asia, in the Middle East or Black Sea region (modern day Turkey), living there 20,000 and 30,000 years ago. There are relatives with similar DNA going thousands of years back in what is now Iran, India, Syria, Israel and Turkey. This family group also branched off into Africa, where the Y-DNA is alive and well in Central Africa. One branch ended up in Egypt specifically, and the Egyptian Pharaoh King Tut belongs to the same haplogroup as I.

After the Ice Age around 10,000 B.C., the larger haplogroup I come from R1b is believed to have brought agriculture to Europe from western Asia. It ended up becoming one of the most popular family groups in Europe, with some 50% of Western Europeans and Americans tracing back to them and 90% of those in Ireland.

My more specific subgroup R1b1a2a1a1b4 seems to have lived in southern Ireland, northern Ireland, and southwestern England in the last 1,000 years or so.

WHAT’S NEXT?

I was so excited by these results that I upgraded my account to trace my maternal line too. I also put in a “Family Finder” request so it gives me a rough overall breakdown of my genealogical DNA (what percentage I am Western European, what percentage other origins, etc.).

My DNA is already at the lab, so now I just have to wait another month or so, and I’m sure to find more interesting things.

Until then, I hope to hear back from my Kennelly and McNeely cousins overseas, who I emailed as I said earlier. I may contact some of these more distant relatives as well.

And later on, in November, I’m going to Ireland for the first time ever. I hope to track down Mr. Kennelly, Mr. MacNeely or at least more of my roots based on the new evidence I’ve uncovered. The power of DNA… it’s really something.

A Cowboy and Cowgirls: The Lujan Home Movies

This weekend I decided it was time to pull out a very special, old collection of family records. The records are motion picture films (moving images). The films are those which survived, and they were filmed by my parents using an 8mm camera. I started wondering what happened to the actual camera, but sometime back my dad did pass over the projector and seven films to me. I remember feeling so happy when he gave them to me. On Saturday night I watched a few of them. After pulling out the old 8mm reels and the projector (which my dad also passed along years ago), I realized that it would be the first time Daryn would see footage of me as a child.

Movie still from the Lujan Home Movies of the twinz (Thomas and Laura) and Felicia dressed up in western attire.

When we played the footage of my brother and sister (the twins) and I dressed up in western attire, it was so funny. I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t stop. I immediately decided that I had to capture the footage (in a very unsophisticated way- right off the wall using my iPod) and email it to my sister. My mom just happened to be with her, and they were also laughing when they watched it. My mom told my sister that my brother Thomas loved rocking as a baby, thus the “going to town” on his horse in this clip! I obviously was a little old for that small plastic, rolling horse, but insisted on getting in on the action. When my sister and I caught up on the phone, we laughed our ashes off (yes – I said ashes). It was straight comedy! She said “what the heck was I doing the tin man or what?” She was working a bit of leg action in her baby march! She has always been a cowgirl, and I always tell her that. What fun it was to take a peek back at us living in the moment! Since I wanted to share the clip, I posted it to YouTube. Take a look if you get a chance! It is really funny and not the best reproduction of course (since I recorded it off my wall)… You can watch the short clip titled On the Ranch_Lujans_4.14.2012 at the following link: http://youtu.be/DFh0eJUFYss.

I really need to start doing more to preserve these films. Sometimes I hate being an archivist, and maybe I hate that I care. The loss of this footage would be tragic for me. There are so many things on there I would not want to part with. The footage includes people who are no longer with us like my Grandma Corine, my Grandpa Gilbert, and my Uncle Donald. I really thank both of my parents for taking the time to capture these memories! I am so proud that they took the time to do that… They will be valued by me forever. There are still two films I have not seen because I need to track down a 200 foot take up reel. I would also like to purchase some archival quality preservation supplies for the collection at some point, and fully describe the contents of each reel. The footage is important to my family history. The reels I have seen thus far have: footage of my parents building our house in Pojoaque; my uncle and my mom playing basketball, my dad and my uncles hunting and by the campfire; my maternal grandma, and my paternal grandparents; and lots of images of me, my siblings, and my cousins growing up.

Print screens from the Home Movie Day Web Site of the Lujan Home Movies. Includes some of the clips selected by Living Room Cinema for a DVD and preservation by the Center for Home Movies in Los Angeles, California. There is footage of me and my cousin fighting for a baseball, and of me picking flowers in the mountains.

Several years ago, I did have the opportunity to preserve some of the footage as it was included in a preservation project with the Center for Home Movies in Los Angeles, California. A staff member with the Academy Film Archive accepted three of the 8mm reels from my family collection in 2004. The reels they accepted included: footage of my dad picking a flower for my mom; footage of my parents building our house in Pojoaque; and footage of a trip my parents took to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1981 with friends. One of the Home Movie Day participants called home movies the “original reality television.” That is so true! I guess I just have to keep taking baby steps toward preserving family history.

YouTube Video- On the Ranch_Lujans_4.14.2012
http://youtu.be/DFh0eJUFYss

Living Room Cinema- Center for Home Movies
Lujan Home Movies included on DVD
http://www.homemovieday.com/livingroomcinema/lujan.html

Footage from the Home Movie Day Trailer
Media Page>Video>Trailer>”Scenes from Home Movie Day”
http://www.homemovieday.com/livingroomcinema/media.html

Good Friday: The Penance of Imperfect Creatures

~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~

“As machines become more and more efficient and perfect,

so it will become clear that imperfection is the greatness of man.”

*****Ernst Fischer

~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~

“Sometimes we strive so hard for perfection

that we forget that imperfection is happiness.”

*****Karen Nave

~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~…..~~~~~

Being human is one of the hardest jobs that many of us have ever had. The struggle between the good and bad, the dark and the light, the positive and the negative, at times can be overwhelming. Sometimes just a reminder of inescapable imperfection is enough to comfort the weary. Like with anything else in life, we need to do our best to walk a crisp line, and be the best people we can be right? In 1973, the Journal of Religion and Health (Vol. 12, No. 1) published a paper titled Saints and Sinners by Harry C. Meserve. In the paper, Meserve was “pondering the mystery of sanctity,” and he says that “the world’s moralists have tended to divide mankind between the saints and the sinners, ourselves and the enemy, the sane and the insane, the wise and the foolish; and these distinctions, sometimes descriptive, are usually inadequate.” Meserve goes on to say that “we come into the world neither good nor evil, but with a potential for both. We end up, unless we are true saints, as some what mixed beings, with, one hopes, the weight on the side of goodness.”

My uncle Rick Lujan has always walked to El Santuario de Chimayo with his lion cane. He made the cane out of a juniper branch, and it was the first carving he ever made. Today the cane is about five inches shorter because of the walks.

This week marked the annual Holy Week pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayo, in Chimayo, New Mexico. People from all over the world, and from various religious backgrounds walk hundreds of miles to the sacred Catholic site to ask for forgiveness, and pray for blessings. Saints and sinners alike make the trip to pay homage, erase darkness, and inspire the light. “Three pueblos, long abandoned, have been located in the area and dated, the earliest being about 1100 A.D.” Tewa Indians recognized Chimayo “as a shrine,” and “a place of healing.” Local accounts note that “in 1706 the Chimayo Valley was a part of the San Juan Parish. Later, in 1751, it was administered by the Holy Cross Church in Santa Cruz.” The Santuario de Chimayo was built in 1816 by Don Bernardo Abeyta, but a small chapel dated back to 1810. The site was dedicated to Our Lord of Esquipulas. There have long been “stories of the miracles performed through the healing earth beneath the shrine.”

My grandma Corine loved El Santuario de Chimayo when she was alive. This was a container of the holy earth she gave to me years ago. Her favorite was the saint who “wears old, worn shoes.” His name is Santo Nino or the Holy Child. There is likely no statistics to confirm the number of “sick” people who visit that saint. He continuously wears out his brand new shoes “from nightly trips giving aid to those in need.”

In 1996, the pilgrimage was called “a sacrifice,” and that is still true today. When I was young I walked countless times to the magical place with a well containing holy earth. The well was “the site of a holy apparition in the 1800s,” and “the soil where the apparition appeared is said to be holy and the source of miraculous healings.” Sinners and the “sick” need to be healed, thus droves of imperfect humans take containers, buy containers, and fill pockets with gritty holiness to ward off unwanted pains. In Saints and Sinners, Meserve said that there is “a division between good and evil; but the division, the conflict, is within each one of us.” Can miracles, faith, and a bit of sacred earth really cure the “sick?” Well according to Meserve, “the problem of the saint and the sinner within the same person is not unlike the problem of the healthy and the sick person within the same in individual. All of us, at one time or another, are sick. Yet elements of health exist in all of us, too, even when we are at our lowest ebb.” Apparently the answer is yes!

So why do so many make the Holy Week pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayo? Why do they ask for forgiveness? Why do they pray for blessings? Why do they need to cure the sickness? Are they saints or are they sinners? Maybe the latter really is one in the same? The only real answer– put simply– imperfection should be accepted because unfortunately, humanness is hard.

The Saint Wears Old, Worn Shoes by Alice Bullock- Santa Fe New Mexican, Pasatiempo, December 7, 1969

Sources:

~Native Mountain Villages- Santa Fe New Mexican, July, 16, 1951

~The Saint Wears Old, Worn Shoes by Alice Bullock- Santa Fe New Mexican, Pasatiempo, December 7, 1969

~Saints and Sinners by Harry C. Meserve- Journal of Religion and Health, Vol. 12, No. 1, 1973

~Obscure Oratorio Predates Famed El Santuario- Santa Fe New Mexican, Pasatiempo, February 21, 1985

~Faith Keeps Them Warm by Chris Roybal- Santa Fe New Mexican, April 5, 1996

The Electrical Current of Creativity

Gilbert Lujan Jr.

My Dad and I

Wood Floor Installed by Gilbert Lujan Jr.

Gate Made by Gilbert Lujan Jr.

Fence and Wall made by Gilbert Lujan Jr.

Electrical Sub Panel wired by Gilbert Lujan Jr.

Electrical Sub Panel wired by Gilbert Lujan Jr.

Electrical Sub Panel wired by Gilbert Lujan Jr.

Members of the 1969 “Rock and Roll Band of Pojoaque”

 

The continuation of my research into the origins of creativity leads to my father. Creativity has roots in our predecessors. I have been interested in proving that creativity comes in all forms, and can be seen in all types of people. What is different with regard to creativity from one person to the next is simply the approach. I am always amazed to learn something new about someone I thought I knew rather well. Today I learned something about my dad that I had never known. There are many ways in which my dad applies his creative side, and some of those include: his electrical expertise; his home and yard; and his organizational skills. He is also a Virgo, and I am the third Virgo that I am aware of on my paternal line. My dad’s name is Gilbert Lujan. He was the second Gilbert Lujan to grace my paternal line, therefore, he is a junior.

Creativity moves through my father just as electrical current runs through a conductor. Since the 1970s he has been doing electrical work, and he has been a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for over 30 years. One of the last major projects he worked on was a million dollar installation of an emergency lighting system for the lab. For many years, he was a general foreman in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He retired from being strictly an electrical foreman after close to 40 years of service. His current position involves the project management of about 90% electrical work in addition to other trades. As a Virgo, I am sure that his projects are planned with every T crossed. An inside look at his personal projects confirms that he is creative and organized.

He built his first adobe home in Pojoaque, New Mexico. The home is still hanging tough and beautiful, so apparently he and my mother did a good job. He also uses his creative talent on his yard, and his current home. If I took a tape measure, I would bet my life that his trees are planted precisely the same width away from each other, and that they have each been squared accordingly. I took the time to photograph his sub electrical box (which connects to the main electrical box). He thought I was crazy for wanting to take pictures of that, but I think that his creative and uniform interlacing of wires further supports my research. They are pretty pictures- not a wire out of place. His most recent home improvement project (because he doesn’t stop) was the installation of close to 900 square feet of engineered wood flooring. Yes- he did it all himself. His brother Rick told me something like “you know your dad- he knew exactly how much it would cost, and exactly how much he would need.”

Looking back to my youth, there are two things that stand out about my father creatively. The first instance of creativity helped me score a huge blue 1^st place ribbon in the Pojoaque Elementary science fair. We must have been on a trip to Carlsbad Caverns that summer, because he had the idea to replicate the caves in a box. The box was about a cubic foot, and we must have used clay and string from top to bottom to form the stalagmites and stalactites. What put my project into the first prize realm, was his addition of a lighting system. He rigged up a little button on the outside that the viewer could push to light up the dark cave. It was a big hit! I remember feeling really proud of that project, and of my dad. The other was when I was in high school. I briefly mentioned that project in a earlier post. But in the State Competition for our drill team- The Divas, he spiced up our alien spacecraft with a light show. We didn’t take first- it was probably stinkin’ St. Pius, but to me and my friends he was a creative genius!

Lastly, what I found out about my dad today was really a shocker! I knew that his maternal great grandfather Cesario Ortiz, and his maternal grandfather Eliu Ortiz could both sing. Of course I also know that his mother, my grandma Emily sings. I sing, and my youngest sister Katelin sings today. He was the apparent missing link in the creativity of song and music until this afternoon. To his surprise, I uncovered an article in the newspaper from 1969 about his “rock band.” What the? I immediately sent him an image, knowing it was him, but still in disbelief. We had some good laughs tonight through SMS and MMS! He said he was a lead singer in the band and that he would “save me an autograph!” So you see, the creative links are there- it is just up to us to fill in the blanks and unearth history! Two cheers for the creative rock star!  

Passing On Creativity: The Artwork of Emily

When I was a little girl, my paternal grandmother spent time teaching me and my siblings all about the arts. She always had us doing something. I can remember sitting in the little room with her wood stove listening to her and watching her. I hoped she would let me see all the tools in her art kits. We sat…all of our little ears perked and waiting to learn the next step in our project.

My grandma Emily Ortiz y Garduño de Lujan has likely tried every type of art work at least once. When I told her about my research into the origins in creativity, she agreed to be interviewed. She was the second in a series of interviews I am working on. I was lucky that she took the time to hand write a few stories and memories relative to the artistic traits in my father’s family. The talent in our family “comes from way back.” My grandma Emily says that “most of us just have the gift”

Both of my paternal great grandparents were also artistic and creative. My grandma Emily’s father and mother both had what my grandma calls “the gift.” Her father Juan Eliu Ortiz was a wood carver, a poet, a barber, a coyote trapper, and a shoe maker. Keep in mind that he did all of this successfully with only one arm, as he lost his left arm as a child. He would sing hymns at funerals with his brothers. My grandmother recalls that “they had great voices.”

My great grandmother Maria Fedelina Garduño y Gonzales de Ortiz was a poet. She could embroider, crochet, and sew. My grandma Emily says that my grandma Lina could see “a dress on a mannequin or in a catalog and could make it without a pattern.” This is a very hard thing to do by eye. Apparently, she was really good at this and “the dresses were always the perfect size.”

Both of my paternal great grandparents could sing, as could my grandmother, as did I, as do others in my family. My grandmother feels that “this is where we all get our singing voices” from. My grandma Emily has told me stories of her mother singing while she ironed. She says that my grandma Lina had a beautiful and soothing voice. I am sad that I never had a chance to hear her sing. I think I do remember her humming at times.

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My grandma Emily’s paternal grandfather, and my paternal great great grandfather Cesario Ortiz was also “a great artist.” He died one month after my grandma Emily was born, so she never had the chance to know him but did see his art. He could draw, carve, and he was also a poet. He wrote the saddest poem that I posted some excerpts of not long ago. The poem was originally written in Spanish, and was translated and transcribed by his granddaughter many years later.

After our interview it was apparent that my grandmother also feels that creativity is inherited. She said “the Lord has been good to me for I am multi-gifted. I too can carve. I paint with oils, acrylic, charcoals, and pencils. All these make beautiful paintings and drawings good enough to be framed and sold. I knit. I crochet. I sew, and have made my children and grandchildren clothes. I have made cheerleader uniforms, formal dresses, and a couple of wedding gowns. I also quilt. These are gifts I have been endowed with.” She feels strongly that these gifts are passed from hand to hand, from generation to generation.

Source:

Interview and written stories provided by my grandma Emily Ortiz y Garduño de Lujan.

A Single Drop in the Ever Flowing River

Today we spent the day hiking in Bandelier National Monument. The monument is about a 40 minute drive from Santa Fe. It was a gorgeous day, and the air was invigorating. Last time we were there, we did the main waterfall hike, but Daryn is still a bit little for that hike. None the less, with all the stairs, inclines, declines, and rough terrain, the hike was still a nice workout! I bought two new books on the trip. I ended up getting Dragonfly’s Tale by Kristina Rodanas, a fascinatingly illustrated book (dragonfly is another of my symbols). It would have been silly not to pick up The Manhattan Project: A Secret Wartime Mission. The book was edited by Kenneth M. Deitch, and was part of the Perspectives on History Series.

Bandelier National Monument

Bat Cave

Volcanic Ash Mountain

View of House and Pillar

Site 11

Sun Through Trees

Daryn

Snow

Two Stone Pillars

Ruins

Volcanic Ash Mountains

Daryn and Mike

Caves that look Like Skull

Daryn and Mike in Cave

Reconstructed Home

Mountain and Tree

Felicia

Kiva

Creek

Large Crack in Rock- Ancestral people believed the crack was a doorway to the spirit world.

“Bandelier National Monument protects over 33,000 acres of rugged but beautiful canyon and mesa country as well as evidence of a human presence” which goes “back over 11,000 years. “Petroglyphs, dwellings carved into soft rock cliffs, and standing masonry walls stand tribute to the early days of a culture that still survives in the surrounding communities.” The park was named after Adolph Bandelier, a Swiss anthropologist, and became a National Monument about four years after New Mexico became a state. It was very sad to hear from the first female ranger was encountered that the Las Conchas Fire burned close to 62% of the park in the summer of 2011. It is fortunate that the main areas of the park were not affected, but the wildlife surely suffered.

“The people who settled in the Frijoles Canyon are known as Ancestral Pueblo people. In the past, these people were identified as the Anasazi.” The National Park is not far from, and closely linked to San Ildefonso Pueblo. This is where my paternal great grandmother Catalina Roybal de Lujan lived prior to 1930. There are stone mountain walls in the canyon, which are compressed volcanic ash. Many of them are filled with holes and “cave rooms” or “cavates” carved in the cliff walls. The walls also feature ancient petroglyphs (removing stone to make a picture) of the Macaw. The Macaw was a very spiritual bird for ancient people. Their feathers were actually used in many religious ceremonies. We also saw a few pictographs (painted designs).

According to the National Register of Historic Places, Bandelier National Monument spans three New Mexico counties (Los Alamos, Sandoval, and Santa Fe). It is hard to believe that this monument stretches over more than 30,000 acres of land. Today, we covered only a few of those acres. I always find myself being amazed by how small I really am. The river literally never stops flowing in that canyon. Today I realized I represent just a single drop in the ever flowing river of vast New Mexico history.

Sources:

Publications acquired while visiting the park.

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National Park Service Web Site for Bandelier National Monument

http://www.nps.gov/band/index.htm

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National Register of Historic Places

www.nps.gov/nr/

Suffering and Inspiration: the Writing of Cesario Ortiz

My great great grandfather Cesario Ortiz asks for the protection of St. Joseph as his child suffers in 1910. His son was ill with Black Fever. He makes several religious references in his writing. Image title: Songe de St. Joseph (1880), LC-USZ62-36534, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division- Washington, D.C.

Today the day was spent in Pojoaque, devoting several hours to my paternal grandmother Emily. The visit was intended to capture more research, and continue my exploration into the origins of creativity. I completed two interviews. One with my grandma, and the other with my father. They both had much to say, and my pencils went dull several times! The interviews went well, and I will be posting about those in between other pieces.

For tonight… I really wanted to share something that confirms I come from several generations of writers. I was brought to tears by a touching piece my great great grandfather had the courage to write. Cesario Ortiz lost his first wife during childbirth. She was a Romero. Though Cesario later married Adelia Garduño, at the time of his first wife’s death, he and Emilia had one son named Juan Eliu. Eliu was my great grandfather, and by the age of four he had been through things that would kill most. His mother had died, and according to his father he became very sick with Black Fever shortly after. The illness became so severe that it actually claimed his left arm and hand, and all but one of his fingers on his right hand. Talk about the origins of creativity… You would be amazed by what this man did with only one finger. He was a wood carver, a shoemaker, a barber, and he trapped coyotes and sold their pelts.

Spending at least a half an hour typing up my great great grandpa Cesario’s dramatic poem I had been attempting to get from my grandma for a long time got me tired. It was something I really needed to take the time to do. It was a piece he wrote from the point of view of his four year old son in 1910. First I tapped the keys of my laptop to capture the text in Spanish, then I captured the English translation (which was done by my grandma). It was long… I still didn’t get a chance to see the original, but I know that will come in due time. Little by little I have been peeling off the layers of paternal family history from my grandma. It will be a good day when I am able to witness the writings of my great great grandfather, which are over 100 years old. What will his penmanship be like?

Now you can see a portion of his piece for yourself… It is very sad. This is the second half of the poem. Like I said the original was written in Spanish, so what you will read is an English translation. I know that there is one important lesson I learned today. On those days when I am feeling sorry for myself, I will read my great great grandfather’s poem. That will help me realize that things could always be much worse.

And to continue my story

How I suffered I’ll tell you

As an orphan I am lost

I don’t know what I can do

For crippled I have become

With all this pain I feel

There are times that I am numb

But I know that it’s God’s will

***

This terrible disease I suffer

Black Fever it’s called by name

To God my body I offer

I can hardly stand the pain

All my body it has pierced

It will take me to my grave

This disease that is so fierce

to it I have become a slave

***

For a long time I have suffered

how can I endure the pain

All my prayers I have offered

All the saints I have acclaimed

for me there are no tomorrows

If I sleep, I don’t agree

Oh Holy Mother of Sorrows

Please have compassion on me

***

Oh these long eternal hours

Oh this aching agony

With this pain my body covers

for me there’s no remedy

Lord I am at your command

Help me with this misery

I’ve already lost a hand

keep me in your company

***

Oh truthful and merciful God

How much longer must I suffer

To you my body I offer

When the only hope I had

It seems like both hands I’m loosing

One finger is all I have left

the others I won’t be using

But only you know what’s best

***

The year is nineteen ten

My age is four years old

The year I lost my hand

That memory I’ll always hold

I’ll never forget the misery

The aching makes me feel wane

How can I forget the agony

For it is permanent pain

***

Oh God! I have lost my mother

Keep her in your company

My hands are also gone now

Suffering is part of me

Mary, Oh Blessed Virgin

You are my only remedy

How can I ever forget this

Please have compassion for me

***

In God I have placed my faith

and in the Immaculate Conception

with St. Joseph I feel safe

Please keep him in your protection

and with your compassion see

This child that truly suffers

Being only four years old, achingly my body I offer

Memories Spark Memories…

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“A happy memory is a hiding place for unforgotten treasures.”
—-Paul L. Powers

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Tonight I received a call from my grandma Emily. She and I took some time to catch up. I was happy to hear that my family members have been keeping her in the loop on what I have been writing about. I keep insisting she get a computer so she can read my stuff. She says she probably couldn’t learn, but I think she could. It turns out my aunt Marlene (my dad’s sister) mailed her printed copies of Wood Shavings and Mysteries of a Master Craftsman: A Visit with Richard Lujan (the piece on my uncle and my dad’s brother). That aunt had emailed me in December and said how much she had learned about her brother that she never knew from reading my piece. My grandma apparently felt the same. She said my uncle “is very quiet and doesn’t say that much.” Imagine that? My uncle’s own mother learned about him from what I wrote. I love that!!

My dad took her copies of The Garduño Connection as well (thanks dad ). I gotta get with my dad because my grandma mentioned him talking with her about his childhood memories of my grandma Lina’s house in Nambe (before she moved to Albuquerque). My grandma Emily told me he remembered some things that not even she remembered. My grandma talked about how she would go use a sewing machine at her grandpa’s (Florencio Garduño) to make clothes. She said she was about 11 and her grandma had already died. Her memories of frequent visits by Benancio Garduño (Dave Garduño’s father) when he lived in Nambe were also sparked. It turns out I knew Adelia Garduño when I was a child. I do not remember much about her, but tonight, when my grandma mentioned her nick name (grandma LaLa)- a memory came back. Adelia Garduño was the beautiful woman in the unique tin type image I posted in The Garduño Connection. Wow… So that was grandma LaLa? The best Garduño memory my grandma offered was one involving me. She asked me if I remembered going with she and my grandpa Gilbert to Dave Garduño’s wedding. I said “no” and she seemed surprised by that answer. I will need to do some fact checking, but apparently I danced my ash off at that wedding. 2 much… My grandma said I was about five, and that we spent the night at my grandma Lina’s house that night. I even insisted on wearing a little red skirt and shirt my grandma made me. Now I really feel I need to get an oral history interview with Dave. I thought that was funny, and that it would make a good story to add to my collection.

11*****Posted using WordPress for BlackBerry*****11

The Garduño Connection…

Slowly, I have been gathering records for genealogical research into a branch of my paternal line. In order to make sense of connections, dates, and other pertinent information, I have created an event timeline. This helps me put things into perspective. Aside from the fact that I want to know more about this branch of my tree, I want to work on this particular area for several reasons. First, I absolutely loved my great grandmother who was born a Garduño and married an Ortiz. Second, when I was little, my great grandmother’s daughter (my grandma) Emily took care of me. I learned so much about creativity from her, and would like to offer her a greater piece of her patrimony. Third, I am related to the Garduños who are serious New Mexico foodies. In the last few years, the family has been criticized for their business management skills and financial problems. It is unfair that the family has been given so much negative publicity. I want to take an opportunity to provide a closer look at the Garduños, and in turn affirm their prominently positive mark on New Mexico history. Lastly, I have always heard that there is a Maloof connection in this line. Oral histories have denoted that these families are very close friends, and also business partners. At this point all I know for sure is that there is a restaurant opened by the Garduño family in the Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Palms is owned by the Maloof family. At one time, the Garduño family owned close to 10 restaurants, made close to $30 million a year in sales, and had restaurants in at least three states.

Tintype given to me by my grandma Emily. The frame is beautiful. This is my great great grandfather Cesario Herrera y Ortiz and his second wife Adelia Garduño. The couple was married on Feb. 2, 1914.

My great grandmother was Maria Fedelina Garduño y Gonzales de Ortiz. She was a humble, beautiful woman. We called her grandma Lina. She lived off of Rio Grande Boulevard and Rice Avenue on Duranes Road. Grandma Lina moved to Albuquerque from Nambe in about 1963, after the death of her husband Juan Eliu Ortiz. I am still looking into the premature death of a great great grandmother who died in childbirth. She was the first wife of my great great grandfather Cesario Herrera y Ortiz, who later married Adelia Garduño in February of 1914. Adelia was also my great grandma Lina’s sister, and I believe she would have been about 8 years old when they married. In 1900, all of the original Garduño family members were living in the Pojoaque/Nambe area. So far, I have established that from at least the late 1960s on, many of these Garduño’s have been in Albuquerque. Grandma Lina spent many years in Los Duranes. Historically, this was a little farm community which was originally founded by the Duran family in about 1750. The community follows the Camino Real, or the Royal Road, which was about a 1,600 mile trade route between Mexico and Santa Fe from the late 1500s until the late 1880s. In 1790, the Spanish census recorded the Plaza de Señor San Jose de Los Duranes. There were 27 families recorded on that census. The community was one of six settlements falling just north of Albuquerque. Some of the other communities captured in that census included Alameda, Los Candelarias, Los Griegos, Los Gallegos, and Los Ranchos.

My great grandmother, Maria Fedelina Garduño y Gonzales de Ortiz. She was a humble, beautiful woman. We called her "Grandma Lina."

I miss the long visits I had with my grandma Lina in her little warm home. She always offered a meal, snacks, and coffee. Her table was always equip with powder creamer and sugar. The visits ended because she passed away at 92 years old in 1999. At the time of her death, she was survived by four daughters (including my grandma Emily). Grandma Lina also had 15 grandchildren, 42 great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren. She was a member of La Hija de Maria Sacred Heart League, and attended San Jose de Duranes Catholic Church on Los Luceros. I always remember her praying on her knees, while holding a rosary, and chanting softly near her sacred candles. She was buried at the Mount Calvary Cemetery, and my father Gilbert was a pallbearer. Hopefully, with research, and with the help of my grandma I can shed more light on the great contributions made to New Mexico by the Garduño family. Following are some dates I have roughed out in a timeline. Some of these dates may be inaccurate, but in the next few months, I will connect more dots and with any luck conduct a few interviews. I never had the chance to hear grandma Lina sing. My grandma Emily remembers how her mother would sing while she ironed clothes. She has always said that my great grandma had an enchanting voice. I am very sad that I was never able to sit down to talk about family history with my great grandma when she was alive. I am sure that she would have loved to talk about her origins with me.

Garduño Timeline

1892, my great great grandfather Florencio Garduño married Maria Merced Gonzales

1906, my great grandmother Maria Fedelina Garduño y Gonzales de Ortiz was born, and was from Nambe

1910, Thirteenth Census of the United States- Garduño family (great grandma Fedelina and her sister Adelia) recorded in Precinct No. 22- Ortiz, Nambe Pueblo Grant

1914, my great great grandfather Cesario Herrera y Ortiz married his second wife Adelia Garduño

1921, Benancio Garduño was born

1931, my grandma Maria Emilia Oritz y Garduño de Lujan was born (baptized by Cesario Ortiz and Adelia Garduño de Ortiz in Pojoaque)

1957, the Garduño family became active foodies and opened Bennie’s Drive-in on North 4th Street

1960, my great grandfather Juan Eliu Ortiz passes away

1963, my great grandmother Maria Fedelina Garduño y Gonzales de Ortiz moved from Nambe to Albuquerque following the death of her husband Juan Eliu Ortiz

1969, Dave Garduño got a loan and reopened his father’s restaurant Bennie’s Drive-in under the name Taco Flats

1970-1975, Dave Garduño owned Taco Flats

1976-1978, Dave Garduño owned La Tapatia

1978-1981, Dave Garduño owned Papa Felipe’s Restaurant

1981, sold smaller restaurants to focus energy on the restaurant on 4th he named Garduño’s

1982-2010, Dave Garduño owned Garduño’s Restaurant and Cantina (8806 4th Street NW) in addition to other locations

1990, Dave Garduño opened Yesterdave’s (a 50s-style diner)

1991, Benancio Garduño (Dave’s father) died and was buried in the Santa Fe National Cemetery (Private- United States Army)

1996, Dave Garduño opened Garduño’s at the Palms Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada

1997, Dave Garduño opened Garduño’s at the Albuquerque International Sunport

1999, my great grandmother Maria Fedelina Garduño y Gonzales de Ortiz passed away

2010, Tortilla Inc. the parent company of Garduño’s filed for bankruptcy and closed three locations, including the restaurant on 4th Street

2010, the 6,000 square foot Garduño’s building on 4th Street was sold and the original building built by the Garduño family was unfortunately lost

Things I Learned, and Things I Miss About Christmas

Dad, Mom and Felish (1975)

An 80s ruckus at Grandma Corine’s house! Back row L2R: Brian (my brother); Felicia; and Phillip- Middle row L2R: Laura (my sis); Jeremy; Melanie- Front row L2R: Thomas (my brother); Michael; and Andres.

Christmas Tree at Grandma Corines (80s) – Farolitos at My Mom’s (2K) – Christmas Tree at Mom’s (90s)

The best present I got was from my sis. We call each other snoopy… (2011)

Snoopy gets writer’s block 2! :) (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* D Eats a Cookie (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Daryn and Felish

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Lights at tha Twinz (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Laura and JoyJoy (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Ize and D on Their New Bikes (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Ize and Dad (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Corine, Lindsay, and Dest (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* JoyJoy Flashes the Whites (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Mom and Shnoopy Lou (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Tha Boyziez (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* The Guyz (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Tha Twinz Tree (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Sistaz (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Dest and D (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Aunt Juana’s Christmas Tree (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Mom and Felish (2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* D Opens Shark Bay (“THE BEST GIFT EVER!!!”)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Diego and Gil

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Lights at Mark, Amanda and Baby Gurlz (my Grandma’s old house- 2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* Gil and Mom (2011)

Grandma and Isaiah at the NMDOT (my sis was in decoration heaven- 2011)

*CHRISTMAS EVE* My Cousin Shana (2011)

*CHRISTMAS DAY* Daryn, Felish and Dad (2011)

*CHRISTMAS DAY* My Little Sisters Tree in Her Bedroom (2011)

Angela Gabaldon and Ana Quintana – two of my friends and singing buddies! (1993)

The weekend has come and gone. It was nice, but I am tired! Christmas Eve was spent with my mom at my brother and sister’s house in Santa Fe, and Christmas Day was spent with my dad in Pojoaque. I had a chance to catch up with some cousins I had not seen in a while which is always nice. Lucia was at my dad’s house with her brothers Elias and Daniel. She is visiting and lives in San Diego now. Her brother Daniel had lost 100 lbs. and I was so proud of him. He said he was hittin’ the cardio “hard!” They both looked really good. I discovered that two of my cousins are leaving to the service soon. One from my maternal line, Justin Garcia, and the other from my paternal line, Daniel Lujan. I was jealous cuz JoyJoy, my sisz puppy got more gifts than I. Haha… My other little sister revealed her new obsession for baking and making treats (just like her mom-Julie). We even got a chance to speck my mom’s “xrated cat” lounging in action! Hahahaha…Laura and I put our shoes to the test, and guess what? It is possible to mud bog in high heels! Oh yeah- and my white jeans look HOT with creative coffee patterns splashed all over them!! Maybe I’ll start a new trend? Thanks for the new look Corinney! Aahahhhaaaa–).

Other than those things I learned, over the last two days I realized that there are some things that I just straight miss about Christmas. First, I must say that with all the busyness, cooking, cleaning, baking, planning, dashing, spending, and whatnot, I really miss just being a little kid! I would give anything to have a time machine, and go back to the days when Santa magically made it all happen… Or even better, maybe I would go back to when I could just wear a Santa suit myself, just chillin’ and droolin’ to my hearts content! Maybe I would go back to the days when we spent Christmas Eve at my Grandma Corine’s. All the kids raising a ruckus under her tree, eating tinsel and breaking bulbs! I might decide to go back to the days when my smile sent flashes through the room while I victoriously lifted my mini PacMan arcade game into the air… You know the days when I could gobble blue ghosts, and bouncin’ fruit up until my eyes and my hands hurt!?

Second, I really miss the hand-made gifts my Grandma Emily use to give us. When we were little she did all kinds of fun things like: crochet us crazy cowboys boots; make me rock and roll sweaters; stitch us hand-made and decorated stockings; make our barbie dolls dresses into tissue roll covers; make us blankets; make beautiful ornaments out of tin cans; and paint us pictures.

Third, I miss the days when me and my friends would sing in the church choir. We would practice for hours on end together. Tommy banging away on the piano, and Carmen handing out the sheet music. I can see Ana and Angela holding one ear closed so that we could get the tune just right. We would exercise our vocal cords singing the Little Drummer Boy, Silent Night, and other classics. One of our classmates lil Philly went on to sing professionally, and is now known as Felipe. Tonight I heard him on my little sisters iPhone singing in church this Christmas with she and the current choir group. They sounded really good!

Fourth, I thought about certain people this year. I originally wanted to post about them tonight, but I think to do their memory justice, they deserve their very own post. The four people on my mind were Justin Ortega (my step brother), Ursula Duran (my nephew’s mother), and Aundria Griego and Kim Aragon (my friends). All four passed away young and tragically. All of them had so much more to give. I will post about these four soon. I know for sure that two of them had traditional farolitos to light their tombstones on Christmas Eve. Hopefully they could feel that warmth from heaven…

Oh- and maybe I do miss having lights on my house more than I thought!

Wood Shavings and Mysteries of a Master Craftsman: A Visit with Richard Lujan

It is true that our hands can translate abstract ideas to many mediums, and wood is one of them. As Carl Jung (1875-1961), the infamous founder of analytical psychology once said “often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain.” The hands and the mind work together mysteriously to convey thoughts, feelings, and history in meaningful ways. Today I paid a visit to the wood shop where my uncle works. He has worked for the same company for over 30 years. When I asked him how long he had been there (which seems like forever) he said that he didn’t even know. All he knew was that he started the day John Lennon died. I didn’t know when that was off hand, but it was 1980. I felt this was a true sign that he loves what he does so much that time has been of little consequence. When people hate what they do, it feels like every second, minute, hour and day is engrained with a harsh remembrance.

My uncle grew up watching my grandpa work. The three sons of Gilbert Lujan Sr. (which included my father Gilbert Lujan Jr.) learned many things from senior. I didn’t know until today, that my grandfather (now at peace) made the cabinets still standing in my grandmother’s kitchen. With a proud look, my uncle said “I get my carpentry from my dad.” Before working with Taos Furniture/Southwest Spanish Craftsmen, Rick Lujan worked in Los Alamos building condos from the ground up. The condos were undoubtedly homes to future scientists and physicists from abroad. Over the years, he has made thousands of pieces. Some were made for family, some for friends, and some for strangers in a Saudi Arabian palace. My uncle has also created custom works for Cher, Helen Rosburg (romance novelist and heiress to the Wrigley’s chewing-gum fortune), Madonna, and Luke Longly. Rick has made his mark on history which escapes the bounds of New Mexico, with works shipped to Italy, France, and Japan. When asked about his thoughts on creativity, he responded “it is important to me because it expresses who I am. As a people, it shows who we are, where we are going, and where we came from.”

Today I learned more about the many historical techniques and tools of the trade. I received a demonstration on the use of block planes. The planes are used instead of sanding because it is “cleaner” and “gives wood a better sheen.” It is also interesting that the craftsmen must take the final home of their works into account. This is necessary because of humidity levels in certain places, so they calculate the expansion of wood into their plans. Some of my uncle’s favorite techniques include using multicolored wood for contrast. Almost all of the wood pieces are created using mortise-and-tenon joints (meaning no nails). This is not only a traditional technique, but these joints are probably the strongest in woodworking. I also learned a bit about making the wood look aged, and burnishing the wood with rocks. When wood is burnished, the wood fibers are compressed until they become shiny. One of the most interesting things I learned was that my uncle invents his own stains. Using different mixtures or what he called “formulas,” he makes his own stain out of paint thinner (for consistency), asphalt tar (for color), and boiled linseed oil (as a paint binder). After the stains are made, some may be applied with a hand rubbed finish, or larger pieces may be sprayed in a metal spray booth with a full ventilation system.

The piece my uncle told me about before I went to visit the shop was a new grandfather clock he is working on for the owners. He obviously knows what I would like because it was the best piece that I saw in the shop, out of the work of several craftsmen. The clock was completely made by my uncle with the exception of a small feature carving on top. The feature carving was made by Ivan Dimitrov, and it completed the clock with a rendition of Michaelangelo’s creation of the stars and planets. This piece was worth close to a cool 10 grand. After showing me around, my uncle spent some time showing me over-sized blueprints he has used to make what is called a “Padre Bench.” I had mentioned to him that a patron once inquired about how these benches were made in the Spanish-Colonial era. At the time of the inquiry, I did not know the benches were actually called a “Padre” or “Priest Bench.” I guess that makes sense now, since that patron was looking into the history of a bench which was once the “family pew” in a church.

When I got home tonight, I watched a touching take away my uncle gave me. He sent me off with a short DVD which he said “would give me more about the history.” I couldn’t wait to pop it in and put up my feet. Those interviewed for the informational segment spoke about how the craft is “simply a relationship with the wood.” They mentioned a sense of “pride,” and the “stewardship” of these “carpinteros,” as they “preserve an element of Northern New Mexico culture.” What struck me about this whole experience is how often the artisans refer to themselves as a “dying breed of craftsmen.” I had to call my uncle and tell him that he is amazing, and that he has to keep the torch burning for future generations. If the art does indeed die, then at least the existing works of these New Mexican artisans will endure, and hopefully be treasured. As my uncle said in his savvy DVD interview, “I think what makes working here more exciting for me is knowing that it is going to go to somebody who is going to pass it on. It’s going to live forever.”

Taos Furniture Sign

Richard Lujan 12.10.2011

Wood Shop

Woodworking Tools

Fuel of the Craftsman (hahahahaha :) )

Rick Lujan in Action

Jewelry Box for Felicia by Uncle Rick-1992

Grandfather Clock3 by Rick Lujan and Ivan Dimitrov

Grandfather Clock2 by Rick Lujan and Ivan Dimitrov

Michelangelo’s Creation of Stars and Planets by Ivan Dimitrov

Carving Detail on Grandfather Clock by Rick Lujan

Grandfather Clock by Rick Lujan and Ivan Dimitrov

Padre Bench Plan

Carving Detail on Canopy Bed by Rick Lujan

Canopy Bed

Photograph in Wood Shop of My Uncle Hauling Wood

Jewelry Cabinet by Rick Lujan

Jewelry Cabinet2 by Rick Lujan

Headboard and Footboard

Urn box by Rick Lujan

Cabinet by Juan Munoz Reyes

Cabinet2 by Juan Munoz Reyes

King Tut and Haplogroup R1b1a2

It is amazing to see the hits when one searches the information highway for stories about King Tut’s DNA. Sometime back, I discovered that the men in my paternal line share the same Y-DNA of this king. Tut’s DNA derived from Haplogroup R1b1a2. There are still a great number of people at odds over his origin, but I’ll bet most of them are not scientists!!

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Half of European Men Share King Tut’s DNA
http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews/idAFL3E7J135P20110801?sp=true
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Originally published on the Reuters Africa web site (8.1.2011 by Alice Baghdjian and edited by Paul Casciato)
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LONDON Aug 1 (Reuters Life!) – Up to 70 percent of British men and half of all Western European men are related to the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, geneticists in Switzerland said.

Scientists at Zurich-based DNA genealogy centre, iGENEA, reconstructed the DNA profile of the boy Pharaoh, who ascended the throne at the age of nine, his father Akhenaten and grandfather Amenhotep III, based on a film that was made for the Discovery Channel.

The results showed that King Tut belonged to a genetic profile group, known as haplogroup R1b1a2, to which more than 50 percent of all men in Western Europe belong, indicating that they share a common ancestor.

Among modern-day Egyptians this haplogroup contingent is below 1 percent, according to iGENEA.

“It was very interesting to discover that he belonged to a genetic group in Europe — there were many possible groups in Egypt that the DNA could have belonged to,” said Roman Scholz, director of the iGENEA Centre.

Around 70 percent of Spanish and 60 percent of French men also belong to the genetic group of the Pharaoh who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago.

“We think the common ancestor lived in the Caucasus about 9,500 years ago,” Scholz told Reuters.

It is estimated that the earliest migration of haplogroup R1b1a2 into Europe began with the spread of agriculture in 7,000 BC, according to iGENEA.

However, the geneticists were not sure how Tutankhamun’s paternal lineage came to Egypt from its region of origin.

The centre is now using DNA testing to search for the closest living relatives of “King Tut”.

“The offer has only been publicised for three days but we have already seen a lot of interest,” Scholz told Reuters.