Jicarillas

Jicarillas are little baskets. The term comes from Mexican Spanish and is pronounced "heeck a REE yas."

A new chapter in my biography

Lumberton, New Mexico is five miles from the Colorado border, three hours from Albuquerque.

I’m leaving two weeks from today for Lumberton to teach Jicarilla Apache kids. I heard about the job while I was visiting Hawaii this summer. The more I thought about it, the more it appealed to me. After lots of conversation and research, they offered and I accepted. St. Francis School's web site says this about its history.

Around the 1890's the Catholic Church began a mission in Lumberton. It was one of many small towns in Northern New Mexico that began to build Catholic community. Fr. Antonio Jouvenzeau ministered to the missions from Parkview to Farmington. In 1910 the Franciscan Fathers took over all the missions in the area. Around 1915 the Fathers built the first school house. The two story structure housed grades 1-8. By 1920 the school was staffed by Franciscan sisters. Until three years ago, sisters of various orders have taught and run the school. The population of the school and enrollment has changed very little since that time. Enrollment fluctuates between 80 - 110 students.

Wish me luck. Come and visit me. I’ll be home at Christmas.