Sixteen Indigenous delegates from across the American Southwest are preparing to visit Peru’s ancient Sacred Valley next month, with Taos Pueblo tribal members working to perfect the traditional song and dance they will present for the June 24 “Inti Raymi Solstice Celebration,” an international gathering of Indigenous nations from Canada and Central and South America held annually in Cusco, Peru.
Reinforcing the connection between Peru and Taos Pueblo, specifically, is the youth-led “Across the Americas” cultural exchange, which continues to broaden and enrich the mindset of tribal youth and elders in both countries as it enters into its second year.
Last year, Taos Pueblo hosted 18 artists, musicians and farmers from the Peruvian Quechua tribe for an immersive month of culture, song, food and dance. The delegation lived together in yurts and glamping tents, most experiencing the rugged Northern New Mexico high desert for the first time in their lives. Later this year, the exchange will continue with a delegation returning to Taos for the pueblo’s winter dances.
Robert Mirabal, a Taos Pueblo musician and an organizer of Across the Americas, never anticipated that a friendship he formed while selling cassettes decades ago in Taos would lead to the exchange program.
“It started about 30 years ago with a guy by the name of Roman Vizcarra,” Mirabal said. “He was from Peru, and I met him playing his music on Bent Street. I was selling my cassettes in the bookstore, and we struck a friendship. He went to the pueblo, and he helped me lay bricks. He was like, ‘This is interesting, this is like my home.’ And that’s where the seed — the fascination — started. The wonderment.”
Beginning with last year’s inaugural Across the Americas exchange, Mirabal said the program has connected himself, his family and others from Taos Pueblo to the ancient ruins, lush hillscapes and Indigenous wisdom of multiple South American cultures.
Connecting Peru to Taos Pueblo
Across the Americas formed as a youth-led Quechua cultural exchange to organize and support a global movement that “reignites Indigenous wisdom, amplifies youth identities, and connects Indigenous youth across the Americas,” according to one of Mirabal’s daughters, organizer and Indigenous birth worker Aspen Mirabal. The exchange originated through the Kusi Kawsay Association, Ñawpa Ñan youth group and Kusi Ñan Organic Farm of Peru’s Sacred Valley.
This year, having realized their dream of an exchange program between Peru and Taos Pueblo, the organizers of Across the Americas have decided to broaden the program to other Indigenous tribes in North America. For example, the current delegation of tribal members readying to head south includes people of Taos Pueblo, San Juan Pueblo, Jemez Pueblo, Navajo Nation, and the Hopi Tribe.
“Reconnection of Native Peoples across the north and south is vital to preserving Indigenous ways of being — and the lands,” Aspen Mirabal said. “Trade routes brought together members of Indigenous civilizations across the continent, creating relationships and communities that transcend today’s national boundaries. Only together can the Indigenous peoples of the Americas ignite the potential of Indigenous wisdom to bring Mother Earth to balance.”
Taos Pueblo organizers worked hard to bring this vision to life. They also recognize the ambition of such an exchange. “My main goal and my main prayer was always to bring people down from my home to see what I am seeing,” said Kona Mirabal, Robert Mirabal’s youngest daughter. “And now it’s happening, and we are leaving in a month. There’s still a lot of fundraising and outreach that we need to do, but for now it’s really beautiful how people have come together to show up for one another.”
Fundraising and obtaining travel documents for the program have been the largest challenges, Robert Mirabal explained. Securing passports, he said, was surprisingly emotional, and for him underscored the importance of travel and cultural immersion.
“For them to go into a place where there’s other Native people with different food, different voices and different song, it’s like we have taken it upon ourselves to reconnect to what was stolen, taken away or beaten out of us,” he said. “One way out is to claim your freedom, and that’s to get a damn passport and get out of this country that’s lied and stolen.”
Due to years of international travel as an artist and musician, Robert Mirabal finds himself in a unique position within the delegation, his knowledge of travel and preparedness a source of wisdom for fellow delegates.
“Even before we go, we are already dealing with certain issues from post-traumatic stress to issues of degradation, the things we have gone through,” he said. “There’s a lot of questions that have come up individually. That’s my part in it, I’m just an elder trying to guide them through the doldrums, I’m kind of like the master navigator.”
The group hopes to expand to other communities in Peru and the American Southwest. Current and past delegates support future delegates, ensuring the exchange can continue into the future.
“The rule is if you get sponsored by somebody, then you have to pay it forward,” he said. “Those who got sponsored have to help the others raise money — everything from gathering regalia and suitcases. These guys are learning how to create that reciprocity. They are doing it for one another.”
A fundraising dinner to support Across the Americas will be held on June 8 at Amigos Locale and will feature performances, including song and dance. For tickets contact growingcommunitynow@gmail.com.
