Tewa Women United
Tewa Women United
Since 1989, Tewa Women United has been strengthening and re-strengthening beloved families and communities. Through relational-tivity TWU embodies courageous spaces that center Indigenous women and girls to connect with ancestral knowingness, healing strengths, and lifeways for the wellbeing of all.
We’re based within the original boundaries of our Tewa homelands in what is now the Pojoaque-Española Valley. Our name comes from the Tewa concept wi don gi mu, which translates to “we are one.”
We’ve accomplished much over these 33 years, including:
- Strengthening leadership for Native women, girls, and youth through projects such as the Sayain (Circle of Grandmothers) and A’Gin Youth Council
- Providing hundreds of trainings and presentations at the state, national, and international levels to address environmental, social, and racial justice, violence against Native women, historical trauma and, most importantly, healing approaches
- Providing doula services and parent education to hundreds of families in northern New Mexico, and establishing a culturally-based community doula training program
- Shaping policy and developing multi-disciplinary teams in response to environmental violence concern, downwind and downstream from Los Alamos National Laboratories, as well as in response to sexual violence concerns
- Reclaiming our agricultural legacy through creation of community gardens like the Española Healing Foods Oasis, and protecting the sacredness of our seeds
As Pueblo/Tewa women, our source of strength has always been our connection to land, spirituality, and culture. We understand that what happens to women’s bodies happens to our Earth Mother, and we work at the intersection of environmental justice, reproductive justice, and sexual/gender-based violence. We are committed to protecting our sacred lands, the giver of life.
We invite you to visit www.tewawomenunited.org, to learn more about our work.
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The Santa Fe Community Foundation invited its community partners to submit stories related to its November topic of Native American Heritage.
New Mexico Acequia Association
Youth education and outreach are central to the work of the New Mexico Acequia Association. Through these programs, young people engage with their local acequias and build the skills to become future community leaders.
River Source
River Source supports people advancing watershed stewardship to create significant community engagement and long-lasting impacts for intergenerational learning and ecological restoration. We provide science and policy education and the building of watershed and climate resilience in New Mexico. Our goal is to be weavers, bringing together elders, youth, and land managers to spark action for caring for our water, forests, and land and leveraging the full potential of people working together.
The Art of Generosity: Bienvenidos Outreach
The Art of Generosity — our new editorial series with Table Magazine — shines light on the people and organizations strengthening communities across New Mexico. In this first story, we meet Susan Tarver of Bienvenidos Outreach, whose work reflects how compassion, connection, and everyday acts of generosity can help neighbors meet basic needs and build lasting support systems.
