Water is life:

“Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community,” by Jeanette.Armstrong,

We share more than a place; we share a physical tie that is uniquely human. The bond of community and family includes the history of the  many who came before us. And the many ahead of us who share our flesh. What I get out of this is like my dad and mom all have knowledge before us and it is our job to learn and take in what they teach for the people ahead of us, meaning the future because they hold our flesh.

“Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community,” by Jeanette.Armstrong,  in Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (eds), The Case Against the Global Economy. San Francisco, CA, Sierra Club Books, 1996. Pp 460-470.

“And I went to school” by Joseph Suina 

¨And then I went to school ¨ Joe Suina grew up living with his grandma. He enjoyed the life he was living. He did not care; he lived in an adobe house with no electricity, and  no television. He grew the rez way. He was very educated by his grandma about their culture. Because grandma was part of a society. He started to grow up and went to school, he noticed the difference of how he was treated at home then at school. Things changed in Joe Suina's head on how he was living. He wanted to live the white man's way. and I say that all started when he went to school.

Suina, Joseph “And I went to school” memories of a pueblo childhood,”. New Mexico Journal of Reading, Winter 1985, Vol. V, No.2.

“How place names impact the way we see landscape.” by B. Toastie 

Memories and stories are connected to our land as described by B. Toastie in the article, ¨ How place names impact the way we see landscape, ¨. Place names and the stories behind them define how we perceive and connect to landscape. Memories and stories are connected to our land because the stories tell a lot of meaning on why the water is special an landscape all have names and stories behind them. 

Toastie, B. “How place names impact the way we see landscape.” High Country News:    Know the West, 1 May 2022, https://www.hcn.org/issues/54.5/people-places-how-place-names-impact- the-way-we-see-landscape.

Cochiti lake was built by the US corps of engineers but the problem was that Cochiti did not ask for the dam to be built but it was the Flood Control Act of 1960 that pushed for the dam to be built also for safety of the pueblos down the river. And also there was a threat of hydro-electric power on Cochiti lake. Under the water of the lake sits sacred places of Cochiti. 

Regis Pecos, The History of Cochiti Lake from the Pueblo Perspective, 47 NAT. RES. J. 639 (2007). Available at https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nrj/vol47/iss3/7

Federal Indian policy during the 1870 to 1900 focused on removal, treaties, reservations and war. And how the Dawes Act also known as General Allotment Act played a part in this and the reason for this act was to break up reservation and by granting land allotments. 

(“Home > Dawes Act (1887)”) National Archives, 8 February 2022, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/dawes-act. Accessed 27 February 2025.

After reading the Article it talks about how the Europeans first reached North America and how it has changed over the years. In the beginning they did not recognize the spiritual, cultural, and intellectual riches of the people they called indians. Europeans also believed they discovered a new world but really the Indians were the first to live on this land and Europeans did what they could to take it from the indians. Like how they had the belief that Indians were soon to be extinct and how the trail of tears took place but the Indians refused to lose their unique identity. 

It is Hard to believe what our ancestors had to go through way back then. Just to think we were living the good life until the Europeans showed up and split every tribe up and now we are separated but I was glad to read we did not give up to lose our identity for who  we are and that we are still here till this day.

PSKOWSKI, M. Texas Sued New Mexico Over Rio Grande Water. Now the States are Fighting the Federal Government. InsideClimate News, [s. l.], 31 out. 2024. Disponível em: https://research-ebsco-com.sfis.idm.oclc.org/linkprocessor/plink?id=444dcb13-ed1d-390b-9b91-a6cb0c2006b8. Acesso em: 28 fev. 2025.

¨Loving our changing homelands how NM can move toward a respectful future with the environment.¨

This article talks about the change of New Mexico and the impact it had made with climate change. How hot it has been and how people have gotten sick to more vulnerable heat-related illnesses. Greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced. 

“Loving our changing homelands” how NM can move toward a respectful future with the environment. Gallup Independent, The (NM), [s. l.], p. 4, 26 ago. 2024. Disponível em: https://research-ebsco-com.sfis.idm.oclc.org/linkprocessor/plink?id=65747770-eae5-3d89-9179-d803421be893. Acesso em: 28 fev. 2025.

EPA Grant to Pueblo of Tesuque 

This article talks about a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also called (EPA). EPA announced a grant to Tesuque of $31,508 and they used the money for water quality testing i8n the Pueblos three main streams. EPA was providing the funding as a multipurpose Grant under a cooperative agreement. ¨ By supporting the program of Tesuque to sample and assess water quality the grant also would help the pueblo protect and improve their water resources¨, said Regional administrator Ken Mcqueen. The pueblo tested the water bodies to find common strain E. coli bacteria and to establish baseline levels of turbidity. 

Epa Grant to Pueblo of Tesuque Will Support Water Quality Testing. States News Service, [s. l.], 9 jun. 2020. Disponível em: https://research-ebsco-com.sfis.idm.oclc.org/linkprocessor/plink?id=9533732e-e134-3112-9b93-6b558746b3d7. Acesso em: 28 fev. 2025.

Water Pollution  My understanding of this article is the result of human activities. Like mining agriculture and improper waste disposal have negative health impacts on plant and animal life. Also water pollution was usually caused by contamination from animal life. Also water pollution was usually caused by contamination from animal and human waste, leading to outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne disease And before the Industrial Revolution humans produced small abouts of refined metal and organic materials. Which was not too much of a problem. But DURING the industrial Revolution people began to produce cast iron on large scale which is getting out of hand because they are burning charcoal and using a lot of heat which is bad. 

CULLERS, R. L. Water pollution. Salem Press Encyclopedia of Science, [s. l.], 2024. Disponível em: https://research-ebsco-com.sfis.idm.oclc.org/linkprocessor/plink?id=9c72a70d-2d4f-3c28-90c2-769be4fcada2. Acesso em: 28 fev. 2025.

CODINGTON-LACERTE, C. Water scarcity. Salem Press Encyclopedia, [s. l.], 2024. Disponível em: https://research-ebsco-com.sfis.idm.oclc.org/linkprocessor/plink?id=d7556aba-6977-34a9-9826-47f8f5f6d646. Acesso em: 28 fev. 2025.