Luncheon, October 1

VIDEO. Immediately after our 10 am service, we moved into Pope Hall for a special luncheon featuring Mary Weahkee and the utilitarian crafts that she has learned from elders at various pueblos including turkey feather blankets and yucca sandals.

After Mary’s talk, we feasted on food created from Native American recipes: Pinto bean and spinach tacos, Roasted sweet potatoes and American Indian rice sautee, Elk stew, Posole, Cornbread, and Chocolate Pinon Torte.

View Mary’s fascinating and sometimes rather graphic talk:

Get a flavor of Mary’s crafts by looking at these videos:

 

Mary Motah Weahkee

Mary is a member of the Comanche Nation and Santa Clara Pueblo tribes and has been an archeologist for the State of New Mexico for many years. She worked on each of the three archaeology projects related to recent building projects along Grant Street: Santa Fe Convention Center, First Presbyterian Church, and Santa Fe County Administration Building. Mary spoke to our Dismantling Racism program in February 2021 and had us enthralled with the history of our area and turkey feather blankets.

Mary Wahakee is named after both sides of her family. Her Comanche father’s last name, which was her maiden name, was Motah which loosely translates as plugged nose.  On her Pueblo side  Wahakee means the tinkle of a little bell. She was also named after her Comanche grandmother, Mary,  who was one of the last medicine women of the Comanche Nation. On the Pueblo side her grandfather gave her a name that is illustrative of a field of blue asters so her name is purple haze. She is a mother and grandmother who loves teaching her family and others about aspects of prehistoric and present day Native American cultures.