Article first published in Vol. 25 (2006-2007)
By Cynthia Holguin, Adrianna Alatorre and Ruth Vise
In 1659, Fray Garcia de San Francisco began the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe mission in El Paso del Norte for the nomadic Manso and Suma Indians, formally dedicating the church in 1662. Over the years, the mission also served as a refuge for Indians from the north and survivors of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 against the Spanish. After an unsuccessful reconquest attempt, New Mexico Governor Antonio Otermín also brought more than 300 Tiwa Indians to El Paso from Isleta del Norte, south of present-day Albuquerque.
Image caption: Pueblo dancers celebrated San Juan Day on June 24, 2006, with traditional dancing in front of the Church of Guadalupe in Tortugas. Photo by Adrianna Alatorre
“It was from the barrios, the neighborhoods, connected with the Guadalupe Church in El Paso del Norte (Juárez,Mexico), that the first indios, as they now call themselves, moved to Las Cruces, bringing with them their fiesta in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe,” wrote Deidre Sklar, in her carefully researched book entitled Dancing with the Virgin: Body and Faith in the Fiesta of Tortugas, New Mexico.
It is believed that mission Indians established the village of Tortugas, about three and a half miles outside of Las Cruces, in the early 1850s. In An Ethnological Study of Tortugas, New Mexico, Alan Oppenheimer presented three theories that attempt to explain how Tortugas, meaning “turtles” in English, might have gotten its name. The first theory suggests that when the Isleta Indians fled south, the sick and aged ones, las tortugas, were left behind.
The second theory proposes that the village was named after a nearby butte in the Organ Mountains that resembles a turtle. Another theory is that the village got its name from a “bosque” or wooded area south of the community where turtles used to sun in water puddles. None of the theories can be verified. What can be verified is that San Juan and Guadalupe, the two sections of Tortugas, were named after John the Baptist (San Juan) and Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Although the derivation of the town's name remains uncertain, both Indian and Anglo authorities agree that the first inhabitants of Tortugas were made up of Indians from the Guadalupe Mission, Tiguas from Isleta del Sur and Piro Indians from Senecú del Sur and Socorro del Sur (El Paso missions abandoned in the late 1800s). The customs of the Indians would soon become a blend between the beliefs of the Catholic Church and their own traditions.
The village of Tortugas has always contained a strong religious overtone. Its focus: the Virgin of Guadalupe. Legend says the Virgin appeared to the Indian Juan Diego in December 1531 on Tepeyac Hill, outside of Mexico City. Because the converted Catholic could not speak Spanish, the Virgin spoke to him in Nahuatl, his native tongue.
According to Catholic interpretation, the apparition was the Virgin Mary who had come to welcome the indigenous people of the Americas into her holy fold. When Juan Diego showed the bishop the fresh roses that the Virgin gave him as proof of her appearance, the men also saw an image of her on his cloak, and the bishop was persuaded to build a church upon Tepeyac Hill in her honor. (See “The Aztec and the Miracle” in Vol. 10, page 13 of Borderlands.)
In 1946, Pope Pius XII declared the Virgin of Guadalupe “Patroness of the Americas.” Matachín dancers are dedicated to her, and they dance throughout Mexico and some American cities on her feast day, Dec. 12. Pope John Paul II declared Juan Diego a saint in 2002. Our Lady of Guadalupe and this legend remain dominant forces within the Hispanic Catholic community and the village of Tortugas.
The Indians in Tortugas first celebrated the feast day of the Virgin in the 1870s in Las Cruces at St. Genevieve's Church in a week-long celebration, later cut to three days by a priest. By 1885, about 80 Pueblo Indian families lived in the Mesilla vicinity, according to Sklar. In 1888, the Indian leaders petitioned for land adjacent to San Juan de Dios, the older section of Tortugas. This area, called Guadalupe, was big enough for houses and a church. The deed was not cleared until 1910, the year the Indians first danced in front of their partially-built church, named after the Virgin.
In 1914, the residents incorporated as a non-profit group known as Los Indigenes de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, approved by the Governing Board of the Doña Ana Bend Colony, with the help of Colonel Eugene Van Patten. Residents included the Indian immigrants from the missions, Mexican residents from San Juan de Dios and Van Patten, who was married to a Piro Indian, Benita Madrid Vargas. Sklar maintained that Van Patten's position as the first land commissioner of Doña Ana and his connection by marriage to the Indians inspired and enabled him to help the residents of Guadalupe acquire 40 acres of land.
Besides building houses and a church, the members of the corporation established a form of government responsible for civil affairs and the preservation of traditional ceremonies, according to Patrick H. Beckett and Terry L. Corbett in their monograph entitled Tortugas. Over the years, the people have constructed several adobe buildings painted a unique rust red that play a big role in the festival of the Virgin, including la capilla (the little chapel), la casa del pueblo (community center), la Casa de la comida (community kitchen) and la casa de descanso, a place where dancers rest between festival events.
Historically, the corporation not only preserved the traditions and artifacts used in the annual celebration but also oversaw the moral behavior of the town. Oppenheimer noted that the corporation also governed the decisions about the growth and development of Tortugas.
A key figure in the secular and religious aspects of the local government was the cacique, or chief, who was consulted on all aspects of the celebration. Oppenheimer wrote that the cacique had the power to nominate the war captain and his four subordinates, who maintained the peace. He also nominated the mayordomos, the sponsors of the Guadalupe festival, who used to bear most of the cost of the event.
Image caption: Pueblo dancers celebrated San Juan Day on June 24, 2006, with traditional dancing in front of the Church of Guadalupe in Tortugas. Photo by Adrianna Alatorre
Tortugas still holds a festival to honor the Virgin of Guadalupe on Dec. 10, 11 and 12. A key activity of the event is the four-mile pilgrimage up Tortugas Mountain, also known as “A” Mountain by New Mexico State University Aggie students. Sklar wrote that “the link between Tortugas Mountain and Tepeyac Hill [is] latent within the pilgrimage.”
Sklar discovered that throughout the celebration, Los Indios and Los Danzantes and two matachín groups participate in an ancient form of prayer in honor of the Blessed Mother: the dance. Dancing by these four groups is to pay tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe, not to entertain. On Dec. 10, the image of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is carried from the chapel to the community center. An all night vigil is held there, with alternating prayers and dances.
The image of Our Lady is taken to the church at dawn on Dec. 11. The pilgrimage to Tortugas Mountain follows, where mass is celebrated. On Dec. 12, a high mass is celebrated, the Indian groups dance in front of the church and all participate in a meal of albondigas or meatballs. Throughout the festival, the image of the Virgin is always present. Relatives of the town's families come in from all over the country for the fiesta, according to Beckett and Corbett.
The public is welcome at the events, as long as visitors maintain an attitude of respect for the village and its traditions. Every year ends with the responsibility of the festival passing to the newly elected mayordomos, who begin planning the next year's celebration.
Borderlands editors recently visited Tortugas during the town's San Juan Fiesta, its other annual celebration. On June 24, Catholics honor Saint John the Baptist. On that morning, a group danced in front of the Church of Guadalupe for about two hours. The women wore Pueblo garb, white blouses under black mantas or dresses decorated with ribbons of blue, red and yellow. Matching ribbons flowed from their headbands which held one feather in back. The women wore traditional Pueblo moccasins.
The men wore cloth shirts and pants of tan with red fringe on both sleeves, across the back and outer pant legs. The men, women and a few children danced to ed by the powerful steady rhythm of the drum, supported by three men. The women held a blunt-tipped arrow in each hand, while the men held a bow in their left hand and a rattle in the right. The dancers wove distinctive patterns emphasized by the shaking close to the ground of the rattles by the men.
This year the corporation held the 1st Annual Tortugas Open at the NMSU Golf Course on Friday, June 23, as part of the San Juan celebration. A tardeada or dance was held Saturday evening. On Sunday, June 25, the festival included food booths, mariachis, storytellers, music and turtle races.
At the edge of a major thoroughfare and a university engaged in scientific research, the tiny village of Tortugas has managed to combine the beliefs and traditions of several Southwestern peoples – Indian, Spanish, Mexican and Anglo – while its residents function successfully in the 21st century.
Dancing with the virgin : body and faith in the fiesta of Tortugas, New Mexico by 
Guide to Contemporary Southwest Indians by 
Mílagros : votive offerings from the Americas by 