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Elderly volunteer preserves New Mexico history, one stitch at a time
COUNTY AND THE NEW MEXICO GAS COMPANY. WHAT WE’RE CELEBRATING HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH AND TODAY WE MEET A WOMAN WHO IS PRESERVING NEW MEXICO’S HISTORY AND HER OWN. AND NOW THAT WOMAN IS STITCHING IT TOGETHER. THREAD BY THREAD TO GO OVER IT, BACK UNDER THESE HANDS, TRAP IT DOWN. IT’S TACKED DOWN OUR HARD AT WORK. DO IT AGAIN WITH JUST A NEEDLE. IT’S FILLING UP THAT SPOT AND THREAD. IT’S NOT AN OUTLINER. JULIA GOMEZ IS TEACHING. IT’S A FILLER. THE ART OF COLCHA CULTURE IS A TYPE OF EMBROIDERY, A SPECIAL TYPE. IT’S WOOL ON WOOL, GIVING THE EMBROIDERY. IT’S THICK AND IT’S KIND OF COURSE, IT’S UNIQUE APPEARANCE. SOME PEOPLE DON’T LIKE IT. BUT JULIA LOVES IT. ISN’T IT BEAUTIFUL? AS A MATTER OF FACT, I’M A TEACHER. JULIA’S DEDICATED HER LIFE TO IT. I LIKE TO TEACH IT. IT ALL STARTED ALMOST 50 YEARS AGO. I TOOK CLASSES IN 1977. I WAS TEACHING THEN AND RAISING A FAMILY. SO I DIDN’T DO MUCH WITH IT. 20 YEARS LATER, JULIA TRIED FOR THE SANTA FE INDIAN MARKET. I DIDN’T GET IN, BUT SHE DID MEET THAT YEAR’S BEST OF SHOW WINNER. I TOLD HER THAT I DIDN’T GET IN AND SHE SAID, OH, YOU COME WITH ME. AND SHE BROUGHT ME HERE. EL RANCHO DE LAS GOLONDRINAS. I JUST FELL IN LOVE WITH IT. I FELL IN LOVE WITH EVERYTHING. THE LIVING MUSEUM PRESERVES HISTORY, AND I LEARNED THE STORY ON HUNDREDS OF ACRES OF HISTORIC LAND. SHEEP, A REAL LIFE LOOK AT COLONIAL NEW MEXICO. THE PEOPLE THAT CAME WHICH, AS JULIA LEARNED, MY OWN HISTORY, INCLUDES HER OWN ANCESTORS. WE HAVE A SPANISH. WE HAVE NATIVE AMERICAN, THE TIWA FROM COCHITI, AND MY FATHER WAS A BEAUTIFUL, A BEAUTIFUL MEXICAN MAN AND SPANISH. SO AS JULIA LEARNED HOW COLCHA STARTED, ITS REALLY COLONIAL, THE CHURRO SHEEP ADAPTED TO THE AREA. THEY MAKE RUGS, BEAUTIFUL RUGS AND BEAUTIFUL BLANKETS. SHE WAS ALSO MAKING SENSE OF NEW MEXICO’S COMPLICATED ROOTS. I’M SORRY THAT WE CAN’T FIX THE PAST, BUT WE CAN DO BETTER NOW IN THIS VOLUNTEER. THIS IS THE WEAVING ROOM GUIDES, VISITORS. THIS IS THE INSTRUMENT THAT THE SPANISH BROUGHT, CALLED THE MALACATE, AND SHARES HER WORK. I EMBROIDERED THE OXEN AND THE NEW MEXICO SKY. SHE’S ALSO TEACHING THEM. YOU JUST LAY THE NEXT YARN NEXT TO IT, AND IT’S A UNIVERSAL STITCH THAT BRINGS ALL THE COUNTRIES TOGETHER. AN IMPORTANT LESSON THAT THERE CAN BE PEACE. BECAUSE THESE LADIES BROUGHT A LOT OF BEAUTY TO THIS ARID LAND, AND SO DOES SHE. JUST WITH A NEEDLE AND YARN, A PIECE OF THREAD. WELL, YOU’VE GOT A COUPLE OF WEEKS TO LEARN ABOUT EL RANCHO DE LAS GOLONDRIN
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Elderly volunteer preserves New Mexico history, one stitch at a time
KOAT is celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month, honoring the many contributions of New Mexico’s Hispanic and Latino communities. See the interview in the video aboveJulia Gomez is a volunteer at El Rancho de las Golondrinas, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Gomez teaches "colcha" at the living museum. “Colcha is a type of embroidery,” she said. “It's wool on wool. It's thick, and it's kind of coarse.”Gomez’s experience with colcha began almost 50 years ago. “I took classes in 1977,” she said. “I was teaching then and raising a family, so I didn't do much with it.”Twenty years later, Gomez applied to join the Santa Fe Indian Market. She didn’t get in, but she did meet that year’s Best of Show winner. “I told her that I didn't get in,” Gomez said. “And she said, ‘Oh, you come with me.’ And she brought me here.” Gomez fell in love with El Rancho de las Golondrinas and immersed herself in all things pertaining to colcha embroidery. “It's a real colonial embroidery,” she said. “The churro sheep adapted to the area. They make beautiful rugs and beautiful blankets.”As Gomez learned about colcha’s colonial roots, she was also making sense of New Mexico’s own complicated history. “We can't fix the past, but we can do better,” she said. “There can be peace. These ladies brought a lot of beauty to this arid land.”El Rancho de las Golondrinas closes for the season on Oct. 26. To learn more about colcha, or the living museum itself, visit golondrinas.org.
KOAT is celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month, honoring the many contributions of New Mexico’s Hispanic and Latino communities.
See the interview in the video above
Julia Gomez is a volunteer at El Rancho de las Golondrinas, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Gomez teaches "colcha" at the living museum. “Colcha is a type of embroidery,” she said. “It's wool on wool. It's thick, and it's kind of coarse.”
Gomez’s experience with colcha began almost 50 years ago. “I took classes in 1977,” she said. “I was teaching then and raising a family, so I didn't do much with it.”
Twenty years later, Gomez applied to join the Santa Fe Indian Market. She didn’t get in, but she did meet that year’s Best of Show winner. “I told her that I didn't get in,” Gomez said. “And she said, ‘Oh, you come with me.’ And she brought me here.”
Gomez fell in love with El Rancho de las Golondrinas and immersed herself in all things pertaining to colcha embroidery. “It's a real colonial embroidery,” she said. “The churro sheep adapted to the area. They make beautiful rugs and beautiful blankets.”
As Gomez learned about colcha’s colonial roots, she was also making sense of New Mexico’s own complicated history. “We can't fix the past, but we can do better,” she said. “There can be peace. These ladies brought a lot of beauty to this arid land.”
El Rancho de las Golondrinas closes for the season on Oct. 26. To learn more about colcha, or the living museum itself, visit golondrinas.org.
English (US)