
On May 23rd and 24th, 2009 Rio Grande Return joined Zia Pueblo members in a project to restore a sacred pueblo spring that had gone dry. A group of enthusiastic volunteers spent two rainy days helping members of Zia Pueblo build rock dams above the spring in order to slow erosion, allow the soil to recharge with rainwater and hold moisture in the surrounding hills.

The spring has long been an important sacred site and water source for Zia Pueblo. The water from this spring was traditionally collected during summer solstice pilgrimages, and then taken back to the pueblo. But erosion, climate change and increasing water needs have kept the spring from flowing for the last several years.

Most of the volunteers hadn’t known each other previous to the event but everyone united quickly in a shared purpose of environmental and cultural restoration.

The rains, the most fundamental element to this work, were celebrated and and never dampened our spirits. Peter told the group that “Mother Nature and the spirit world are showering us with rain. I personally believe that when people are coming together for a good cause that these kinds of things happen. This is good weather.”

Native Americans have been victims of both conscious and unconscious acts of genocide from our European ancestors who justified taking their lands, and the countless efforts to destroy their culture ,by claiming it as manifest destiny. After centuries of betrayal and abuse, it is astonishing that these same people would ask us for help and give us the opportunity to work collaboratively with them to restore a spring. It was evident when we gathered around Peter and his petroglyph, that our work on the landscape was also soul work and an opportunity for our cultures to come together meaningfully with a shared commitment to a place. Thank you Peter!

Food, stories and laughter highlight the meaningful connections made through a shared vision and a lot of hard work.

Peter felt that that the importance of this event needed to be commemorated by putting it in stone. “Everything”, said Peter, “that we do within our lives in the pueblo has to do with realizing that we don’t have much water … We should accept the fact that we are part of Mother Earth and that we don’t own it. It’s really ownership that is a foreign concept to tribes … In the past, everything was shared by the people, the animals, the birds, the insects, the plants, all of that. If you try to assist nature, you can make things happen.”

Back at camp there is still important work to be done. Here Vivian is cleaning the mud off of Ellen’s boots.

2009 A PETROGLYPH CREATED BY GOVERNOR PETER PINO TO COMMEMORATE THE THE COLLABORATIVE WORK BETWEEN ZIA PUEBLO, RIO GRANDE RETURN AND KEYSTONE RESTORATION ECOLOGY TO RESTORE TWO SACRED SPRINGS IN THE OJITO WILDERNESS Thanks to all the volunteers and members of Zia Pueblo who came worked together for the benefit of the environment and each other.