'Asina nos criaron': Contesting the narratives and claiming place in the Atomic Age, 1912-1955

Abstract

Asina nos criaron': Contesting the Narratives and Claiming Space in the Atomic Age: 1912-1955 examines how the establishment of the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories (LASL), on the Pajarito Plateau, affected ethnic Spanish-speaking residents of the adjacent Pojoaque Valley. This thesis traces the long-standing history of a rural population who resided in the Pojoaque Valley, generally considered to be vacant land prior to LASL. Although this work focuses mostly on the 1940s, it also outlines the shifts in land ownership. Additionally, this thesis traces the physical changes and cultural negotiations that allowed these long time residents to remain on their land. It is argued that the imposition of LASL's social and economic hierarchies altered the Pojoaque valley's traditional intracultural relationships, which led to the subjugation of the area's ethnic Spanish-speaking nuevomexicanos. As a result, this population resorted to altering its ethnic identity in order to combat the racism introduced and enforced by LASL.