Taos Woman by The Taos News

Keep Smilin’

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taoswoman celebrating the feminine spirit

GIRL POWER

or decades, women have had to fight and claw their way up the male ladder. Their struggle with inequality and second-class treatment by men has gone on for too long. While it’s good that many instances of sexual harassment and workplace discrimination are reported on and discussed with the hope of change, it’s sad commentary about the state of our nation’s social conscience. Taos and its women, however, persevere. They are authentic, independent, strongwilled, gritty, compassionate and unafraid of taking risks. They are as colorful, as

CONTENTS

Remarkable woman of Taos Liz Cunningham (1951-2018) By Virginia L. Clark.

Commander of the rebel base, caretaker of culture Tessa Córdova, Chicana activist and educator By Dawn Franco

An invitation to rhythm and joy Julia Daye: poet, dancer, DJ, social activist By Cindy Brown

protective, as tough, as forgiving — and when need be as unforgiving — and as bright as this beacon cradled by the Sangre de Cristo mountains we call home. Throughout Taos’ history, the driven and unique women here (whether born in Taos County or beckoned here) have shaped and molded many of our community’s children, the arts, businesses and charitable endeavors. They are leaders and role models who leave no stone unturned and no road unexplored. They reach out for the betterment of others. Inside these pages we continue to recognize the trailblazers, the givers and the

‘Enough is enough’ Women speaking up, speaking out against domestic violence and sexual assault By Malinda Williams

Virtual village Taos First Steps: a program of Holy Cross Hospital By Virginia L. Clark

Exploring self and the world Taos’ newly formed Girl Scout Troop 10684 By Cindy Brown

Kick-ass cowgirl Jenny Lancaster ‘reins’ supreme in horse (and people) training By Scott Gerdes On the cover: Cover design by Andy Nicolais. Cover image, “The Letter” by Lenny Foster.

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voices of Taoseñas such as Tessa Córdova and Juanita Jaramillo Lavadie, who strive to keep culture and tradition alive; One Billion Rising organizer Julia Daye; and multipassioned Delinda VanneBrightyn of Taos Search and Rescue. Also featured is “horse whisperer” Jenny Lancaster Leshem, Taos High teens express how they feel about President Trump’s remarks about women, a support group for first-time mothers and the new Taos Girl Scout troop. Again in this edition is “Movers and Shakers” times six. Rounding out this installment of Taos Woman is a timely article that addresses domestic abuse, sexual

Tireless and passionate Delinda VanneBrightyn: artist, dancer, dog trainer, Taos Search & Rescue president By Andy Dennison

Labor of love Juanita Jaramillo Lavadie: educator, artist, acequiera and historian By Virginia L. Clark

Movers & Shakers

Taos career women to know 16 Cynthia Arvidson 26 Kristen Rivera 36 Francesca Medina 46 Inger Jirby 58 Carmela Quinto 64 Jane Gerard

harassment and the #MeToo movement submitted by Community Against Violence. Taos women surround themselves with other formidable females who know their immense worth and who continue to inspire and be inspired whether they are backed by men or not. As Brigham Young once said, “You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.” This edition of Taos Woman is dedicated to Elizabeth Cunningham, whose book “Remarkable Women of Taos” was the catalyst for creating this publication. — Scott Gerdes, special sections editor

TAOS NEWS STAFF Robin Martin owner Chris Baker publisher Staci Matlock editor Chris Wood advertising director Scott Gerdes special sections editor Andy Nicolais lead editorial designer Will Avery II production manager Mary Beth Libbey chief copy editor Yvonne Pesquera digital editor Katharine Egli photographer Contributing writers: Cindy Brown, Virginia L. Clark, Andy Dennison, Dawn Franco, Malinda Williams Contributing photographer: Megan Bowers Avina

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REMARKABLE WOMAN OF TAOS Liz Cunningham (1951-2018)

CUNNINGHAM continues on Page 8 Courtesy Kathleen Brennan

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By Virginia L. Clark

leading Taos scholar, author and arts advocate, Elizabeth Cunningham, died Jan. 18, according to her husband Skip Keith Miller. She was 66 years old.

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“This morning a little before 3 [a.m.], Liz gently walked on. Pierre was with me, and we are now filled with a mixture of both joy and sorrow — joy that Liz is free of the horrible restraints the ALS placed on her body and sorrow at how terribly much we will all miss her,” a statement by Miller to friends and family reads. “She was the strongest and gentlest being I will have ever known, and her compassion and unconditional love was a life guide for the boys and myself.” Cunningham essentially birthed the Remarkable Women of Taos phenomenon , resulting in the 2012 yearlong town-of-Taos theme, as well as a book and a blog of the same name. She estimated the enterprise involved more than 450 women of Taos, past and present. Her book spawned The Taos News’ creation of “Taos Woman.” “She was the driving force behind the original blog and website offered in partnership with the Mabel Dodge [Luhan House organization] that year and worked tirelessly to create the book commemorating the project, which was published in 2013 by the newly formed Nighthawk Press,” according to an email from Rebecca Lenzini, Nighthawk Press publisher of the “Remarkable Women of Taos” book. “I will never forget the launch event for that book, which took place at KTAO on July 25, 2013, and was a rare celebration of all three Taos cultures and the talents of so many women who were present to sign their biographies. I think over 200 copies were sold that night alone.” “None of this would have happened without Liz and her talent for connecting people and finding the best in everyone,” Lenzini concluded in her Jan. 21 email. “What a thrill to have worked with her. I am mindful of her doggedness, determination, hopefulness and optimism, and her enduring spirit. Liz was truly a remarkable woman of Taos. Her legacy lives on in our hearts.” The 2012 town of Taos yearlong recognition of the women who shaped and continue to shape the spirit and culture of Taos arose out of Cunningham’s characteristic curiosity, as indicated in her blog entry about the origins of her project. “Some years ago, I lectured on ‘Leading Ladies of Taos,’ “ Cunningham wrote. “Fascinated by the remarkable women who founded cultural institutions in New Mexico, I researched the lives and contributions of Lucy Harwood, Mary and Helen Blumenschein, Helene Wurlitzer, Millicent Rogers and Mabel Dodge Luhan.” Cunningham created and hosted the Mabel Dodge Luhan blog, where her contributions are highly notable, as this email comment from Mabel Dodge Luhan House general manager Julie Keefe indicates: “Liz Cunningham was an extraordinary woman in so many ways. Her official title with the Mabel Dodge Luhan House was community liaison, but she made this role

infinitely more expansive because of her great enthusiasm and how passionately she felt about the House, its mission and rich history. So many in our community have learned so much from her over the years and benefited from her support and encouragement. She was not only our colleague at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, but our dear friend. Words cannot sufficiently describe how deeply she will be missed.” Cunningham also co-authored “In Contemporary Rhythm: The Art of Ernest L. Blumenschein.” This definitive book on Blumenschein accompanied a major retrospective exhibition. In 2008, it won the Western Heritage Award’s best art book and the High Plains Book Award’s best nonfiction. Born in Denver in 1951, according to longtime friend and writer Carrie Levin in her biography of Cunningham for Nighthawk Press, Cunningham grew up in western Nebraska, but spent her junior year of high school in Helsinki, Finland as a Rotary Exchange Student. That experience, plus three years in Austria, honed her edge for adventure. When asked about her most memorable jobs, besides wrangling weeds, people and horses, Cunningham listed being a bed and breakfast manager at an Austrian castle, a Fulbright teaching assistant and a summer tour guide in Vienna as all topping the list. “Liz was the kindest, most caring person I’ve had the honor of being friends with,” Levin said in an email Jan. 22. “I loved getting to know her through our mutual study of yoga and passion for local history, landscapes and archaeology. She had such an inquisitive nature and genuine care for humanity, and delighted in helping others tell their stories. She is a shining star and will be greatly missed on Earth.” Cunningham was curator for The Anschutz Collection (1981-1994), where she organized and circulated select premier paintings of the American West. Inspired by paintings of her favorite member of the Taos Society of Artists, Ernest Blumenschein, Cunningham’s specialty led her to a 1993 Blumenschein lecture at the artist’s home on Ledoux Street. Upon moving to Taos in 1994, Cunningham wrote on the arts, cultures and people of Taos and Northern New Mexico, including the history of the Taos Trade Fair (co-authored with Skip Miller); the history of theater in Taos; as well as essays for “The HandCarved Marionettes of Gustave Baumann” and “Taos Artists and Their Patrons.” She edited the prize-winning “Modernists in Taos from Dasburg to Martin,” including writing the afterword. As for Cunningham’s Remarkable Women of Taos blog, publisher Lenzini notes, “Her blog lives on as well at womenoftaos.org, a site co-sponsored by MarkeTaos, Taos Net, the Taos Community Foundation, Nighthawk Press and Beyond Taos Art Calendar.” The book is also still in print and available from nighthawkpress.com or via Amazon. This article first appeared in the Jan. 2531 issue of The Taos News.

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COMMANDER OF THE REBEL BASE, CARETAKER OF CULTURE Tessa Córdova, Chicana activist and educator

CÓRDOVA continues on Page 12 Katharine Egli

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A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground. Then it is done, no matter how brave its warriors, nor how strong their weapons. ~Cheyenne proverb

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dorned in silver, wearing all black with winged eyeliner (the Chicana war paint), Tessa Córdova is as fearless as the culture she and her family represent. Smiling and rushing about the colorful and unmistakable New Mexican cultural center studiously preparing coffee like a true professor, she begins the presentation that reveals the history and mission of her life’s work at Las Pistoleras Instituto Cultural de Arte, 1219 Paseo del Pueblo Norte in El Prado. Meant to empower las mujeres (women), the institute’s moniker came from a poem of the same name written by Córdova’s close friend Anna Martínez. “For me, it was a metaphor, her pistola (pistol) is her education,” Córdova said. Upon walking into the small, decadesold space on the Córdova’s property, one can’t help but notice the painted portrait of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata by Leo Romero. In one corner is a sign that reads “¿Qué pasa raza?” (a coined phrase of

her father, Arsenio that Tessa translates as “What’s up?”). If that sign is hanging on the front door, then Las Pistoleras is open. And inside there are various artworks on the walls, giving the space a sort of gallery atmosphere. Near the kitchen, within the library, book titles cover topics, such as art, protest and history with a particular Southwest focus. Near the front entrance is a faded photograph featuring Córdova’s grandmother Josephine and her grandfather Willie. Las Pistoleras opened May 4, 2013 in honor of Córdova’s great-grandmother María de la Nieves Martinez’s birthday. “This was our dream, we [Cordova family] advanced ourselves so that we could have a place that was credentialed,” she said. The student, the teacher Córdova is the fourth generation of her family in El Prado and 11th generation Taoseña. She came from writers and educators. Her grandmother Josephine and mother Kathy were both teachers and self-published

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authors. Her father was also an educator. She found inspiration from them as well as other Taos legacies and her former teachers: activist and folk singer Jenny Vincent and a pioneer of the Chicano movement, Enriqueta Vasquez. “That family strength and those connections were always present,” she said. Groundbreaking Tejano singer Lydia Mendoza; theater playwright and director of “La Bamba,” Luis Valdez; and southern New Mexico author, Denise Chavez also influenced Córdova to pursue her family’s dream and her personal aspiration of creating a communal space. Córdova dove into her studies with her family’s encouragement so that when Las Pistoleras became a reality, not only would it preserve culture, it also would have the same scholarly credibility as any academy. She earned her doctorate degree from the University of New Mexico, where she continues to teach courses, covering subjects surrounding feminism, gender and el movimiento. Her degree in American studies

concentrated on the Southwest while her thesis focused on the historical, political and literary contributions of the Chicano movement. Her dissertation, “Recordando Nuestra Gente: Ritual Memorialization Along the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro,” focused on the cultural networks between Mexico and various areas of New Mexico through a narration that followed two women who died in the marital process. The mission Part of Córdova’s and Las Pistolera’s mission is to pass tradition and education on to youth. “It’s important to have youth programs, but if you don’t have any adults that understand them culturally or the set of values and morals we carry, it can get kind of crazy because people are approaching it like a textbook,” she said. The operation also includes activism, arts, organic intellectualism, theater, community, culture and, most important, identity. “The people here have a history, a long CÓRDOVA continues on Page 14

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CÓRDOVA continues from Page 10 history and there’s a lot of trauma affiliated with that,” she said, further discussing strategies Las Pistoleras uses to formally educate people and pass on the rich heritage of Chicano and mestizo (mixed race) ancestors. Previous initiatives celebrating activism and culture included the 2015 tourism and educational, cultural incentive honoring Cesar Chavez. The weekend-long celebration included lectures, art markets, poetry, music and film events organized by Córdova and other community members. Las Pistoleras also hosts events every year for el Dia de los Muertos, featuring the creation of shrines and calaveras (skulls), inviting community members to gather and spirits to visit. The institute is doing more than reclaiming culture. It also serves as a base for protest and provides education on the proper and

formal styles of activism. It is a place where difficult and controversial dialogues can happen, giving people a space to express themselves. Previously, Córdova and other community activists challenged the molybdenum mine in Questa as a health and environmental concern. Las Pistoleras was also used as a headquarters to organize against the attempted annexation of El Prado by the county and town of Taos. “That’s why Pistoleras must exist. Here we are, free to speak what we want,” said Córdova. “I’ve always seen activism in this community.” Traditionally, like most New Mexican affairs, events at Las Pistoleras begin with a meal. More than an alliance for intellectual and creative freedom, Córdova and Las Pistoleras give the comfort of tía’s (aunt) old recipes. Before the revolution there will be beans and rice. “We always have food, that’s how we were

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taught to receive people,” said Cordova. “We have a full meal with everything that we do.” The cooperative hosts lectures, movie nights, documentary screenings, and story and craft time for children. It also serves as a practice and performance space for all arts including poetry, music and theater. The institute offers educational field classes for both children and adults. Last summer, Las Pistoleras hosted a field class that focused on Chicano writers and educators in the upper Río Grande Valley. Supporting the arts in more ways than one, Las Pistoleras also features the sale of works by native New Mexican artists, authors and regional products. Córdova retains only 25 percent of revenue from sales to help maintain the cultural haven. “This idea of pushing things forward and moving things forward, not always necessarily because of the money, is very important to me and very important to Pistoleras, that we can help ourselves and

just have this place for us to congregate,” said Córdova. With the help of the entire Córdova family, Las Pistoleras and Tessa Córdova continue to provide a base from which the community can protest, celebrate, learn and thrive. “She’s a very giving and educated person who provides resources to the community. I am very, very proud of her,” said her father, who also contributes time to maintaining Las Pistoleras. “She has been involved in preserving the culture and the tradition of our people, our values and our history.” Las Pistoleras will continue to empower women and Chicanos, educate youth, host gatherings and keep community traditions alive. “I hope our contributions to the community are everlasting,” said Córdova. To contact Las Pistoleras Instituto Cultural de Arte, find it on Facebook or call (575) 758-3227.

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Taos career women to know

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JOB TITLE(S) AND RESPONSIBILITIES: “I’m the executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Taos, Inc. (HFHT) I provide overall management of Habitat for Humanity of Taos in accordance with the direction, policies and objectives set by the board of directors. I manage the affiliate, which includes the coordination of committees and task groups with the primary goal of building Habitat houses and community outreach. The executive director works directly with the board to develop and maintain a self-sustaining affiliate through resource development activities. The Habitat ReStore is a big part of our affiliate. It’s our number one funding source and I work with Tom Drake, our ReStore Manager and aid with oversight. “We utilize visiting work groups who come work with us, paying a per person donation. We now have a volunteer coordinator that does most of the setting up and oversight of the groups. The construction supervisor manages them during their time on the jobsite, but I get to interact and make them feel welcome — an ambassador of sorts for Taos and our affiliate. We really market Taos and building with adobe to attract more groups to our beautiful community. “I also co-lead our training classes with Rose Vargas. These are provided to our new partner families; they are budgeting, home maintenance/repair

and firs- time home buying. We want the homeowners to succeed as new home buyers, and this is part of that process. “There are even stricter guidelines on loan origination now and I have to be certified in loan origination to deal with our partner families and help fill out/ provide loan documents to them during the process.” HOW MANY YEARS IN PRESENT OCCUPATION/business endeavor? “I’ve been in Taos 16 years now, but in August it will be my 10th year with HFHT.” WHAT LESSONS HAVE YOU LEARNED IN YOUR CAREER THAT HAVE INFLUENCED THE ADVICE YOU WOULD LEND TO GIRLS/WOMEN WHO WANT A CAREER IN YOUR INDUSTRY? “The biggest lesson I’ve learned that influences the advice I give to girls/ women is to follow your heart. For me, this is a calling, not just a job. t’s probably the most complicated and difficult position I’ve ever held. I don’t think I could have made it 10 years if it was just a ‘job.’ That’s what it started out as. I was looking for a job and this opportunity opened up, but it soon became a passion. When you work in the non-profit sector it can be just as much work, usually more, than in the corporate or private sectors with not as many

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benefits and perks. What has kept me engaged and fulfilled is the calling, not the job.” WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST ISSUE FOR WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE? “I think the biggest issue for women in the workplace can be not being taken seriously and not just being ‘a little lady.’ I think a lot of that has gone by the wayside, but it is still out there. I’ve run into people that don’t want to deal with me because I’m a woman and not a man in the construction industry, so I must not know as much. I think at times it’s a subconscious reaction; they don’t even realize they are doing it.” WHICH WOMEN DO YOU ADMIRE AND WHY? ”Anne Frank made a huge impression on me as a child. I remember reading ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ and thinking how brave she was, her gentle heart and great outlook on life, despite the circumstances. “Corrie Ten Boom had a huge influence on my life. I’ve read most of her books, but ‘The Hiding Place’ tells the story of how she and her Dutch family saved many Jewish people from the Nazis and was eventually imprisoned for it. She had faith and courage, and the ability to see the good of God’s hand in all things. The story impressed me in regard to dealing with

hardship. While Corrie and her sister where in the concentration camp, her sister was upset that the building they were in was infested with fleas. But Corrie told her to be thankful for those fleas because it kept the male guards away from them. That has stuck with me and I try to look at circumstances with that same faith. “Then in my own world, the biggest influence for me was a woman I worked with at GTE E-911 department in the early ‘90s. Her name was Flynn Nogueira and she was the director of that division. I had just gone through a painful divorce and was struggling and had this new job on top of it. She was so instrumental in encouraging me to believe in myself, that I could do anything I put my mind to and to create goals and stick to them. She gave me huge projects, would give me guidance and let me roll. She really instilled in me that I could figure anything out. She would ask you great questions that went deep. Flynn was instrumental in getting me to see that I didn’t want to be in the sales department. I moved out of that department and division where I grew and was promoted. The biggest thing that stuck out to me about her was that she was not afraid to promote and uplift other women, and she really invested in people. She had this vitality that was infectious and energizing.”

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AN INVITATION TO RHYTHM AND JOY

Julia Daye: poet, dancer, DJ, social activist

DAYE continues on Page 22

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Katharine Egli

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ulia Daye’s life is one of exploration and discovery. Her love of music has led her to poetry, dance, creating her own radio show, being a DJ and becoming a social activist. “I’m a musician who wants to use music, voice and body to serve peace, justice, joy and empowerment,” says Daye. MOVING TO TAOS “I was specifically called to Taos for reasons that I didn’t understand at the time. Something way beyond myself pulled me here,” says Daye. Having never been to Taos before, she moved here in August 2014. Daye lived in New York City for four years. She says, “The grind of living in the city had worn me down. I was existing in a small space and was starting to feel suffocated. I wanted a place with more space — to be closer to the earth and to be part of a community.” Noticing that life in New York City often seemed like a highly contrived performance, she grew weary of it. Coming to Taos she

noticed that there was a high value placed on truth and authenticity. The dreams that were seeded in New York began to grow and expand here: music, broadcasting and community action. She knew she was in the right place.Here she has learned, “It is important to remind myself to stay in motion. We don’t need to nail our feet to the ground. We can leave and come back and remain committed to being part of the community. I’m learning to be more playful and to remember that there is no such thing as a big deal.” ADVOCACY One way that Daye contributes to the community is through her social action. She says, “The focus of my advocacy is anything that honors the human body and works to preserve this planet through acts of creativity and community empowerment.” She first participated in the movement known as One Billion Rising in New York City, where she was part of a moving flash mob. Every year on Valentine’s Day, the One Billion

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Rising event calls people across the globe to come together in public spaces to dance, march and demonstrate for an end to sexual and domestic violence. Since Daye arrived in Taos, she has helped coordinate the event here — teaching the choreography for the dance performed to the song, “Break the Chain” written by Tena Clark, and leading demonstrators in a powerful march and dance. “The body has been a war zone for so many people. We’ve learned that the body and public places are not safe for us as women. It is empowering to show up in a joyful, unified way to demonstrate to victims that they are not isolated or alone. We are modeling empowerment for each other and for girls and rising for women who can’t be here with us,” observes Daye. A GROWING MOVEMENT The movement to end sexual violence is growing larger and spreading beyond the demonstration of One Billion Rising. “We are fighting violence every day of the year,” says Daye.

She points to the #MeToo movement started by Tarana Burke in 2007. “We need to remember that the seed of this movement is that we foster communal empathy through sharing our stories and experiences.” Recently, the #MeToo movement has been taken up by public figures in the entertainment world. That leadership, while welcomed by some has also incited dissent, as some people feel that the more recent advocates are not representative of the global community. Nonetheless, Daye feels that anything that helps the issue come into the light is positive. “The most toxic part of abuse is the feeling of isolation. Anything that fights that isolation is worthwhile,” she says. RADIO Daye’s radio show on KNCE, “What Are These Things,” was one of the first regular programs for the station. Her on-air exploration has been heard for more than three years. Last year, she also added a new show on DAYE continues on Page 24

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Katharine Egli

DAYE continues from Page 22 Monday afternoons. She loves investigating people and the world acoustically and speaking about local change and world issues through commentary and music. For a radio series on the Standing Rock resistance movement in 2016, she was delighted at the opportunity to showcase and highlight Native musical artists and enlivening protest songs on air, alongside radio documentaries and interviews featuring activists from Standing Rock. Daye says, “Curating music is just like curating art at a gallery. I do that with music; it is one of my favorite things to do.” She likes to follow the music of one artist as it leads to his or her influences and opens the door for more new music. Recently getting to know a French hiphop artist led her to explore the genre from Northern African and Europe. It is one way

she travels through music. ARTIST RESIDENCY IN PARIS Recently, she traveled in body as well. She spent January in Paris as part of an artist residency. Going to Paris has been a longtime dream for Daye. “I did lots of research and made a network of contacts before I got there,” she says. “I DJ’d in Paris and got to perform several times at poetry readings.” She also attended the best writers’ workshop that she had ever experienced and recorded with a local artist, her poetry set to music. Although no one in Paris could say why, all agreed that there is a tradition for Anglophone writers to come to Paris to express themselves starting even before Hemingway was there in the 1920s. She says, “I learned so much and feel blessed to have had this experience.” She hopes to establish footholds all over the world that allow her to return and deepen her own artistic

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experience. DISC JOCKEY Daye has always been a musician and a dancer and sees her work as a disc jockey as a natural extension of that experience. She started to DJ when she was part of the Movement is Free Project in Brooklyn. Part of her responsibilities included scheduling a DJ to provide music. “It began organically. When there was no DJ available, I would fill in, and people began to tell me that they liked my sets better than some of the other DJs. I didn’t call myself a DJ until several other people did.” Now she finds music from all different parts of the world and shares her sets across Taos at places, such as the High Frequency Loft once a month for ecstatic dance, at yoga studios, the BassMint, Taos Mesa Brewery and Tap Room and for special events, such as the Patricia Michael’s fashion show last fall to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters.

During her recent travels, in addition to DJing in Paris, she appeared at Dance Lab in New York City. Asked for her advice to girls who want to be DJs she says, “Don’t wait until you are ready. There is no such thing as really feeling ready. Girls are raised to have doubts. Just keeping moving forward. The space is yours — step into it.” POETRY AND LEARNING “Poetry has always been part of life for me. I’ve written music and poetry; it is two sides of the same thing — using rhythm and voice,” she says. “Poetry is just another gesture of rhythm; an experience of truth through creativity and sound.” When asked what she is learning in her explorations, Daye says, “Practice joy and courage and explore duality until you find balance. Don’t wait for permission. The fact that we are alive right now is the invitation to live and create fully.”

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Taos career women to know

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

KristenRivera Katharine Egli

JOB TITLE(S) AND RESPONSIBILITIES: "My full-time J-O-B is as a 5th grade teacher at Enos Garcia Elementary School. I am also a lead for Parent Teacher Volunteer Committee at EGES. I coordinate/plan meetings, organize fundraisers, coordinate volunteers when needed, support teachers and parents. "My passion is helping others improve their health. I am a Juice Plus distributor and wellness educator. I am a School Lead for Network to Transform Teaching (NT3) initiative for our school district. I am lead for Las Compadres in Commerce. I plan meetings, run online group, schedule sharing opportunities, coordinate and plan pop-up boutiques (including fundraisers)." HOW MANY YEARS IN PRESENT OCCUPATION/BUSINESS ENDEAVOR? "I am in my 13th year as a teacher; 1 year, 8 months as a Juice Plus distributor and wellness educator; 7 months with NT3; 2 years, 8 months with Las Compadres in Commerce." WHAT LESSONS HAVE YOU LEARNED IN YOUR CAREER THAT HAVE INFLUENCED THE ADVICE YOU WOULD LEND TO GIRLS/WOMEN WHO WANT A CAREER IN YOUR INDUSTRY? "Some lessons that I have learned in my career that have influenced the advice that

TAOS WOMAN 2018 • TAOSNEWS.COM/TAOS-WOMAN

I lend to other girls and women who want a career in this or any industry are to continually learn, grow, and improve. I encourage women to seek new knowledge/skills and to have courage and confidence to get up and get out there and make things happen. I also believe in the power of coming together to work towards our individual goals while serving one another. I also believe that putting others above yourself, is also a very powerful tool to grow your own business, as well." WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST ISSUE FOR WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE? "The biggest issue for women in the workplace is finding the time to balance all of life's responsibilities. It can be challenging to get it all done, but we have the skill set to make it all happen." WHICH WOMEN DO YOU ADMIRE AND WHY? “I admire the women in Las Comadres in Commerce. They are all very busy women with full-time careers and/or families, and they are still successful in their respective businesses, and make time to grow and help improve our group. They all bring a variety of strengths and skills to the group, and together we are stronger, more productive and have a greater reach."

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Scott Gerdes

By Scott Gerdes

very morning around 6, Missy, a 15-yearold black, easily spooked quarter horse with not a stitch of white markings, watches Jenny Lancaster cart bales of hay and measure scoops of grain. She watches the human fill water troughs and buckets. Her ears twitch and turn when a car goes by and when a dog barks. Missy intently observes Lancaster work with the other horses. The mare’s big brown eyes follow Lancaster’s long blond hair from paddock to paddock, from tractor to truck. Missy hadn’t been consistently worked with or ridden for many years, and Lancaster wants her to know

that the people and things around the 10-acre Diamond Horseshoe Ranch on Ranchitos Road aren’t out to harm her. Missy was acquired by a trade in the beginning of February. Lancaster’s goal is to help Missy find her courage to be ridden without fear and to find the right human for Missy. Lancaster acquires a lot of horses at her Taos ranch. She had 18 horses (some hers, some boarders) in February. “Winter is the down season for boarding,” she says. But horses like Missy are her favorites. “They’re such a challenge,” Lancaster explained with a slight adjustment to her perfectly molded, slightly scuffed felt

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cowboy hat. “Then I kind of become the student because I learn so much from each of them,” she said. “In the wrong hands a horse like this, with so little experience, is very scary to most people. She’s jumpy. She’s dangerous actually, and she doesn’t mean to be; it’s just that she hasn’t been worked with a lot. I know she’s a quality mare. I know that I can find her the right match, but I have to work with her first, and I have to get her safe, and I have to know a lot about her. Then I will be able to find her person.” Oddly enough, the mare’s bloodline come from a famous reining sire named Spooktacular, which never fails to make

Lancaster chuckle considering the “spooked” state Missy showed up with. Lancaster starts Missy’s work day by lunging her in a circle to expel some energy and help her settle down. Like excited kids, horses need to get their edge off before they can start clearly communicating. By this summer, Lancaster is certain Missy will have shed her jumpiness and be given a chance for a happy life. Any other scenario than a good home for Missy is unacceptable. “In the wrong hands had this woman (former owner) just taken her to a sale or somebody thought, ‘Oh, she’s so pretty. LANCASTER continues on Page 32

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LANCASTER continues from Page 30 Maybe it’ll work out,’ and they didn’t have the education to really help this horse they would get frustrated with her,” Lancaster surmised.” She might wind up in a sale or something — she might wind up getting into the wrong situation. These are my ‘fixing horses,’ which is what I really love to do.” THE TECHNIQUE Patience. Everything Lancaster does is based on patience, and a lot of it. “Developing a relationship of trust is what really gets a horse to progress quickly,” she explained. When Missy first arrived, Lancaster couldn’t touch the mare’s face, head or ears. Missy was nervous about having the bridle put on. It took three days to get it over Missy’s ears without her panicking. Lancaster studied with three Texas horse trainers who used different methods of varying levels, giving her a well-rounded library of techniques. Even with all of her knowledge and experience over many years, Lancaster admits that horses who mirror Missy are a risk. But bravery overcomes fear. Can a horse’s behavior ever scare Lancaster? Certainly. That’s when she starts from “ground zero” all over again. But on this mild February day, neither horse nor human felt fear. Because a goal is to have Missy ridden, Lancaster gradually lifts herself up to a partial mount. She balances her torso on Missy’s back, not yet sitting in the saddle. Lancaster gives Missy’s rear a gentle pat. She dismounts and walks around the horse from front to back, and pats her along the way so the horse knows where Lancaster is at all times. And to let the horse know no surprises are coming. Only then does Lancaster fully mount Missy for a relaxed trip around the ring. Even after only a few weeks of being at Diamond Horseshoe Ranch, Missy knows Lancaster’s voice and touch. With a little rein work and slight leg pressure, Missy’s memory of carrying a human is coming back to her as if she had never missed a day of riding. “I work with these horses because I can. You don’t just throw a whole life away just because they’re a little broken up,” Lancaster said, pleased with Missy’s calmness in the ring. “Some horses come here that have some injuries. We can maintain their level of comfort. And most horses here have wonderful owners. They can trail ride in the mountains and just be horses. Just like people, horses can come with baggage. I just want them to have a long, healthy, beautiful life.” THE HUMANS Lancaster has seen a spike in her boarding business over the last three years, in part because of an increase of out-of-staters bringing their horses to Taos for training and to ride them while on vacation. She doesn’t often take on a beginning rider unless they are buying a horse, preferring to work with both horse and rider and thus cementing a bond of trust. And for some new riders, other lessons are learned. “I don’t really like to just teach a person to ride,” the mother of two boys explained. “I’ve found that it’s a little bit easier for me to work with people who don’t have a lot of confidence. Confidence building is a big one for me, so I do help people who are fearful of horses, yet they

want to have this relationship with this horse.” Confidence building is something that she’s gotten pretty good at. She reminds apprehensive riders who dream of no longer being scared that it’s okay to have a healthy fear of horses because, “they’re big and they’re strong.” But if you can conquer that fear, she instills, it helps you in all areas of your life. There’s nothing more beautiful to Lancaster than to see someone who is shy, reserved and lacking self-assurance to be able to canter their 1,200-pound horse — and all the while the animal is listening to them and taking care of them. “It’s quite fascinating. That’s my joy. I’m very lucky. I have the best customers in the world.” “You know, horses change people,” Lancaster added with conviction. They certainly instigated changes in her life. THE START OF IT ALL A whirlwind existence started for Lancaster in her birthplace, Michigan. She was raised in New York, mostly. Her parents often uprooted little Jenny because her mother was quite the “adventurer.” “We would just pick up and go,” Lancaster shared with acceptance in her voice. “We lived everywhere, and when we came out West ... it was pretty amazing.” Santa Fe was the place her parents landed. One day her mom brought home a pony in the back of a pickup truck. They lived on Pojoaque Street. Lancaster was about 9 years old or so. The only riding she had done was little jaunts here and there and a few lessons when she visited her grandmother. Really, she had very minimal horse education when she boldly jumped on the back of Aunt Jemima (named by her mother — “The pony was supposed to guard me or something.”) and rode bareback toward Santa Fe Plaza. “Thirty years ago the plaza wasn’t what it is now, and I would jump on this little pony and ride down there and hang out with the Indians, and talk to them and ride around with everybody saying, ‘Look at the cute kid on the horse.’ “ A LOVE FOR HORSES WAS BORN. At some point later on ,the Lancasters were living in Syracuse, New York. There, she discovered an Arabian farm. The trainer took in the wide-eyed young rider. “She just loved the way I rode. She loved my bravery. She loved my willingness to learn, so she put me to work,” Lancaster recalled. By the end of that year, she was showing horses competitively. It wasn’t long, however, before life took another turn and she wound up in Newfoundland, Canada living with her dad. Jumping horses and working with a jumping trainer took off up north. Her varied and interesting destinations grew from there. After Canada, she went to Puerto Rico and landed a job at El Nuevo Comandante racetrack walking thoroughbreds at 4 o’clock in the morning. They graduated her to exercising, which was “really cool.” A man entered her life who asked her to teach English riding to children at his stable. In turn, he set her up with another man who was starting a small equestrian center on a French-side beach in Saint Maarten. Six thoroughbreds were flown from Puerto Rico to the Caribbean island. “It was amazing,” she remembered with a gleam in her eyes. “Those thoroughbreds were wonderful. I could take them in the water and

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‘It would be sad to humanize a horse or a horse’s emotions because it would almost be an insult to make them more like us,’ work them in the water. It was just beautiful.” Another man, this time a Frenchman who spoke to her heart, swept her off to Europe where she returned to jumping ... and then polo. “Most of my Western riding didn’t come until I came out West (on her own when she was 28 years old), and I wanted to come out here and kinda be a cowgirl,” she happily admitted. She never forgot living in Santa Fe and riding that little pony around the plaza. By the time she was in her late 20s, she had left Europe and was living in Woodstock, New York. But the West always beckoned. “I decided, you know what, I’m going to try something new. So, I drove out to Santa Fe and I didn’t really like it that much. I had a friend in Taos who was a massage therapist and she said, ‘Come visit Taos. Come check it out. It’s really nice.’ I came up and I just fell in love with it, and decided this is what I was going to do. I’ve been here ever since.” She may have found her forever home, but the horse-training business wasn’t so quick to materialize. “Just because you can ride doesn’t mean you can train. And just because you can ride any horse doesn’t mean you can train. I was known for being able to ride anything, but that doesn’t mean I can get other people to be able to ride those horses. I had to learn how to do that, and so I came to a kind of stopping point after about five or six years. I decided I better take off and get educated.” That’s when she headed to Texas. After about a year to a year and a half of training, she returned and soon after her business took off. “I really had a whole new perspective on how to start a horse from the beginning and then try to get them to a place where they could move on from there, whether a show horse or a trail horse, cattle horse, ranch horse, whatever somebody wanted to do with them,” she said. Lancaster isn’t into competitive riding so much anymore. But if she ever felt that itch again, she would likely compete in cutting. The glitch in that, however, is as Lancaster laughingly confessed, she’s not very good with cattle. THE PAYBACK Horses are very in the moment. Purity and honesty pour out of them. Lancaster is particularly drawn to those aspects of the horse. “It would be sad to humanize a horse or a horse’s emotions because it would almost be an insult to make them more like us,” she said. “I think horses have always been there for me. I owe it to them now that I know more about them. I strive to give back because they have always provided me with a form of a living: a job, a career that I love.”

Dorie Hagler

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Taos career women to know

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

FrancescaMedina continues on Page 38

Katharine Egli

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Taos career women to know

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Scott Gerdes

JOB TITLE(S) AND RESPONSIBILITIES: “Owner of Francesca’s Clothing Boutique in Arroyo Seco, winner of Best of Taos 10 years in a row. As a small business owner, I am not only the buyer and the seller, but also business planner, human resources, customer service and marketing.” HOW MANY YEARS IN PRESENT OCCUPATION/BUSINESS ENDEAVOR? “For almost 17 years now. I was raised in Great Neck, Long Island and brought up in the women’s clothing business. My mother was a famous New York clothier, and my father was a women’s sportswear manufacturer. I attended Manhattan’s prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology, one of the largest fashion schools in the world and a breeding ground for upcoming New York designers and entrepreneurs. “Following graduation, I managed a boutique on Madison Avenue for several years. I eventually moved back to Long Island to start a family for the next 20 years. During that time, I opened my own gem and mineral businesses until a stranger offered to buy the store in 1999. “I had been visiting New Mexico for 20 years, buying Native American arts in Santa Fe, Taos, Gallup and Shiprock. After selling my New York store, I set out on an

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extended vacation to see my daughter Liz, who was living in Arroyo Seco, and her grandson, Judah, who was born in Taos. “When my mother came to New Mexico, Liz suggested that I rent an empty building in Arroyo Seco — once known as the post office — and open a new store. Leaving my other daughter Melissa, who was a college student learning massage therapy, and my granddaughter Maya in New York, I moved to Arroyo Seco. Now Melissa and Maya live in New Mexico, too. By November 2000, I was back in business in a completely new setting.” WHAT LESSONS HAVE YOU LEARNED IN YOUR CAREER THAT HAVE INFLUENCED THE ADVICE YOU WOULD LEND TO GIRLS/ WOMEN WHO WANT A CAREER IN YOUR INDUSTRY? “I had no idea what I was going to do. My father had always said, “You gotta get the big idea, the whole purpose of what you’re doing.” I realized that I should return to my roots and go back into clothing. The local women here needed reasonably priced clothing and fashionably fun designs. All this time, I was thinking about my mother and her successful business and what she would do. My big idea was to offer imported and unusual women’s clothing, with most

items priced under $50, in a cute boutique with a down-home atmosphere. So, I returned to my old stomping grounds, New York City’s famed Garment District, to be inspired. I had “the big idea,” but I didn’t know if it would work out or not. I opened with a small stock of imported clothing, and I had a huge response from the Taos locals and tourists. I was working seven days a week to figure out the rhythm of things. All the while, my mother was watching me from a photo on the shelf. The rest is history.” WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE GIRLS/ WOMEN WHO WANT TO PURSUE A SIMILAR CAREER? “You gotta get the big idea and go for it.” WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST ISSUE FOR WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE/ WOMEN WHO WANT TO START THEIR OWN BUSINESSES? “Don’t be intimidated and follow your truth.” WHICH WOMEN DO YOU ADMIRE AND WHY? “Always a fan of Jackie Kennedy, and my mother was the best in her field and I was her shadow.”

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‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’ Women speaking up, speaking out against domestic violence and sexual assault

CAV continues on Page 42 Katharine Egli

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Katharine Egli

By Malinda Williams

his year marks Community Against Violence’s (CAV) 40th year of being a domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse response agency serving Northern New Mexico. Over four decades, CAV has been inspired and fueled by the voices of individuals and families who speak up about what has happened to them and by those who are able to speak out for others who were silenced by what happened to them. These voices are remarkable and tenacious qualities of our communities. They are helping to eliminate two of the key mechanisms that have allowed violence to continue in our communities: shame and secrecy. CAV’s growth has been in partnership with our communities, always motivated by those elements of speaking up and speaking out. This has helped CAV create a safe and confidential place for people to go when they experienced violence. It also pushed forward a communitywide conversation that has increased our capacity to talk about these incredibly difficult and painful topics. This combination of having a safe place to go and sharing common conversations with a language that speaks out are powerful antidotes to shame and secrecy. And the community conversations are being energized with new voices of those who are noticing the evolutions happening outside our

community as well. One community member, Andy Dennison, spoke up in the wake of these growing conversations following recent national scandals of sexual and domestic violence: “Look how the floodgates have been flung open in the public arena. For me, it's about creating an understanding among everyone that this has been going on, so subtly, so under wraps, so tacitly accepted, and it's time to stand up to it, time to recognize that it will still go on unless we grasp this moment.” It’s been 40 years since a small handful of courageous women gathered in Taos in

violence and rape crisis response programs in the country. These Taos women’s declarations of “enough is enough” and “something must be done” are phrases that resonate with what we are all hearing today, not only at CAV, but throughout our community and the country. I believe that having more and more women speak out about their experiences of sexual violence, not ONLY through the #MeToo movement, but also through everyday conversations, has helped exponentially increase awareness about how pervasive this

‘Every woman, every community member needs to be an ally in this work.’ response to domestic violence-related deaths in our community. Those strong women made a stand against that violence. Another group of community women took a vocal stand against the rapes that were being committed in Northern New Mexico. These women wanted something to be done; they wanted a different, safe community. They each said enough is enough and created a volunteer network THAT opened their homes to shelter the women and children who had fled their own homes because of violence. They created a volunteer-run hotline to respond to sexual assaults and domestic violence. That community stand — in speaking up and speaking out — made Community Against Violence one of the earliest domestic

TAOS WOMAN 2018 • TAOSNEWS.COM/TAOS-WOMAN

problem has been. When survivors realize they aren’t alone in having experienced sexual trauma, I believe it often emboldens them to speak up. We were shying away from the phrase “giving courage” because we were concerned it could be inferred that those who don’t speak up through the #MeToo movement or other avenues don’t have courage. We’ve seen 40 years of women (and men) who are extremely courageous but who don’t speak up for a myriad of reasons. Our community has learned over the years that this work is much bigger than CAV employees and volunteers alone can accomplish. Every woman, every community member needs to be an ally in this work. Taos

is full of people, busy with their own lives and trying to support their own families, who continually reach out to support the services at CAV or to support their neighbors, friends, coworkers and extended families. CAV values its unique vantage point in witnessing the amazing generosity of our community members and their willingness to take on such challenging topics and to step out of their own lives and into the shoes of another to ask, “What would I need?” “What can I say?” When people tell their stories about domestic violence and sexual abuse, they are engaging the community in a conversation about these issues. Many times, survivors’ voices have been silenced by their abuser. CAV will always be a place where survivors are heard and supported to find their own voice, and more and more, our community members are supporting them and adding in their own voices in speaking out. “Domestic violence is a learned behavior that occurs by exerting power and control and manipulating trust,” says Rachel Cox, clinical director at CAV. “One way we can stop this is by talking about it. We must send a message to survivors and their offenders that our community supports them making positive changes in their homes.” Malinda Williams is the executive director of Community Against Violence in Taos. She can be reached at (575) 758-8082. Rachel Cox contributed to this story.

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VIRTUAL VILLAGE Taos First Steps: a program of Holy Cross Hospital

Tina Larkin

By Virginia L. Clark

arenting can be hilarious, but honestly it gets downright scary, too. Like the first time you see that lime slime in the baby’s diaper. Or how about holding a folded-up, blind and wrinkled pink creature who totally depends on someone to clean and feed it, and you haven’t even learned to cook for yourself yet. Maybe the worst is answering the phone, and your in-laws drop-in to see the grandchild, who of course is screaming in the playpen and, sin of sins, the house is a mess. Clearly you are world-class parent scum. All of these and infinitely similar scenarios (see ScaryMommy memes all over the web) are common pitfalls of parenting whether you’re a single mom or dad, a first-time parental unit of husband and wife or grandparents, or even an adoptive or foster parent. No matter if it’s one child or many, parenting takes a toll on adults, but the children bear the brunt of parenting stress. You need that vaunted village to raise this child, so who do you call?

Taos First Steps Home Visiting program, that’s who. This totally free-of-charge program celebrates with all families, of every income level, to help them take their first steps toward self-nurturing, providing support for the parent, thus ultimately, providing what’s best for the child. First Steps comes in to help you save the day, turning you from your average, harassed and overworked child caretaker into feeling more like a Marvel Comics super hero (OK, that’s an exaggeration). “My home visitor was able to listen to whatever I was feeling without judgement and to understand that if I was feeling something, my toddler would be feeling it, too,” Margaret Garcia is quoted describing her home visitor in an article by First Steps staff Beth Enson and Jaci Limburger, for the childcare magazine, Zero To Three (September 2017). If this sounds like a prescription for “Stepford Wives,” cookie-cutter behavior-mod, think again. This is Emotional Intelligence, or EI, and it starts with the home visitors themselves. Once they know themselves, how they react

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Image courtesy of Holy Cross Medical Center, Taos First Steps program.

emotionally and how to respectfully handle any situation life throws at them, it trickles down to everyone they interact with, especially the parenting people in their caseloads. “We truly respect that the parent is the expert on their own child, that every parent wants the very best for their child,” said Jeannie Ross, First Steps director of community health services. That village everyone talks about is Ross’s Taos County bailiwick. Equally important, Taos First Steps is part of the Paso a Paso community care network (see Paso a Paso sidebar), which allows First Steps home visitors help the parent(s) identify and then access whatever additional resources are needed at any given time. First Steps serves parents with children pre-natal to age 3, after which they transition into different programs for each period of their lives, providing tools and support needed to be healthy and prepared for whatever comes. Now located at 413 Sipapu St., along Salazar Road between Lower Ranchitos and La Posta roads, Taos First Steps began offering its free home visitation and support program in 2007 and has seen 852 families over the last 11 years.

That’s 17,378 home visits, according to Program Director Jaci Imberger. Instead of waiting until a call goes out to Child Protective Services with a report of child abuse, First Steps works to support a nurturing relationship between parent and child, thereby preventing the causes of early childhood suffering in the first place. Ross and Imberger stress that prevention of child maltreatment needs sustained commitment and partnership among state and local government agencies, service providers, advocacy groups and families. Accordingly, First Steps acknowledges the support of its program funder New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, and its fiscal agent Holy Cross Hospital. Taos First Steps takes the terror out of parenting. To sign up, call your health care provider or staff for a referral form, fill it out and they will fax it to First Steps. Or just drop by or call the office. It’s a totally free and a win-win situation because happier families make a happier community, something everyone wants and deserves.

TAOS FIRST STEPS 413 Sipapu St. Taos NM 87571 (575) 751-5764

Other local parenting help can be found on Facebook through Taos Mountain Mommas founded by Allison Peters and Tiwa Babies at Taos Pueblo tiwababies.com, (575) 758-7824).

Image courtesy of Holy Cross Medical Center, Taos First Steps program.

Taos News file photo/Megan Bowers Avina

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Taos career women to know

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

IngerJirby Katharine Egli

JOB TITLE(S) AND RESPONSIBILITIES: “Inger Jirby Artist & Gallery owner”

equal and fair compensation for their abilities.”

HOW MANY YEARS IN PRESENT OCCUPATION/BUSINESS ENDEAVOR? “Fifty-five years as a professional artist and 21 years as a gallery owner.”

WHICH WOMEN DO YOU ADMIRE AND WHY? “Agnes Martin is first on my list. I saw Agnes two or three times a week on a regular basis. She became my teacher and guide. She gave me invaluable business advice and life guidance. She was an excellent teacher. Agnes would say to me, “I approve of your painting!” That was huge since her criticism and discernment was very selective. “In the past, I admired Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Suzanne Valadon and Gabriele Münter. Of my contemporaries I admire Phyllis Kapp, Ethelinda, Jessie Benton Evans Grey, Alyce Frank and Evelyn Boran; all women who are excellent, very successful artists and good business women. They have stricken paths of their own without operating in the shadow of men. They had their own vision.”

WHAT LESSONS HAVE YOU LEARNED IN YOUR CAREER THAT HAVE INFLUENCED THE ADVICE YOU WOULD LEND TO GIRLS/WOMEN WHO WANT A CAREER IN YOUR INDUSTRY? “Find your own voice and your own expression, that will separate you from everyone else. Never ever give up! Live by inspiration only! Try to come up with new ideas when old ones no longer work.” WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST ISSUE FOR WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE/ WOMEN WHO WANT TO START THEIR OWN BUSINESS? “The biggest issues that women face in the workplace are being taken seriously, being treated with respect and receiving

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EXPLORING SELF AND THE WORLD Taos' newly formed Girl Scout Troop 10684

Katharine Egli

Members of Girl Scouts Troop 10684 embrace the opportunity to forge new friendships. Pictured from left are Brandy Mckneely, Zeta Schilke. Nadijia Kostich, Madison Taylor and Kaelie Lyman-Bayne.

By Cindy Brown

eing a Girl Scout gives girls a chance to be outside, learn new skills, form friendships and find values that can provide a foundation for life. Girl Scout Troop 10684 was founded last year and is one of five troops in the Taos area. Its nine members are learning about the world, riding horseback and serving the community while they earn badges and participate in special activities known as journeys.

GIRL SCOUT JOURNEYS On a recent Sunday, the scouts had a chance to immerse themselves in a daylong event known as the aMuse journey. In a journey, girls have a chance to discover something about themselves, connect with others and take action to make the world a better place. This event explored roles and stereotypes, and focused on figuring out who you are as an individual rather than who society tells you to be. The junior members who are in fourth and fifth grades had the opportunity to

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dress up in hats, scarves and sunglasses, exploring different roles they might play in the future. They also painted pictures of self-exploration. Cutting out pictures from magazines was one way they explored the images that girls see in the media. Participating in the eight-hour day is part of earning a special journey badge. That same day, the younger Daisies (kindergarten through first-graders) and Brownies (grades two and three) explored taking care of themselves by coloring and building their own nests. They learned about

taking care of animals by visiting Stray Hearts Animal Shelter and making cat toys for the cats who were there. A banner made at the event listed traits that the girls value including being brave, optimistic and tough, along with being nice and kind. ACTIVITIES AND GIRL SCOUT COOKIES The troop meets every other Tuesday evening at the Taos Valley Baptist Church. GIRL SCOUTS continues on Page 50

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GIRL SCOUTS continues from Page 48

Katharine Egli

From left, Girl Scouts Nadija Kostich, Madison Taylor and Kaelie Lyman-Bayne listen to instruction from Abbigale Lyman.

Katharine Egli

Troop 10684 scouts Alexis Cohn, Tirzah Schilke and Zaria Montoya.

Katharine Egli

From left, Emiliana Cohn, Alexis Cohn and Tirzah Schilke listen to Claudine Schilke discuss Girl Scout Cookie sales goals for 2018.

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The opening of the meeting includes the pledge of allegiance, the Girl Scout promise and law, all recited by the members in a circle. At a recent meeting, one of the favorite activities was getting ready for Girl Scout Cookie time, which began in February and runs through March 24. Wanda Lucero, who is both a grandmother of one of the scouts and a sponsor of the troop, is the volunteer cookie leader this year. She organized a tasting of the cookies for sale so that the girls could experience the flavors of the various cookies and then describe them to prospective purchasers. The younger troop members worked on the Cookie Badge, practicing taking payments and making change for customers. The troop will be around town with cookies for sale in the coming weeks along with delivering orders that were placed in advance. In addition to the usual selection of cookies, the Girl Scouts recently added a gluten-free cookie called Toffee-tastic. As the younger troop members were working on cookie sales, the junior members began the steps necessary to earn the Jeweler Badge, led by parent Abbigale Lyman. The girls in the troop help determine which badges they will pursue. The scouts first drew a design and then began to pull together beads and other material to make their own creations. BEGINNING AND GROWING The parents are adult members and active as leaders of the troop along with founder Elaine Taylor. When Taylor arrived in Taos last July, she didn’t find a troop that was an exact fit for her daughter, Madison, to join to continue the scouting journey she had begun when she lived in Arizona and Virginia. Taylor has brought much enthusiasm and knowledge to the building a new troop. Carrie Gutierrez of the state-level organization Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails provides support to the troop. She says, “(Elaine) Taylor does a great job. This is the newest troop in Taos. They are actively preparing for World Thinking Day, an event coordinated with other area troops.” Gutierrez points out some of the posters that will be on display that evening, which show the countries the girls will be studying. This year, the girls from this troop will be researching England, Mexico and China. Taylor says, “We will celebrate Girl Scouts around the world. Each level from each troop will represent a country with a poster, a snack from that country and a token of friendship known as a SWAP, which stands for ‘Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere.’” Andrea Vigil has two daughters in the troop:

Emiliana and Alexis Cohn. Vigil says, “I was a Girl Scout growing up and really enjoyed it.” Her daughters were excited to have the chance to join. The troop is growing and holds regular events to reach out to potential new members. NOTABLE TAOS WOMEN For Women’s Herstory month in March, the troop will be celebrating notable women in our own community. “We have become a part of an umbrella group called a service unit,” Taylor says. “A service unit brings together troops in our geographical area to have special events with sister Girl Scouts that we might not otherwise get to know. Because March is Women’s Herstory month, we’ve decided that each level (Daisy, Brownie, Junior, Cadette) in each troop will work together to nominate and ultimately choose a notable woman living and working in our service unit area. Then those groups will interview her and create a poster that will be on display March 24. These women will be invited to attend.” FAVORITE THINGS As for favorite activities, junior members Zeta Schilke and Madison Taylor mentioned horseback riding. The Halloween Trunk or Treat activity, in which the scouts helped hand out treats, was a favorite for Nadija Kostich and Kaelie Lyman-Bayne. All also agreed with Brandy Mckneely when she said, “My favorite part is hanging out with my friends.” OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES AND OVERNIGHT CAMPOUT This April, the troop is planning its first overnight campout and another one will be held in August. At Camp Elliot Barker in Angel Fire, the girls will have the opportunity to work on earning badges, such as archery and horseback riding. Last fall, the Boy Scouts decided to allow girls to join its ranks. Some feel that the Boy Scouts have more to offer girls in terms of outdoor activities. But as the leaders of Troop 10684 exclaim, “The Girl Scouts have always offered outdoor activities. The Boy Scouts have had a program called Explorers for girls. But, I think that the Girl Scout program offers the opportunity for sisterhood — something that is not offered in the media or at school. The scouts come together to explore friendships and the stories about powerful women. Girls are taught to be quiet. They are freer to speak out when there are only girls present.” DREAM OF A GIRL SCOUT HOUSE As the troop looks to the future, they dream about having a home of their own: a “Girl Scout House” that would be available for scouting activities. They see the house as a place where they could store supplies for badges and to host activities. Families could help out, too, by cutting the grass and sponsors could help with utilities to keep it affordable for the troop.

Girl Scout Troop 10684 is open to girls from 5 to 12 years old. The troop meets every other Tuesday evening at the Taos Valley Baptist Church, 320 Camino del Medio. For more information, contact Elaine Taylor at (520) 332-5419.

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TIRELESS AND PASSIONATE

DELINDA VANNEBRIGHTYN: ARTIST, DANCER, DOG TRAINER, TAOS SEARCH & RESCUE PRESIDENT

VANNEBRIGHTYN continues on Page 54

Katharine Egli

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The people. The life they live here. The dreams they make real. And the breadth of history and culture found in every footstep they make upon the Northern New Mexico landscape. Subscribe today and save 50% off the newsstand price when you sign-up for home delivery of The Taos News. Call 575.758.2241, to start your subscription today.

LIFE EVENTS

NEWS

THE STORIES OF NORTHERN NEW MEXICO

Photo by Megan Bowers TAOSNEWS.COM/TAOS-WOMAN â€¢ TAOS WOMAN 2018

By Andy Dennison

f variety is indeed the spice of life, then Delinda VanneBrightyn has savored most every morsel in life’s cupboard. From ballet and baton twirling as a youngster, to modeling on runways and for magazines as a teen, and all the way to dog-training and heading up Taos Search and Rescue today, VanneBrightyn has spent a lifetime of keeping her plate full. “I admit to having too many passions,” she said recently in her dance studio on La Posta Road. “I loved too many things and never had to choose.” During her interview with Taos Woman, her white German shepherd Akio Yodasan played fetch wearing a Taos Search & Rescue (TSAR) vest: a telling combination of a pair of VanneBrightyn’s passions. In part because of dogs, she joined the Taos-based rescue team in 2002 (and is now its president). It was a move that embraced a number of her ardors: “I love dogs and I’d always been an avid hiker and lover of the wilderness. And, my mother had instilled a sense of community in me since I was a little girl. So search-andrescue made sense on many levels.” VanneBrightyn has participated in all sorts of searches: in the Río Grande Gorge, atop 11,000-foot peaks and in town. Among the most emotionally distressing for VanneBrightyn was looking for elderly persons with dementia who wandered off. She recalls training on Wheeler Peak during late summer and running across a man in shorts, T-shirt, sandals and a sunburn. “A search-and-rescue mission waiting to happen,” VanneBrightyn called him. TSAR has searched for hikers, hunters, even mushroom pickers who got separated from others, hurt, dehydrated, hypothermic or sick from altitude. In 2008, she was part of the team that went looking for a pair of snowboarders who had disappeared at Wolf Creek Ski Area. The two men were finally found in the spring, after the snow melted, and VanneBrightyn learned some important lessons from that experience. “The biggest angst for the families was not knowing,” she said. “And they had to wait all winter. So although the Wolf Creek incident was tragic, I got to see how closure is necessary before you can start the healing process.” THE ROAD TO TAOS Like much in her life, VanneBrightyn’s path to Taos had a few unexpected detours before she settled here. In the early 1980s, she ran across Taos by chance and found a place that “struck me that there was something here for me. It felt like home.”

Katharine Egli

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VANNEBRIGHTYN continues on Page 56

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Katharine Egli

VANNEBRIGHTYN continues from Page 54 She got modeling jobs for artist Rod Goebel in his studio in what is now Casa Benavides Inn and started manufacturing shaped pillows for gift markets in New York and Los Angeles. But a love of dancing still coursed through her veins so, in 1988, she returned to L.A. As life would have it, things didn’t go as anticipated. A bad car accident in 1992 not only put an end to VanneBrightyn’s dancing career, it also forced her to “recreate my life.” She suffered head injuries that caused short-term memory loss. “It was a slow recovery,” she said. “I had to re-learn math, how to cook. I couldn’t always remember if I ate or not. I had occasional blackouts.” The path to recovery became a rediscovery of herself: “Memory defines us, how we respond to things. So I had to rediscover how I responded to things.” She taught some dance while seated and got into fiber arts. By 1999, VanneBrightyn was in Taos again. She had met Taoseña Polly

Raye in L.A. who introduced her to developer Tom Worrell, who had hired her ex-husband as director of The Yaxche School. “I started traveling and teaching again, so at the start, I didn’t stay too much in Taos,” she said. But persistent health issues forced her to cut the traveling, and she settled in Taos for good. True to her nature, she got on the board of the Taos Center for the Arts, organized the first Quick Draw contest, opened a dance studio on Reed Street, joined TSAR and got involved with dog training. “With the dogs, I wanted to give them a purpose, like what they are in search and rescue,” she said. “Obedience, behavior modification, agility — all of them can enrich a canine’s life. I get them to solve puzzles, to speak up, to get them tuned into human scents — and tuned off of animal scents — so they are able to locate lost items.” VanneBrightyn employs Akio Yodasan (means Bright Hero Mr. Yoda) as an assistant in her dog training classes. Akio helps dogs get along with other dogs by getting fearful dogs to sniff him: “They may be dominant in the litter, but they have to be independent when searching.”

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DANCE, ART AND THE FUTURE In between dog training classes and searchand-rescue meetings, VanneBrightyn teaches jazz and tap dance to teens and adults a couple days a week. But, unfortunately, she can’t demonstrate the moves as easily as she once could. “I can still dance, but I won’t be going ‘on point,’” she said, referring to the toe-standing position in ballet. “I don’t jump very high any more either.” Along the way, VanneBrightyn got into glass artwork. She owns a 4-by-8-foot kiln for large works that, because of their size, have a hard time finding a home. But she’s come to love the art and science of kiln-caste glass, a “new frontier in art.” “There are discoveries still to be made in this medium,” she said. “Because the materials change from semi-liquid to solid during the process, it’s a scientific challenge to understand. Pieces can be in a kiln for up to two weeks, with heating and cooling that change the piece.” “It’s a lengthy and painstaking process,” she added, “but I like contemplating the process, considering all aspects of what to create and

having the time to manipulate it.” WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR DELINDA VANNEBRIGHTYN? Personally, more glass work, for sure. In her studio, dog training and dance instruction, too. For the community, a lot of plans for TSAR. Top of the list is developing a formal headquarters, finding a “real home” after 37 years. Membership keeps growing and getting younger, which bodes well for the organization’s future. “We’ve improved our relationships with the Forest Service, BLM and Civil Air Patrol with mutual members and shared personnel,” she said. “We want to be a model for other searchand-rescue operations, to be the most effective service we can be.” VanneBrightyn attributes her tirelessness and passion to her mother, who is still kayaking with her daughter at age 92. “She taught me to be competitive only with myself,” she said. “My mother said, ‘Do what you love and love what you do.’ Because of her, I’ve found joy and success. And, I just don’t know how not to be passionate about things, again thanks to her.”

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Taos career women to know

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

CarmelaQuinto Katharine Egli

TITLE(S) AND RESPONSIBILITIES: "Curator of Collections and Museum Coordinator at Millicent Rogers Museum. As curator, I am responsible for the complete care of the museum's collections including exhibition design and interpretation. The museum coordinator title refers to my managing the admissions department and daily operating procedures."

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST ISSUE FOR WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE? "I have been blessed to have the job that I do and work for a cultural institution that allows me to be my true self. I know that too often women choose to conform to something they are not in order to earn a living."

HOW MANY YEARS IN PRESENT OCCUPATION/BUSINESS ENDEAVOR? "I have worked at the Millicent Rogers Museum in various positions for 27 years. I have been the curator for 12 years."

WHICH WOMEN DO YOU ADMIRE AND WHY? "I admire my mom the most, for being my inspiration to be a professional at work and a volunteer in my community. I learned how to juggle everything from her. "The Guadalupañas from San Francisco de Asis Church are the most amazing women to me. They are humble, loving and caring women who selflessly give of their time to make other peoples lives a little more bearable. They don't get paid for their ministry — they just answer the call. I am continually amazed with their hard work and generosity, despite what they may be going through in their own lives."

WHAT LESSONS HAVE YOU LEARNED IN YOUR CAREER THAT HAVE INFLUENCED THE ADVICE YOU WOULD LEND TO WOMEN WHO WANT A CAREER IN YOUR INDUSTRY? "In any industry, any woman and minority will need work harder than they think. There will be obstacles, but you continue to work hard. There will not be fairness, but you continue to work hard. You will have to prove yourself over and over, but you continue to work hard."

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WINTER/SPRING 2018

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LABOR OF LOVE JUANITA JARAMILLO LAVADIE: EDUCATOR, ARTIST, ACEQUIERA AND HISTORIAN

LAVADIE continues on Page 62 Katharine Egli

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#MyTime

S A L E S

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M A I N T E N A N C E

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S E R V I C E

O P E N M O N DAY – S AT U R DAY 10 A M – 6 P M • 7 5 8 -18 5 7 • 12 10 J S A L A Z A R R O A D • W O L F G A N G S PA S .C O M

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Katharine Egli

By Virginia L. Clark

ountercultural activism is a big and sometimes scary word, but the work of preserving water rights in Taos County is tantamount to saving the entire sustainable, land-based ethos at the heart of Northern New Mexico’s storied lifestyle. And this is what Juanita Jaramillo Lavadie is committed to doing, vitally so since administration of the Abeyta water rights settlement went into effect 10 months ago. “There’s just so much left undone,” Lavadie says about the administering of the 46-yearold Abeyta settlement since March 2017. “The implementation is so volatile, it could be an onslaught, a David and Goliath. The state engineer’s office used to be weeks behind, now they’re months behind.” A retired public school teacher, oral historian, and graphic and fiber artist, Lavadie’s creative and cultural interests are basically all keyed to the acequia system that supports the land, water and inhabitants of Northern New Mexico in general, and the traditional Hispano and indigenous cultures in particular. Born into a family of weavers and four generations of educators, Lavadie took both her master of arts in graphic and fiber arts, and her bachelor of arts in visual arts and elementary education from New Mexico Highlands University in 1974 and 1973, respectively. She taught elementary bilingual education for three decades at Taos Pueblo Day School and Taos Municipal Schools, with Spanish immersion the latter 10 years in Albuquerque Public Schools. She retired back home to Taos in 2014 to the house she built with late husband Eduardo Lavadie, west of Taos Plaza on Trujillo Lane, so-named for her Trujillo family forebears, whom she states came with the second influx of Spaniards into what is now Northern New Mexico. Since retiring she says she still engages with young people in art and education by

This is when the community threads from the past, through the moment of now, weaves on towards the future with great pride, love, hope and confidence. volunteering at Taos schools and through Taos Valley Acequia Association, of which she is a board member and a member of the education and leadership committee, which is dedicated to engaging youth and adult parciantes in keeping acequia traditions alive. “We staged a series of meetings on streams this year [2017] for everyone who uses water from those rivers,” all coming together she says for the first time. They have had five such meetings since last March 2017, including parciantes of the Río Chiquito, Little Río Grandé, Cañon, Río Hondo and the Río Pueblo. “Abandonment and carbon footprint affects water rights,” she says, something youth in particular need to know about since they can lose their water rights if no one is irrigating their families’ properties. “The youth are not getting involved in the acequias,” Lavadie says, adding that her committee has redoubled its education efforts through parciante meetings to address this lack of awareness. The other education and leadership committee members are Olivia Romo, Gael Minton, Pat Quintana, Gabriel Olguín, John Gonzales, Thomas Meyers and anthropologist Sylvia Rodríguez. “The clock is ticking. People have to start communicating with each other,” Lavadie stressed. “If you have acequia rights, you have to show some kind of usage of the water. If not, you might lose the rights!”

TAOS WOMAN 2018 • TAOSNEWS.COM/TAOS-WOMAN

Katharine Egli

As a Taos Valley Acequia Association board member (of which her husband was actually a co-founder), she says the acequia tradition is vital to maintain. “Because this is a really important tradition. And globally, Northern New Mexico stands equal to Spain,” she says, in terms of the acequia system irrigation. “A lot of state acequia associations look to Taos as an example of mediation.” Besides her non-stop acequia involvement, Lavadie has many scholastic and creative accomplishments. In 1980 and 1983 she was the oral history project director and assistant museum curator with Curator David Witt at The Harwood Museum Foundation in Taos; and in 1981 and 1982, she was assistant museum curator with Art Wolf at the Millicent Rogers Museum. Various of her graphic, intaglio print and textile artworks are included in permanent collections of The Harwood and Millicent Rogers museums in Taos and the New Mexico Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. She lovingly calls her museum years, her “cobwebs and moth balls period,” for all the time spent researching in dusty museum stacks and archives. The exhibit, “Ciboleros, Comanchero and the People Back Home,” is her most recent exhibit, a show of New Mexico “Hispanic yardage textiles” at the Gutiérrez Hubbell House in Albuquerque, from May to November 2016. As part of the exhibit, Lavadie embroidered a historic map, a colcha buffalo image with hand-spun yarn on woven sabanilla, an “Ojo de Perdiz” diamond twill jerga cloth chaleco/vest, and a “Cibolero/ New Mexican Buffalo hunter” shirt. More than a mile of spun yarn went into the cibolero shirt, she says, half white and half rich dark brown yarn from fleece of the Jaramillo family’s Ramboulelt-Corriedale sheep. Without a pattern or sample shirt to go by, Lavadie worked in part from The Taos News Spanish editor Jerry Padilla’s posthumously published

chapter, “Taos Ciboleros: Hispanic Bison Hunters” in historian Corina Santestevan’s directorial opus, “Taos: A Topical History” (Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe; 2013). “While seeking out local historian and families with ancestral cibolero connections,” she writes in an article about her development of the exhibit (GreenFireTimes.com, December 2017), “I also communicated with curators of textiles and Spanish colonial arts at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Museum as well as the Nebraska Museum of Fur Trade and museums in Oklahoma and west Texas. Conversations with aficionados of the Mountain Man Rendezvous confirmed my thoughts,” she concluded about her conceptions for the cibolero exhibit. (The Mountain Man Rendevous was a large commercial trade meeting of fur traders and trappers that occurred regularly in the Rocky Mountains during the mid-19th century and is still reenacted today.) “Four Centuries of Weavers and Weaving in Taos,” is Lavadie’s contribution to “Taos: A Topical History,” noting the cotton weaving of indigenous peoples who switched to woolen weaving production in Taos Valley with the arrival of the Spanish and their sheep. She denotes, too, the Taos family work ethic, yarn manufacture, and the colors and dyes employed in this long-established trade. “I choose to work in my studio on projects that have strong meaning and far less monetary value,” she concludes in a January 2016 Green Fire Times piece. “Yet, when anyone feels inspired, called to specific work as a labor of love, transcending from the generations past into the hopes of the future, the soul of the culture and community works into the outcome. It is a way that each one of us can figuratively stand tall among our antepasados and joyfully sing in harmony, in the manner my own dad loved so much. This is when the community threads from the past, through the moment of now, weaves on towards the future with great pride, love, hope and confidence.”

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Taos career women to know

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

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Katharine Egli

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Taos career women to know

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Katharine Egli

JOB TITLE(S) AND RESPONSIBILITIES: "I am a certified professional dog trainer with over 35 years experience in training and animal management. I came to Taos in 1999 looking for my dream. I was born in London in 1960. I lived in the Bahamas from 1963 to 1973. I moved back to the UK to study equine management and training with The British Horse Society. I landed an unexpected summer job at age 20 with training dolphins and sea lions — this went on to become a 17-year career throughout Europe, Bahamas, Mexico and New York. I immigrated here in 1999 to start my own animal business, now called Jane Trains, a dog training and boarding company, (janetrains.com). I built up my dog training and boarding business and sold my dog boarding facility in 2011. I built up another business in Alabama, which I sold before I moved back to Taos in 2016 to work with Stray Hearts Animal Shelter. I am currently building up my third business, Jane Trains. Training an animal is not about obedience, that can happen very naturally when the bond of trust has been established. It is about communicating. This is what I teach my clients. I use a method anyone can learn, so it is positive and reinforcing for both the pet owner and the animal. In 2015, I won an award for my Circle Training©, an environmentally influenced training system. I redesigned fencing so it is not a square, but a circle within a

circle. This enables several dogs to be trained at once, especially dogs that are aggressive with each other. With this method and enclosure, it is possible to reduce labor and time for anyone who has dogs and not enough time to train or exercise them. My goal is to be able to have this design available to help animal shelters, rescues or large kennel facilities, so they can train the dogs which will reduce boredom and frustration and make them better candidates for adoptable pets." HOW MANY YEARS IN PRESENT OCCUPATION/BUSINESS ENDEAVOR? This will be my 18th year working full time with dogs. WHAT LESSONS HAVE YOU LEARNED IN YOUR CAREER THAT HAVE INFLUENCED THE ADVICE YOU LEND TO GIRLS/WOMEN WHO WANT A CAREER IN YOUR INDUSTRY? "Get educated by the best scientific experts in the field, get a degree in animal behavior or psychology, then get certified through one of the national centers such as the Karen Pryor Academy. As you meet the obstacles, especially from competitors, don’t take it personally. Stay on track, every day. Develop your own philosophy based on what feels true to you and ask your heart, 'Does this feel right?' As you gain professional momentum, others may discredit you or attempt to undermine your work, but don’t let it get to you. Keep on track and

TAOS WOMAN 2018 • TAOSNEWS.COM/TAOS-WOMAN

don’t sweat the small stuff. If you love what you do and know why you are doing it, then that is your raison d’être." WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST ISSUE FOR WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE/WOMEN WHO WANT TO START THEIR OWN BUSINESS? "When I first started training animals professionally in 1980, women in the animal training industry were few and far between. The mindset was only men could train animals — women were considered 'too emotional.' Even the veterinary field was a maledominated workplace. In my lifetime I have seen some changes as there are many more women trainers and veterinarians today, yet there still is a dogma or theory that is macho based, or that force is needed with animals. It is very pervasive and you may be looked over in certain animal training positions because of this. As a society, we still tend to be in love with power and how that is presented; a man will still be favored over a woman for training. Yet by learning all you can about your profession, it is possible to build your reputation as a trusted and recognized 'go to' expert. After all, knowledge is power." WHICH WOMEN DO YOU ADMIRE AND WHY? "Karen Pryor is one the leading experts in animal training and behavior. I admire her as she was a pioneer at the time, (1960s)

when women were not even acknowledged for their work with animals. She introduced clicker training and positive reinforcement in the 1990s and has gone on to establish an internationally recognized academy in dog training. My second hero is Dr. Sylvia Earle. She was voted by Time magazine in 1998 as the first Hero for the Planet as she brought awareness to the tragic state of our oceans. She founded her organization, Mission Blue, and was the first female scientist hired by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. I greatly admire the work of African activist Wangari Maathai. She founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental organization focused on planting trees and environmental conservation in Africa. She was the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. Last, but by no means least, the Native American activist and songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. Her songs describe accurately the state of affairs of aboriginal peoples in this country. She was blacklisted during the 1970s as she openly stated her position on the way Native Americans were/are treated. It impacted her career to such an extent that most of her work as not been recognized until recently. These women and others worked against tremendous odds, they stayed on track regardless of the tremendous challenges and I find this very inspirational."

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