Dexter Trujillo Gathering Mistletoe from a Juniper Tree

Dexter Trujillo Gathering Mistletoe from a Juniper Tree

Like most Genízaro people in Abiquiú, Dexter Trujillo descends from a family that helped settle the community. In the mid- 1800s, Apache people abducted his ancestor, Juan de Dios, as the boy strode along Abiquiú Creek. According to Trujillo family history, the boy was enslaved for more than nine years before he injured his leg and was left for dead. He survived by eating mistletoe fungus from juniper trees (such as this, above) until U.S. Army soldiers discovered the boy and returned him to Abiquiú.

Trujillo is a leader of Los Hermanos Penitentes (The Penitent Brothers), a religious brotherhood formed at Abiquiú by the 1800s. In addition to commemorating the Passion of Jesus Christ, the brotherhood prays on behalf of the community.

Photo by Russel Albert Daniels