Pablo Abeita - by Malcolm Ebright & Rick Hendricks

Book Synopsis

This is the first biography of a Pueblo leader, 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.

Review Quotes

"A unique contribution to Native Studies as well as to expanding the general studies on the histories of New Mexico and Indian policy. It is particularly important to students and readers interested in Pueblo Indian history who are interested in a more contemporary context. The era of Pablo Abeita's lifetime was one of tremendous change and challenge to Pueblo lifeways. His evolution as a Native statesman adds needed context to an otherwise white-centric presentation of local history."--Theodore Jojola, Director of the University of New Mexico's Indigenous Design and Planning Institute