The Genízaro Pueblo of Abiquiú
Image caption: Image of artist Russel Albert Daniels (Diné and Ho-Chunk)
Russel Albert Daniels (Diné and Ho-Chunk)
Photographer Russel Albert Daniels explores the complex story of a more than 250-year-old Indigenous/Hispanic community in New Mexico and its history of violence, slavery and survival. Since their arrival in the 1500s, Spanish colonizers worked to eradicate Indigenous cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. “Genízaros” are Indigenous individuals who were abducted from their own communities and enslaved or purchased as captives of war from other tribes.
Forced to work as servants in the homes and fields of Spanish and other colonizers, many Genízaros endured abuse. The lives of several thousand Native peoples and their descendants were deeply impacted by this oppression, yet their ties to the land and community remained strong. The unique Genízaro culture and identity continues to be honored and celebrated within communities such as the Pueblo of Abiquiú.