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Once Upon a Semillita

por Luisa Vargas

Books are a fountain of knowledge, they teach empathy, enhance critical thinking skills, and are a great way to engage in diverse perspectives. Libros are entertaining, powerful, and, most importantly, they help semillitas grow.

We’re in the middle of Semillitas Outdoors, our annual celebration of Latine children in the outdoors. This week, we’re organizing virtual conversations and in-person outings and events that center the experience of Latine children and their families. 

We believe providing Latine youth with increased opportunities to connect with the outdoors and access to leadership spaces can help them develop their leadership abilities. Spending time in nature is central to this idea, as is a life-long commitment to learning. We know libros and the outdoors combine to make wonderful teachers who will help semillitas take root and flourish into today’s leaders. 

We’ve gathered a list of books that focus on themes in nature. We encourage you to take a look at our full list of  Outdoors Books for Children and Young Adults which are great stories for adults too!

Books we’ve been reading this week

CHILDREN

  1. Pepe Plantasemillas is about comunidad y cultura, it’s also Latino Outdoors’ story and is written and illustrated by a group of dedicated LO Outing Leaders alongside our founder, José González. Pepe Plantasemillas is a vibrant and colorful bird. Follow Pepe on a journey to plant a magical seed of cultura y comunidad in different places while meeting new faces.
  2. Fatima’s Great Outdoors is a picture book by Ambreen Tariq, outdoors activist and founder of @BrownPeopleCamping. It follows the adventures of Fatima Khazi on a camping trip with her family. Fatima’s school week may not have gone as planned but outdoors, she can achieve anything! 

YOUNG ADULT

  1. The Distance Between Us: Young Readers Edition – Reyna Grande shares her personal experience of crossing borders and cultures in this middle-grade adaptation of her memoir, The Distance Between Us. 
  2. The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World – As an Indigenous scientist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer gathers serviceberries and reflects on reciprocity and the gift economy. She shares insights on what we can learn from the wisdom of plants and encourages us to reconsider what we truly value.  

Libros for free!

There are so many creative ways to find books for you and your semillita. Here are a few ideas that are free and support our comunidades:

  1. Public Libraries are great for finding physical and digital books! They offer other great resources for learning and host community events. Some even have state park passes you can borrow for free! If accessing an in-person library is difficult, most libraries offer digital options to check out books as well. 
  2. Free little libraries are community run, and a great way to interact with your neighbors while sharing books. You are encouraged to leave a book when you take one, but it’s not required! 
  3. Exchanging books with your friends, family, or you LO chapter! 
  4. Join your neighborhood Buy Nothing Facebook group.
  5. The internet! There are plenty of free digital books online. You can read LO’s very own Pepe Plantasemillas on our website. There are also resources like Project Gutenberg where you can find books for free. Most public libraries also have digital books you can check out from your computer without having to go to your local branch. 

We hope you and your semillitas find time to immerse yourself in a good story this week. Grab your book and a picnic blanket or find a park bench y vamos outdoors!

Nuestras Tierras: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro 

por Luisa Vargas

Public lands are crucial for the preservation of history, conservation of land, and public access to nature. They are areas of land and water that U.S. citizens own and are managed by government agencies and, at times, by sovereign nations. They encompass ancestral homelands, migration routes, and other culturally significant places for Indigenous Peoples who have been forcibly removed.

In this blog series, we’ll be exploring public lands in the U.S. that hold cultural and historical significance to Latine people. These places are currently at risk from recent staffing and funding cuts. Now more than ever, it’s important for us to recognize their past, current, and future significance for preserving our land and cultures.

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, or “Royal Road of the Interior,” is a 1,600-mile route running from Mexico City to Santa Fe, New Mexico, that connected Spain’s colonial capital Mexico City to New Mexico. It was added to the U.S. National Trails System in 2000 as El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail and is currently administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service. 

For centuries, Indigenous communities walked alongside the bison, coyotes, and foxes of the Great Plains into the arid land of the cacti, agaves, and yuccas in the Chihuahuan Desert regions. These foot trails linked their homes and cultures long before European arrival and the establishment of what would be known as El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.

In August of 1598, Don Juan de Oñate of Spain, also known as adelantado, arrived at Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo), a short distance from what is now Santa Fe, New Mexico. He successfully established the first colony in New Mexico after navigating several shortcuts along the route from Mexico City, including the infamous Jornada del Muerto, a 90-mile stretch of waterless desert starting in Las Cruces and ending south of Socorro, New Mexico. This successful bypass avoided a more difficult path along the Rio Grande that was impassable for carretas and livestock, allowing the movement of colonists and missionaries in New Mexico.

Image by National Park Service

After Oñate’s expedition, miners used El Camino Real as a trade route to transport silver extracted from Zacatecas, Guanajuato, and San Luis Potosí, and mercury imported from Europe. Like all trade routes, more than just goods were exchanged. Social, religious, and cultural links formed along the route, and Indigenous and mestizo guides helped travelers navigate the trail. We can see the echoes of these cultural exchanges, oftentimes forced, in surrounding communities today. 

As the route became formalized, parajes were established along the route. These were strategically located in terms of shelter, terrain, and water. People gathered, rested, and exchanged goods or information at parajes, which eventually became pueblos like Querétaro, Durango, and Albuquerque.

With the influx of people also came conflict, disease, and hunger. Pueblos along the route endured religious persecution, heavy taxation, and forced labor through the repartimiento system. These hardships, along with the destruction caused by foreign diseases, drought, and famine, led to the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Po’Pay, a religious leader from Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, led the revolt, driving the Spanish out of New Mexico and halting traffic on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.

Over the next two centuries, the trail saw periods of conflict and peace and permanent cultural shifts. The route continued to be used during the Spanish period (until 1821), the Mexican period (until 1846), and the beginning of American rule. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad ended the traffic on El Camino Real, but railroads and highways like I-25 still run parallel to some original sections of the trail.

You can visit several landmarks along this public land trail. Please check before visiting any public trail sites for visiting hours and regulations. Trail sites may be privately owned, municipally, tribally, federally, or in state ownership.

Public lands provide access to culturally significant sites, including those important to Indigenous and Latine communities. El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, a historic route linking Mexico City to Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a key example of public lands that are rich in multicultural significance. These public lands face threats from funding cuts, highlighting the need for continued advocacy to protect these cultural landmarks. 

You can help us with our mission to protect public lands. We’re collecting stories that celebrate and preserve the diversity of the outdoors. Tell us your park story and share what public lands mean to you on the Yo Cuento blog.

Sources and Additional Reading:

Congressman Grijalva: A Representative for All

Latino Outdoors mourns the passing of Representative Raúl Grijalva, a tireless champion for environmental justice, public lands, and communities. His leadership and commitment to equity, justice, cultura, and protection in the outdoors have left an enduring legacy.

Congressman Grijalva’s roots run deep in the land. In an article for the Sierra Club, he said, “When I was a young boy in southern Arizona, the sky islands of the Santa Rita Mountains were my front yard, and the cactus-strewn plains of the Sonoran Desert my backyard. My father was a vaquero, a cowboy, on the historic Canoa Ranch on the outskirts of Tucson. I spent a lot of time with him as he worked the land. While we roamed the 4,800-acre property, my father shared his thoughts about the landscape and his reverence for the natural world. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, those weekends in the desert sparked my own respect for big, open spaces and, eventually, an appreciation for public lands.”

Throughout his career, Grijalva’s leadership was pivotal in defending America’s national parks and the communities that benefit from their protection. One of the first times Latino Outdoors connected with Congressman Grijalva was when LO Founder José González presented him with a piece of his artwork at a reception. The gathering, which included groups like Green Latinos, Hispanic Access Foundation, HECHO, and the Hispanic Federation, focused on the idea of the Latino Conservation Alliance.

Congressman Grijalva’s dedication to public lands, parks, and community access was clear. He consistently advocated for these causes, and his support for Latino Outdoors’ mission was evident when he participated in our film, “Estamos Aqui.” In that, it was obvious how personal conservation was to him and how deeply it resonated with our communities. He saw himself in them, and they saw themselves in him.

As the days go by, many will share all the different ways they knew him and worked with him. That speaks to his impact. For us, it was knowing he was a constant advocate for the work Latino Outdoors does. Even though he might not have been everyone’s “official” representative, he was certainly a representative for all of us—much like the tio or abuelo with the wisdom and experience to guide us. In many ways, he was a future ancestor. As such, he’ll continue to guide us with the legacy he leaves.

Rest in Power, Congressman.