Despite our histories or habits, those of us who moved here can choose to set aside the mindset of the colonizer. If we do, we are welcome here. One part of this humbling process is to recognize that all of us who relocated here are guests, whether we’ve been here for five months or five centuries. As we settlers seek to settle well and join in the life of this precious and ancient place and the many beings who have lived here before us, we are welcome, but there are some steps to respect. 

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At TiLT, we have been taught a straightforward process from friends at Tewa Women United, native allies just south of us here in Taos.: First, we should always acknowledge the peoples who lived here first. We need to name and authentically apologize for any ancestral damage, trauma, colonization, exploitation, and cultural destruction that might have been done by our forebears. Second, we need to pledge to live in resource-sharing, earth-honoring, Pueblo-dignifying ways. 

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For many of us in the Watershed Way, this seemingly simple process of truth and reconciliation has become a process of transformation, opening doors of healing in our hearts and making healing changes through our hands, our calendars and our pocketbooks. Our friend Mirian Naranjo of HOPE [Honoring Our Pueblo Existence] gave us a tool to keep this identity of “welcome guest” in mind. She is of Tewa territory, south of us, and we have modified it to include the Tiwa region around Taos as well. Based on her suggestion, we offer it as a blessing to start any legislative session, community meeting, civic initiative, or gathering of intention:

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Everyone here is walking, living and breathing within these sacred lands of Tewa and Tiwa Peoples. Let us acknowledge where we stand and give thanks for the living mountains, valleys and waters, which sustain our lives and form Tewa and Tiwa ancestral homelands. Let us ground our activities in the awareness of where we are, and may the mannerism of Pueblo Peoples enter our lives and fill us with gratitude, love, care and respect for all that is shared between us and all beings.