Jicarilla history lesson number 1

There is a lady named Clara who lives on the road between Lumberton and Dulce. Her kids went to school here and some of her younger grandkids are here now. One day she invited me in for coffee.

I heard about her education at an Indian boarding school. Those schools were part of U.S. policy to assimilate Indians--to civilize them. When Clara spoke in Jicarilla at her school, the only language she knew, her teachers locked her in a utility closet. She laughed about this lesson in civility, but she told me she would cry for hours as a little girl, feeling so stupid for not knowing English.

She showed me a picture of her mother and father and told me about her grandfather. Because her grandfather knew the Spanish language, he was part of the delegation that travelled to Washington to negotiate a reservation with the (I guess) Chester A. Arthur administration. Her grandpa translated Jicarilla to Spanish and another delegate translated Spanish to English.

The Jicarilla Indians were disappointed with the land they got in the deal. It lacked sufficient water. What it didn't lack, they learned many years later, was oil and gas.

Fr. Peter Morello

Fr. Peter lives on the reservation and is the pastor at St. Francis. He visits classrooms each week and bravely takes on the hard questions. ("If God created only good things, how come there's a war?") Originally from Boston and officially retired, he spends time at Keuka Lake each summer. At one time he was chaplain at the VA Hospital in Bath, NY.

Typical schedule

• 5:30 Get up. Grace, who arrived here a few days after I did and who began teaching in 1955, will have already showered, made coffee, and cleaned the bathroom.
• 7:30 Meeting in the principal's office with him and the other teachers. Pep talk and prayer. (It's a Catholic school, don't forget.)
• 7:40 Breakfast in the gym with kids and other teachers. Sometimes oatmeal, sometimes tortillas with eggs, sometimes cereal and fruit. Maria, a neighbor, is the wonderful cook. Her kids go to school here. Her husband hangs around too to help with various chores and tell jokes.
• 8:15 Assembly of all kids and teachers in the gym for prayers (it's a Catholic school, don't forget), announcements, and pledge of allegiance. Very orderly and straight-lined. (It's a Catholic school, don't forget.)
• 8:30 Teach religion to seventeen 4th and 5th-graders.
• 9:00 Teach language arts, spelling, handwriting, and reading to thirteen 4th-graders.
• 11:00 Recess and lunch. Bring broom to playground to check for rattlesnakes under playground equipment. (I haven't seen one yet, but I'm pretty sure I saw a mountain lion on the hill behind the swingset.) Lunch is Maria's fare again. Southwestern cuisine or homemade soups. Serve with her in kitchen, then eat with kids.
• 12:00 Quiet time.
• 12:15 Teach math to six 3rd-graders. Multiplication, multiplication, multiplication!
• 1:00 Teach social studies to six 3rd-graders and three 4th-graders. Continents, oceans, natural resources.
• 1:35 Teach social studies to ten 4th-graders and five 5th-graders. Map keys, the compass rose, latitude, longitude.
  
• 2:10 Health or music or art.
• 3:00 Assembly of all kids and teachers in the gym for the Prayer of St. Francis (it's a Catholic school, don't forget), announcements, and dismissal. Very orderly and straight-lined. (It's a Catholic school, don't forget.)
• 3:05 Collapse in a heap.
  

Computer skills: Digital photography

21 CR 356, Lumberton NM 87528

That's the physical address. The mailing address is HC 71 Box 95, Dulce NM 87528. (In case you want to send Seattle coffee, white hots from Rochester, or baby pictures.)

3d grade clowns

Abaachi Daa Na Gonnt'i'ye

Lumberton loves Hillary

Verdolagas

A little boy in my class picks these from the sand in the playground and snacks on them all afternoon. I found out the plant's Spanish name is verdolagas and its English name is purslane.

Here's a recipe I found online:




Verdolagas (Apache) adapted from Enduring Harvest by Kavasch

* 1 Tablespoon Corn Oil
* 1/2 Pound Lean Pork -- Boned, Cubed
* 1 Medium Onion -- Chopped
* 1 Clove Garlic -- Chopped
* 1 Medium Tomatoes -- Chopped
* 1/2 Pound Verdolagas (Purslane) -- Leaves And Branches
* 1 Medium Red Pepper -- Roasted And Chopped
* 1/4 Teaspoon Thyme
* 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
* Pepper -- To Taste
Heat oil in large skillet and brown the pork cubes, cook evenly. Add onion, garlic, and tomatoes, one at a time, stirring well. Add the verdolagas and remaining seasonings; stir well, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally and stirring once. Serve hot, with condiments like hot sauce or light vinegar to enhance the flavors. Serves 10.

Scary things: Hantavirus

I learned about the hantavirus earlier this year in a class I took on epidemics. It’s deadly and transmitted by rodents in Northern New Mexico. The CDC website says this about its discovery in the early 1990s:

“an outbreak of an unexplained pulmonary illness occurred in the southwestern United States, in an area shared by Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah known as "The Four Corners." A young, physically fit Navajo man suffering from shortness of breath was rushed to a hospital in New Mexico and died very rapidly.”

So kitties are especially good things out here. We got this one (see her hiding in my bookcase?) and another at the Humane Society this week.

First day of school - My 4th grade homeroom

To my former teachers: I salute you all!

I was thinking of those Sisters of St. Joseph and Sisters of Mercy on the first day of school yesterday. How did they do it with 50+ kids in a room? Where did they even put them all? It was 1961 when I started fourth grade at Sacred Heart. My social studies book was divided into three parts for study of three countries: Bolivia, Uganda, and Vietnam. (The Vietnam War had not begun, at least not openly.) It was the first time I saw a TV in school. They hauled one - a huge and heavy thing - into Sr. Aqualina’s classroom to watch John Glenn’s spaceship land in the Atlantic.

3-mile walk to Dulce

Scary things: UFOs

Lumberton is at the base of the Archuleta Mesa. According to the locals, UFOs come around here all the time. The stories are not just of sitings, but also of conspiracies and cover-ups. Google “ARCHULETA UFO” to find some interesting blogs and images.

Eight days here

Len, my principal, met me at the airport last week. We dodged dozens, if not hundreds, of deer and elk on the long ride from Albuquerque to Lumberton after dark. Cindy, a fellow teacher, showed me to my room with a pile of clean sheets and blankets. Ahh ...

Scroll up to the picture in the top right. That's my bedroom window in my new home. The house was once a seminary, I'm told. It was built around 1915 and is partially constructed of adobe.

This is a stunning and exotic place, a long way from Seattle. Sketchy Internet service (which is why this is my first post), no potable water except for what's hauled in by the Army, but lots of sky.

School starts Tuesday. There will be seven teachers, including one arriving from Elmira, NY, for about 80 kids.