pg_0001

.168893.1

SENATE MEMORIAL 59

TH LEGISLATURE

- STATE OF NEW MEXICO -

FIRST SESSION

, 2007

INTRODUCED BY

Richard C. Martinez

A MEMORIAL

RECOGNIZING THE ROLE OF GENIZAROS IN NEW MEXICO HISTORY AND

THEIR LEGACY.

WHEREAS, indigenous captivity and servitude were common in

frontier society that became New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, various indigenous peoples, including Apache,

Dine (Navajo), Pawnee, Ute and Comanche, were captured; and

WHEREAS, indigenous people became part of New Mexican

communities and households through capture in war, kidnapping,

trade fairs, punishment for crimes, adoption, abandonment and

the sale of children; and

WHEREAS, baptismal records reveal that at least four

thousand six hundred one captive indigenous persons were

baptized between the years 1700 and 1880, becoming part of

Spanish, Mexican and territorial households; and

pg_0002

.168893.1

- 2 -

WHEREAS, numerous primary source records document the

captivity, presence and experience of indigenous people

displaced in this way, including marriage records, court cases,

wills and censuses; and

WHEREAS, the experiences of captives, while varied,

included being raised and serving within households, and

sometimes remaining in a captor's home for a lifetime; and

WHEREAS, the practice of taking Indian captives lasted

through the Mexican and into the American period in New Mexico;

and

WHEREAS, there were many terms to describe Indian

captivity and servitude in New Mexico, including "cautivos",

"criados", "coyotes" and "famulos" but the most common used

prior to 1821 and into the Spanish colonial period was the term

"genizaro"; and

WHEREAS, the term "genizaro" derives from the Turkish word

"yeniceri" or "janissary", terms used to describe Christian

captives who, as children, had been forcibly abducted, traded

and trained as the nucleus of the Ottoman empire's standing

army; and

WHEREAS, genizaro families could be found in various

communities throughout the colony, including the major villages

of Albuquerque, Santa Cruz de la Canada, Santa Fe and El Paso

del Norte; and

WHEREAS, in the mid-eighteenth century, many genizaros

pg_0003

.168893.1

- 3 -

were again relocated strategically at the edges of Hispanic

communities, thus providing both an initial line of defense

against raiders and the foundation for communities such as

Abiquiu, Belen, Carnuel, Las Trampas, Ojo Caliente, Ranchos de

Taos, San Miguel del Vado and Tome; and

WHEREAS, by 1776, genizaros made up at least one-third of

the entire population of the province; and

WHEREAS, genizaros and their descendants have participated

in all aspects of the social, political, military and economic

life of New Mexico during the Spanish, Mexican and American

periods; and

WHEREAS, eventually the migration patterns of cautivos and

genizaros paralleled that of all New Mexicans with communities

extending southward to El Paso del Norte (Ciudad Juarez) and

northern Chihuahua, Mexico, as well as northward to Colorado

and beyond; and

WHEREAS, the direct result of the Indian slave trade was

the emergence of generations of racial and cultural mixtures

often referred to in the colonial period with terms such as

coyotes, colores quebrados, lobos and mestizos; and

WHEREAS, many New Mexicans can trace their ancestry to

these indigenous peoples;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE

OF NEW MEXICO that the important role of genizaros and their

descendants have had in the social, economic, political and

pg_0004

.168893.1

cultural milieu of New Mexico and the United States be

recognized; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the senate recognize the

existence and importance of this indigenous group and the

presence and importance of its descendants today; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be

transmitted to the office of the state historian.

- 4 -