Now you see ’em, now you don’t
Noseeum takes on Taos
ANEW PUBLICATION, Noseeum, jumps into 21st century social justice issues and includes a few tips for do-gooders and homeopaths seeking inexpensive remedies for … everything. You may have seen the Noseeum (no-see-um) zine, waiting for your attention in coffee or tea shops, called by their collective publishers, “an occasional journal, based in Taos …” which publishes stories “that often go unheard.”
Recently, an exclusive Noseeum story, “Cruel and Usual,” written by two Emmy award-winning journalists, Elizabeth Flock and Mark Scialla, claim to expose detention guard brutality at the Taos County lock-up [Adult Detention Center]. The piece was written in cooperation with Searchlight New Mexico, a nonprofit “news organization dedicated to investigative and public service journalism.” Read the story and see the video at taosnews.com. An elderly inmate, William Berry, claimed he experienced a “beat-down” by the jail director and has the bruises to show for it.
At a Manzanita Market lunch, arranged by Tempo editor, Lynne Robinson, Flock and Scialla alluded to their former status as Van Vagabonds, who dropped out from PBS News Hour in Washington D.C. and headed cross country into the hinterlands circa 2019. After an evening of consulting round a fire circle, Flock and Scialla were inspired and joined in the collective by a number of Taoseño locals. Midnite Lujan of Taos Pueblo and Salman “Sal” Lee, extemporaneous vocalist (I heard the barista sing behind the espresso machine at Elevation Coffee) also appeared under the aegis of aromas and pleasant wait staff at the market. ( The two pros have credits like Al Jazeera, National Geographic, The Guardian, Vice, PBS NewsHour, New Yorker, New York Times and the Atlantic) so both the writers and readers are in good hands.
The Noseeum’s “Cruel and Usual” report about the Taos County Adult Detention Center’s detention guards, zeroed in on the jail director, Leroy Vigil, subject of numerous complaints. I was reminded of stories in Horse Fly, written 20 years ago around Thanksgiving, in which a Santa Fe judge referred to the Taos County jail doings as reminiscent of Colonel Klink and Sergeant Schulz’ culture in Hogan’s Heroes. Then two jail-related deaths occurred … one caused by a detention guard, who killed an inmate, arrested for being drunk, by sitting astride his back, while other inmates hollered “get off” (he couldn’t breathe). The jailed murderer (drug deal gone wrong) in the lock-up for a day or two was assigned trustee status and sent out on a “leaf-raking detail.” The miscreant soon escaped and then hitched a ride and killed the good Samaritan driver.
Scandal has followed Taos County jail culture for years, costing the county and the state’s “risk management” insurance agency millions of dollars for jail-related deaths. Only jail director Willie Córdova kept the joint scandalfree (along with his sidekick Mary Córdova), but the commissioners fired him for “political reasons” and he, too, collected dough for “wrongful termination” from the state slot machine pool.
Meanwhile, back in Noseeum, Salma Vir-Banks wrote about “Working while Black in Taos,” an oft-told story of office politics (not unlike the jail narrative, which includes a number of mysterious jail director firings above) but here the victim experienced racism on the job. Salman Lee and Haley Harper (she, her, they, them) discuss life in “Queer Tea” about the rural queer culture why and when to wear stilettoes while engaged in presenting oneself. In “Lindiwe’s Lament,” Lee doubles down on the creative use of fusion language in science fiction lit. The fascinating “lenguaje” of popular queerdom requires a new lexicon and Noseeum provides an immersion guide to the culture.
Midnite Lujan, who returned to Taos Pueblo from college, says she is taking time off to engage in a deeper study of her own culture and “ceremony.” She interviewed Aspen Dawn Mirabal in “A Decolonial Baddie Session” about the challenges of “practicing as an indigenous full-spectrum birthworker in Northern New Mexico, as well as a Family Support Specialist for Tiwa Babies Tribal Home Visiting Program.” Mirabal emphasizes that “birthwork is lifework is communal work and the birth of a child is all of our responsibility.”
Hayley Harper’s piece on “Yarrow” enriches those who knew not the mysteries of this nutritious plant (except for herbalists). Harper claims the yellow plant can work wonders as tea or salve and adds a touch of spice “to salads, soup or vegetable dishes.” There is a “Covid Comic” by @ASA.on.Earth and a “Playlist for the Revolution” by Miles Bonny, plus a Northern New Mexico resource directory. Sierra Hardy’s advice to vote by mail per the recent election evidently paid off, given the current Trump tantrums.
See this glimpse into what a new generation of natives, newcomers and Native newcomers have produced (as your memories of The Fountain of Light, Artlines, and Horse Fly fade). The Noseeum zine publishes piquant stories, analyses and messages written by folks who embody fresh narratives, which reach beyond conventional journalism. The work speaks for itself.
(BTW: author Elizabeth Flock has written the well-received The Heart is a Shifting Sea: Love and Marriage in Mumbai, which deserves an invitation to a SOMOS reading.)
Editor’s note: Elizabeth Flock and Mark Scialla, the founders of Noseeum, are no longer “based in Taos,” leaving a new wave of “woke” in their wake.