Virgil and Isabel Trujillo in Their Family Apple Orchard

Virgil and Isabel Trujillo in Their Family Apple Orchard

Virgil Trujillo (left in photo, brother of Dexter Trujillo) manages part of Abiquiú’s centuries- old “acequias,” or communal irrigation system. It combines Spanish and Indigenous practices to direct water into fields. “Our identity is tied to the land,” he says. “Ranching and farming are the source of our life and freedom. Everything is tied to the land; everything starts as a natural resource.”

Isabel Trujillo, Virgil’s wife, is the director of the Pueblo de Abiquiú Library and Cultural Center. “Anthropologists and history books have ignored our painful past, but many Abiquiú families have continuously honored our Indigenous ancestry with ceremony, dancing and feast days,” she says. “Today, there is a revival and resurgence of interest in our unique Genízaro identity, culture and history. You can’t take it out of our blood.”

Photo by Russel Albert Daniels