EXCAVATING in DIXON, NEW MEXICO

This summer, through the generous support of the AIA-NYS Scholars Program Research Grant, I have had the opportunity to continue my archaeological research in Northern New Mexico. This work began in 2023, when I took part in Professor Severin Fowles’ summer field course, and has continued throughout my time at Barnard College through collaborative excavations at Picuris Pueblo, the Dixon plaza, and across the surrounding landscape. Having graduated in May, I am returning to Northern New Mexico to conduct excavations at the former sacred chapel and meeting house (morada) of the Catholic Penitente Brotherhood in Dixon, New Mexico.

Beginning of excavations at presumed foundation of morada

The morada was torn down around 1950, following American and Protestant efforts to discredit the Hermanos, as well as the economic and social effects of the Korean War, which together led to a significant decline in the congregation. The Hermandad, which had once functioned as a spiritual, social, and political hub for the community, was destroyed, and with it, much of its history and particular traditions. This work is positioned at an intersection of colonial, religious, and political histories, and because the written record offers few accurate and unsensationalized accounts of the Hermandad, we have turned to community held knowledge to learn this history.

View outside after an evening plática

Our work this week has begun with a series of pláticas, organized by University of New Mexico professor and poet Levi Romero. These informal conversations have brought us together with community members who carry memories of the Hermandad and of the landscape in which it once operated. Through stories, recollections, and conversations about family and place, we have begun to piece together histories that are largely absent from the written record. Learning from the community we are working in has been a large tenet of this project and these insights will continue to inform our work as we begin excavations. This will be the first time a morada has been excavated in New Mexico or the southwest, and will be an important contribution to affirming the cultural and historical significance of the Hermandad to Indo-Hispano identity.