Northern New Mexico College
For the land-based peoples of the region, the Spanish American Normal School (now known as The El Rito Campus of Northern New Mexico College) provided centralized access to education that would allow them to complete in a changing economy while maintaining their traditional practices.
The El Rito Campus matters because it allows communities to maintain their cultural heritage while preparing for meaningful job opportunities and economic development in the area. As the first Hispanic Serving Institution of higher education in the United States, the El Rito Campus matters because it has consistently provided generations of Nuevomexicanos with the opportunity to combine their worldviews with the best practices in education. The institution has traditionally and continues to serve a majority student population of Hispanic and Native Americans with a dedication to learning and teaching multilingually while centering regional perspectives.
In northern New Mexico, our connection to land and water-sharing traditions (repartamientos y acequias) have always been at the heart of our communal practices, including construction, agricultural practices, and art. The El Rito Campus currently houses the Traditional Arts Programs of Adobe (mud-brick) Construction, Spanish Colonial Furniture Making, Weaving, Retablo (hand painted images of saints painted with natural pigments) painting, Bulto carving (woodcarving) along with more standard academic and vocational programs. This best-of-both worlds curriculum matters in an area that is committed to maintaining traditions that have sustainably served our communities for centuries. As we continue to develop our curriculum, we believe that the preservation of our sustainability practices can provide meaningful, and much needed, models for helping other communities throughout the nation maintain their own practices for supporting local economies.
After 100+ years in existence, the El Rito Campus matters because of the the economic and cultural challenges we face as a Hispanic and Native American serving Institution. Outside of its scant cities, New Mexicans possess too few public institutions that seek to cultivate the talents, buttress intellect and encourage leadership by the people who have occupied this region for centuries. Our vision of education is invested in a regionally specific concept of peoplehood that celebrates the indigenous and traditional languages, knowledges, ceremonies and practices of our surrounding communities. The El Rito Campus matters because it provides educational resources in a vast and relatively poor geographic area of the fifth largest state. These resources stimulate civic progress and service to community; inspire literacy and dialogue; create awareness and cull from its indigenous and traditional people the best of their own cultural creations. With imperatives of this magnitude, a facility such as that of the El Rito Campus, whose stone walls bear the imprint of thousands of people from the area who have studied and worked there, stands strong as a continued site of transformative education for the peoples of northern New Mexico.
That is why Nangeh shankí na cha ko?, El Rito es importante, El Rito matters!
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