Pablo Abeita

Download or read book Pablo Abeita written by Malcolm Ebright and published by University of New Mexico Press. This book was released on 2023-06-01 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pablo Abeita is the first biography of Pablo Abeita, a man considered the most important Native leader in the Southwest in his day. Abeita was a strong advocate for Isleta and the other eighteen New Mexico pueblos during the periods of assimilation, boarding schools, and the reform of US Indian policy. Working with some of the most progressive Indian agents in New Mexico, with other Pueblo leaders, and with advocacy groups, he received funding for much-needed projects, such as a bridge across the Rio Grande at Isleta. To achieve these ends, Abeita testified before Congress and was said to have met, and in some cases befriended, nearly every US president from Benjamin Harrison to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Abeita dealt with many issues that are still relevant today, including reform of US Indian policy, boarding schools, and Pueblo sovereignty. Pablo Abeita’s story is one of a people still living on their ancestral homelands, struggling to protect their land and water, and ultimately thriving as a modern pueblo.