Pablo Abeita

Book excerpt: This is the first biography of a Pueblo leader, Pablo Abeita, a man considered as the most important Native leader in the Southwest in his day. Pablo Abeita's life in Isleta Pueblo, just south of Albuquerque, was a colorful and important one. Educated in the best schools in New Mexico, Abeita became 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.