Joseluis M. Ortiz y Muniz

Joseluis M. Ortiz y Muniz an indigenous, land-based, native New Mexican from the Genizaro land grant (La Merced de Santo Tomas el Apostol de Rio de Las Trampas) village of Llano De La Yegua and currently lives with his daughter Corina in his maternal village of San Antonio Del Rio Embudo or modern day “Dixon” in the High Desert region of Northern New Mexico. He has roots in traditional agriculture that was passed on inter-generationally through his family and maintains a traditional land and acequia-based way of life on the land that his family has stewarded since time immemorial. He was born in and grew up farming the High Llanos of the Sangre De Cristo Mountains and the low valleys of the Embudo River Valley. He, his family, and his community grow corn, beans, squash, chile, legumes, fruit trees, wheat, sheep, horses, pasture, and hundreds of other fruits and vegetables. For 10 years, Joseluis worked with the volunteer and grassroots-communitybased organization called the Los Jardines Institute in the South Valley of Albuquerque. There, he volunteered and interned with community leaders, supporting them in building and developing land-based socially sustainable systems and investing time in creating healthy realities where they live, work, play, pray, and learn. He is rooted incommunity. For four years, he directed programs at the La Plazita Institute, working with adjudicated, struggling, addicted, incarcerated, and traumatized youth, families, and elders, supporting them to transform their lives through cultural and traditional healing. His work and learning in the community were a part of a journey of selftransformation and self-discovery to overcome the hardships young people face in occupied Northern New Mexico. A proud father to an incredible daughter, Joseluis is a very active community member; the Community Liaison and Visiting Research Scientist at Sostenga for the GreenRoots Institute at the Northern New Mexico College; a board member of the Biodynamic Association (BDA); and the Mayordomo for the Acequia Del Llano del Rio Embudo.