Presented by Samantha Nava.
This talk shares highlights from an oral history research on the Merced de San Miguel del Bado, also known as the San Miguel del Vado Land Grant. This land grant was established in the late 18th century along the Pecos River Valley (“El Valle”) downstream from Pecos Pueblo. These oral histories are part of Nava’s thesis project, which aims to preserve this land grant’s history by documenting their stories, places, and material culture. Through interviews with community members guided by their love for this land, their querencia, she intends to create a virtual museum exhibit that uses maps, photographs, objects, and audio clips to share their stories about this place.
Samantha Nava is a graduate student at New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces, working to complete her MA degree in Anthropology and Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies. She earned her BA degree in Foreign Languages (Spanish) and Anthropology from NMSU, which propelled her to continue her studies in historical archaeology—learning more about different communities in the Southwest and their relationship with everyday objects. Her current research involves working with the Spanish land grant community of San Miguel del Vado to collect oral histories and share these stories in a virtual museum exhibit. This exhibit aims to record and preserve stories about this place to pinpoint what, besides location, connects all community members from villages within the land grant.
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