KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR: Dr. Maria Dolores Gonzales
The popularity of websites, such as ancestry.com or
23andme.com, illustrates people’s desire to learn about their past family history. They ask: From where does my family originate? To whom am I related? Are there special stories of which I should be aware? Such knowledge helps a person understand himself or herself.
If Maria Dolores Gonzales and her writing group, Nuestras Voces Chicanas, have their way, knowledge of a person’s past will be researched and shared through family stories.
Gonzales has brought Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado bilingual women to the forefront via the writing group.
“Females were a group that was silenced and repressed in the past,” she said. “We must share our stories while we’re able to do so. Most publishing companies don’t want to look at anything bilingual. At a UNM (University of New Mexico) Writers’ Conference at The Sagebrush Inn, the topic of bilingual publishing arose. Some attendees suggested leaving out Spanish altogether, translating to reach a bigger audience or using a glossary or footnotes. The presenter opposed these suggestions and instead suggested that we publish our own work, our way.”
Gonzales followed the presenter’s advice after a fashion. She started a women’s bilingual writing group in 2016.
The following year, participants in Nuestras Voces Chicanas presented a reading at Taos Public Library. The reading reflected both the writers’ formative and adult years. “These childhood memoirs are personal stories, area histories, sociological interactions, political tension and assimilation,” Gonzales observed. “The stories by the members of the writing group include no judgment. The fact that they live, think and write in two languages is so profound.”
The group recently shared its stories at Las Pistoleras Instituto Cultural de Arte (1219 Paseo del Pueblo Norte) in El Prado. Erlinda Gonzales-Berry read from her latest book “Rosebud: Population Seven,” describing her childhood in a small town in which children spoke Spanish at home but were punished for doing so at their English-only school. Not allowing children to use their language, effectively silenced the youngsters.
Joanna Vidaurre-Trujillo offered excerpts from her book “Papas y Frijoles,” short stories and poems to honor her culture. Gonzales read personal stories from her soon-to-bepublished (in 2019), “A View from the Windmills.”
The group meets once a week for two hours. Members write stories, then edit and improve them. They participate in critiquing their work, rewriting the text and preparing to share.
Gonzales approaches her latest activity as she does any other. Her love of language and cultural preservation drives all she does, from classes to presentations by the reading group.
Born to Canuto and Carlotta Gonzales Jr., Maria Dolores Gonzales grew up in Roy, New Mexico. The small town was racially divided along the street: Anglos on one side, Hispanics on the other.
Carlotta Gonzales taught in the area for several years. Carlotta and Canuto’s five daughters grew up learning a strong work ethic and a love of language. The children included Consuelo (the late Albert) Trujillo; Erlinda (Ed Berry) Gonzales-Berry; Cecilia (Dick Tucker) Gonzales de Tucker; Maria Dolores Gonzales; and Gloria Gonzales.
Gonzales said that she spoke only Spanish the first six years of her life. When she started school, she placed her Spanish language in a little niche to avoid the problems that speaking Spanish created. She locked away the Spanish language away so deeply that she had to recapture it via trips to Mexico and Spain.
“I realized that in my family, the Spanish language could die with me. I began teaching it to my kids and grandkids,” Gonzales related. The children to whom she referred are her sons Damian (Julianna) Velasquez and Rafael (Geraldine) Velasquez. Her only grandchild, Alejandro Velasquez, is Damian and Julianna’s son.
Gonzales’ received a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Chicano Studies from Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado. She earned her master’s degree at UNM, with studies in Spanish and Latin American literature. The University of New Mexico granted Gonzales a doctorate degree in sociolinguistics with a concentration in peninsular literature.
She retired as an associate professor at UNM and coordinated the Sabine Ulibarri Heritage Language Institute for 12 years. When Gonzales accepted the position, the Institute consisted of four sections and four teaching assistants. By her retirement, the Institute included 23 sections, 11 graduate students and an assistant director.
The program is the oldest, largest program of its type in the country, and most of the student participants grew up in Northern New Mexico. Gonzales moved to the Taos area three years ago. Gonzales’ published work includes contributions to the anthology “Las Mujeres Hablan.”
In her spare time, Gonzales likes to swim laps and photograph landscapes. Other passions include documenting culture, reading, writing and spending time outdoors. Music and dance remain important to her, especially with the heritage of her parents’ many dance trophies.
Her cooking skills favor the creation of strawberry peach cobbler crisp, a mean red chile and enchiladas.
She also portrays Ultima at the National Hispanic Culture Center in Albuquerque, playing the role of the title character from Rudolfo Anaya’s novel, “Bless Me, Ultima.” While in character, she takes visitors on a tour of the center and explains how parts of the exhibit represent Anaya’s work. The exhibit ends in November.
“I like anything to do with photography, teaching Spanish, learning about language and culture and offering private classes,” Gonzales said. “My goal is to bring New Mexico communities together, connecting them in a positive way.