{"id":168256,"date":"2026-02-17T15:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/168256\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T15:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:49:08","slug":"cultural-center-displays-indigenous-cultures-of-el-paso-las-cruces-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/168256\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultural Center displays Indigenous cultures of El Paso-Las Cruces region"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Blessing<\/a> <\/p>\n

Blessing Staff, Shell, and the Ceremonial Staff are using during ceremonial blessing and cleansings. January 30, 2026 <\/p>\n

On Sept. 16, 2025, the Branigan Cultural Center in Downtown Las Cruces\u00a0opened its first of six exhibits in a series called \u201cLand of the People.\u201d\u00a0Until May 2027, residents can visit the exhibit from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.\u00a0Tuesday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Each of the six exhibits\u00a0prominently features\u00a0one of six major indigenous communities in the El Paso-Las Cruces region. Those are the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, the Tortugas Pueblo, the Mescalero Apache, the Piro-Manso-Tiwa Indian Tribe, the Chiricahua Apache, and the Gila Apache. The Ysleta del Sur Pueblo\u2019s exhibit was the first to open on Sept. 16, 2025, and ended on Nov. 29, 2025.\u00a0Since Dec. 20,\u00a02025, the exhibit for the Tortugas Pueblo has been on display, and will remain until March 14,\u00a02026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Traditional Traje is used for Danza. (Melanie Zepeda<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The City of Las Cruces\u00a0stated in a post on their website<\/a>\u00a0the information shown\u00a0at the exhibit comes from the\u00a0indigenous groups themselves,\u00a0in an effort to\u00a0include Native American voices into the collaborative project.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough their own words and perspectives, each group presents information about their traditions and current lifeways,\u201d the City of Las Cruces wrote. \u201cReflecting the collaborative nature of this exhibit, each group has included their interpretation of the term \u2018Land of the People\u2019 within the title, corresponding with their exhibit rotation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two visitors\u00a0came to\u00a0Las Cruces, Christine\u00a0Stout,\u00a0and her daughter Keri Herrera\u00a0of\u00a0the Chicago area,\u00a0to\u00a0see\u00a0the Tortugas\u00a0Pueblo\u00a0exhibit.\u00a0Herrera talked about why the two of them came to the Branigan Cultural Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Traditional Drum set used by Men and Women Leader Leaders. January 30, 2026 (Melanie Zepeda<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re from a suburb of Chicago, just here with my mom visiting,\u201d Herrera said. \u201cShe\u2019s been to New Mexico many times before, meanwhile this is my first time. We\u00a0wanted to\u00a0get away from the Chicago winters for a little bit\u00a0and have some\u00a0fun in the sun. We came to this exhibit because my mom is interested in Native American culture and history [\u2026] I\u00a0personally like how they dress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stout, a former docent at the Field Museum of Chicago who specialized in the Pawnee culture, drew comparisons between the traditions of the Southwest and Midwest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are tons of differences, like in the housing styles,\u201d Stout\u00a0said.\u00a0\u201cBecause each culture used the materials that were available\u00a0to them.\u00a0The materials here are\u00a0quite different, and\u00a0clothing\u00a0is\u00a0the same way.\u00a0In the\u00a0Midwest, you needed much warmer clothing.\u00a0But\u00a0some\u00a0of the\u00a0similarities were the oral tradition;\u00a0all\u00a0of\u00a0their knowledge being passed down orally,\u00a0the respect for elders.\u00a0I think\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0consistent\u00a0throughout\u00a0the indigenous cultures\u00a0I have\u00a0studied to a small degree.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Monarca outfit used for La Danza Chichimeca worn by female or male leaders. January 30th, 2026 (Melanie Zepeda<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Stout said she admired the perseverance of Native American cultures throughout the country and how they\u00a0have\u00a0adapted to modern society and technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the resilience and the pride everybody has in their culture, I think that\u2019s so cool,\u201d Stout said. \u201cI just wonder how long it takes to make some of this stuff\u00a0(the exhibit)?\u00a0Maybe\u00a0six\u00a0months to a year at least.\u00a0And\u00a0that\u00a0is so neat.\u00a0When\u00a0you are\u00a0talking about\u00a0their\u00a0regalia, it looks like\u00a0they are\u00a0living in two worlds.\u00a0They\u00a0get\u00a0dressed just like we are when they go to school and\u00a0work, but\u00a0for\u00a0their ceremonies\u00a0[\u2026]\u00a0the\u00a0regalia that the young kids\u00a0wear that\u00a0their moms and grandmas had beaded is\u00a0beautiful.\u00a0To me,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0like a snapshot of how you can adapt\u00a0and\u00a0maintain\u00a0your traditions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blessing Staff, Shell, and the Ceremonial Staff are using during ceremonial blessing and cleansings. January 30, 2026 On…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139],"class_list":["post-168256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}