Year of Award
2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Degree Name
Creative Writing (Nonfiction)
Department or School/College
English
Committee Chair
Judy Blunt
Committee Co-chair
Mark Sundeen
Commitee Members
Judy Blunt, Mark Sundeen, Katie Kane, Emily Ruskovitvh
Keywords
Albuquerque, New Mexico, Rio Grande, Bosque
Publisher
University of Montana
Subject Categories
Arts and Humanities
Abstract
This story is about living in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2017 as a mixed-race woman with Hispanic, European, and Indigenous Mexican and Puebloan ancestry. Albuquerque seeks to understand how marginalized cultures become subsumed and ultimately lost by the dominate culture. As a child of mixed heritage, I am interested in the internalization of this cultural disappearance, and all the subtle yet profound choices my ancestors have made: my grandparents refused to teach Spanish to their children so they would fit in better with the whites, my Indian great grandfather fled Mexico, leaving behind his tribe and culture, never to return. My pueblo ancestry is long lost and never talked about; instead, stories of Spanish conquistadors and rich merchants are the favored family lore. Albuquerque is also a focus on place, and what it means to feel like you and the place you came from are inextricably linked, and when one suffers, so does the other, and when one is parched, baffled, and wounded, so is the other.
Recommended Citation
Garcia Pino, Suzanne Joy, "Albuquerque" (2021). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 11848.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11848
Included in
© Copyright 2021 Suzanne Joy Garcia Pino