Tierra, Agua y la Gente is a Taoseño movie series: films and conversations about land, water, and people of Northern New Mexico are curated in collaboration with Alianza Agri-Cultura de Taos, Taos Valley Acequia Association, the NMSU Taos County Extension and Taos Center for the Arts.

And Now Miguel was the first film presented as part of this series. Filmed in Taos in the village of Los Cordovas in 1953, the movie follows 12-year-old Miguel Chavez, who dreams of joining the men in his family on their annual sheep drive into the high mountain pastures of the Sangre de Cristos.

Will Jaremko-Wright, Taos County Cooperative Extension Agricultural Agent, moderated the conversation between Tobias Martinez, Patricia Quintana and Roberto Chavez.

Tobias Martinez was born and raised in Ranchos de Taos as a sheep rancher and graduated from NMSU with a degree in Range Management. He is the founder of Alianza Agricultura.

Patricia Quintana is the owner of Rancho La Fina Lamb and Wool and De La Tierra Consulting LLC. She holds a master’s degree in Agriculture from NMSU. Her career has focused on higher education, water and agricultural policy, advocacy for the conservation of agricultural communities, and organizational development, emphasizing empowerment of rural communities in agriculture, through agricultural cooperative and business capacity building.

Roberto Chavez is a member of the Chavez family featured in the movie. Chavez has taught Science at the Taos High School for years and is a long time shepherd.

This program is made possible, in part, thanks to support from the New Mexico Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.