David Behrens & Celinda Reynolds Kaelin

Hujatolla Heritage Festival, Update

Will be joining us at this year’s festival.

Celinda Reynolds Kaelin is a poet, author, lecturer, and ethnohistorian who is privileged to work and study with indigenous Elders and spiritual leaders from over seventy First Nations.

Celinda is a Cherokee grandmother who has dedicated her life to the healing of the Sacred Hoop, and follows the Lakota spiritual traditions as a Pipe Carrier and a Sun Dancer. She has completed fifteen Sun Dances with the Lakota. She is proud to be an adopted member of both the Lakota Nation and the Ute Nation.


Celinda Reynolds Kaelin

She is a member of the World Council of Elders, and has traveled extensively with these traditional spiritual Elders, performing Earth healing ceremonies in North and South America. Kaelin is adjunct professor at Colorado College, and is the author of six books, including, Journey Song: A spiritual Legacy of the American Indian (Four Directions, 1998), Pikes Peak Backcountry (Caxton, 1999), American Indians of the Pikes Peak Region (Arcadia, 2008), and Ute Legends (Caxton, 2017). 

2019 Festival Update

Hujatolla Heritage Festival, Update

The Huajatolla Heritage Foundation is honored to announce the addition of two more Award-Winning Artists to this year’s festival. Sean Wells & Jason Younis y Delgado.

Sean’s Day of the Dead themed artwork has been featured on internationally distributed beer labels (Cerveza de los Muertos), nationally distributed wine labels (La Catrina Vino) and New Mexico Lottery Scratchers for which she received a national award for top scratcher design. She is an award-winning 5th generation Spanish Colonial artist and juried member of the Spanish Colonial Arts Society in the retablo category and proud to show annually at the prestigious Traditional Spanish Market in Santa Fe New Mexico alongside her award-winning tinsmith brother Jason Younis y Delgado where they share their unique collaborations. Through art and education, Sean aspires to bring an appreciation for the Hispanic traditions and culture of Northern New Mexico to a broader audience. Sean was most honored to receive “Best Visual Artist” in 2016 by the readers of Albuquerque the Magazine.


Sean Wells & Jason Younis y Delgado.

Jason Younis y Delgado, a Santa Fe Native, was taught the art of tinsmithing by his Grandmother and Great Uncle from an early age. Today, he continues the craft of five generations, participating in local shows and demonstrations. He also teaches classes through local parks and the Albuquerque Senior Centers.

Visit them on that web at www.SeanWells.me and
www.newmexicotinwork.com

The Beautiful Full Moon

Update

The worm moon in Native American tradition—occurring no less on Spring Equinox, colors the world with feelings of hope and change.  After last years horrific fires all our moisture is welcomed, but winter weary bones are really appreciating the spring like sunshine.  There is a hill that you come down into the village of La Veta.  It is fascinating around equinox time, both spring and fall, as the flora changes so rapidly it is almost like seeing time lapse photography in real time.  The changes occur so rapidly with the grass greening up, the fields become peppered with little black calves and the tree buds start to swell.  It is a welcome sight!

There also were many good things that were happening behind the scenes with Huajatolla Heritage Foundation.  The Festival is continuing to shape up to be an extraordinary event.  Our second major event for the summer started taking definitive shape with the confirmation by the amazing author, Kent Nerburn (Neither Wolf nor Dog and many more) that he will facilitate a workshop September 14 and 15.  He has suggested a preliminary title for the seminar/workshop/event “The Mindful Eye:  Looking at the World as a Work of Art.”.  We are working on many details, but registration information will be posted here as soon as available. Visit his site at
https://kentnerburn.com/

Kent Nerburn

The other exciting happening is our partnering with the Sangre de Cristo Center for Youth to offer both classes in art and dance.  Sharona Whitley will be offering art classes that explore cultural connections. Ashely Vandergriff will be offering a 10-week hip-hop dance class open to any youth in Huerfano County between 8-18.  Both of these classes will be offered for free thanks to our generous Art in Society grant. For more information on Sangre de Cristo Center for Youth you can find them at
https://sccy4youth.org/