SM 59
Page 1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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
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
pg_0002
SM 59
Page 2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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
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,
pg_0003
SM 59
Page 3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
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 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.