Johnny Ortiz

Each spring, those of us in the high desert of Northern New Mexico territory eagerly anticipate the opening of La acequia madre after months of splitting wood and building fires to keep us warm. Now on any given day when passing through a small mountain town you can see the pastures glistening in the sun as they are flooded by diverted river water from acequia's (ditches) that were dug hundreds of years ago and that are still utilized by the communities. There is a hardly a sight that carries more excitement of all the possibilities to come than this one. 
I am grateful to come from a place, for many generations, that still grasps a particular culture, <meta charset="utf-8">even if it's preserved in part because of poverty. It's not something that can not be created and comes largely from humans living for so long with mother earth so intimately. 
Though the culture here feels more present than most places, I do feel like we are witnessing the end it, at least in some form or another. I always like to remember though, "Culture isn’t preserved, it’s created". It is an ever morphing embodiment of our spirits and actions. Each day, whether we like it or not, we are creating the culture that will come after us.
As I watch the sun start to awaken the world outside my window in anticipation to grab the shovel and to go participate in being one of those fields glistening in the sun I would like to share an article I came across on the acequia cleaning ritual that I am so lucky to get to be part of by Rudy Montoya.
 
<h1 class="entry-title">La Saca y la Limpia: Some Thoughts on a Springtime Practice, Ritual and Rite of Passage  </h1>
La primavera brings with it the sights and sounds of work crews and officials walking the easements of locals acequias. The workers file into a line inside the acequia canal and the Mayordoma/o or rayador mark the individual work duties or tareas. The peones with palas, chainsaws and rakes clear debris and remove silt, sand, rocks, and cut back and burn overgrown grasses and jaras that have impeded the canal since last year. The purpose of this work is to have a clean and clear pathway so that the main diversion point headgate can be opened and water can be brought into the community. In some acequia communities this spring time practice is called la limpia which involves removing debris. There is also a more labor intensive form called la saca that describes the digging out of the sand and silt from the causeway of the water.                                                               
These work days on many acequias are traditionally understood as tequios or work days for the benefit of the community. The tequio focused on community cooperation and mutual aid. The word tequio comes originally from the nahuatl languages of mesoamerica meaning communal labor or tribute. In many NM acequia communities parciantes or members were expected to send laborers on the days of the saca. This was often seen as a rite of passage as it was often the first public job younger men were to take up in their community. It served as a rite of passage as their status into adulthood was marked by their work contributing to the wellbeing of the cohesion of the placita. If the family did not have kin who could fulfill this responsibility they could contract with a day laborer or peón. Women also had the duty on these days of providing meals for the workers. 
During the 1930s as men left New Mexico as migrant workers to the neighboring states of Wyoming, Utah, California and Colorado many women took up the management of the farms. They often were tasked to contract out peones to clean the main acequias. However, during this time, as the men were away, women often took up the responsibility to clean their own family’s lateral ditches or enfrentes and prepare and tend to kitchen gardens near the resolana of the home as well as in some cases the larger fields. In addition to these responsibilities the communal construction work of replastering which was also a tequio and structural maintenance on the home was often the role of women. The 1930’s saw a shift in gender roles on the ranchitos as women who did a majority or oversaw the management of subsistence agriculture as well as animal herding were known during this era prior to WWII as las mujerotas or strong women. Today many women hold positions within acequias as Commissioners and Mayordomas. In some communities, the space of the Limpia in some communities is becoming desegregated as women also participate in this springtime ritual. 
Today the practice of the community limpia is waning as acequias with limited resources have difficulty contracting day laborers. In some areas the acequia officials have opted to commercially contract out this work to firms who use machinery such as tractors and backhoes. As this occurs the connection the community has with each other and to the natural world around them also wanes. The importance involved in the tequio is not only physical labor or economical, it also involves a communal spiritual practice which is essential for community health. Its key is to contextualize these practices as movement, cleansing, prayer as well as communitas and conviviality among neighbors as a rite of passage for younger members to contribute to the maintenance of the cultural commons and becoming adults on their way towards becoming acequia citizens or parciantes.                            
Typically, these practices happen during the same time that religious observances of la cuaresma or lent, where the community and individuals are focused on the preparation for Good Friday and Easter. Often it is a time of solemnity, fasting, purification and or cleansing. At the start of lent with Ash Wednesday rites we are reminded that our bodies are of the earth and will return to the Earth. Throughout the Americas as with many acequia communities beliefs and practices go beyond the orthodoxy of the Church and encompass aspects of animism that the natural world is understood as a living extension of the body. Acequias are seen as channels of life bringing energy. The limpia is a practice that clears away the obstructions and hindrances of the life forces that flow and bring substance to the people. It’s a preparation clearing the pathways for energy for rebirth. 
It is interesting to ponder the parallel to the Chicana/o/x and Indo Hispano Religious and spiritual practices of curanderismo that also has a practice called la limpia. In this context la limpia is energy work grounded in preparation and clearing the channels of the individual’s body, mind and spirit of ill will, and negative energy. In the acequia it is the same as workers clear out the irrigation channel for the water, the lifeblood of the community. The acequia is an extension of our own bodies and the connection with the land and its body. It is in this aspect that the limpia has an important role in the cohesion of the community. It ties us together and as we work together we share the sweat of our brow with our vecinas/os/xs. In working together we are not alone as the dicho states, entre más manos el trabajo es menos.

Welcoming the water

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