Pablo Abeita: The life and Times of a Native Statesman of Isleta Pueblo, 1871-1940

Rick Hendricks

Former New Mexico State Historian

Editor of the Vargas Project, University of New Mexico

Pablo Abeita of Isleta Pueblo was one of the most important Native leaders in the Southwest in his day. Abeita was an effective advocate for Isleta and other pueblos in New Mexico, testifying before Congress on several occasions. An articulate orator with a biting sense of humor, Abeita, fought successfully for Native rights to their ancestral lands and water.

Rick Hendricks is a former state historian and editor of the Vargas Project at the University of New Mexico. He has written extensively on the history of the American Southwest and Mexico. Among his recent publications is Pueblo Indian Sovereignty: Land and Water in New Mexico and Texas, which was coauthored with Malcolm Ebright and published by the University of Oklahoma Press in 2019.

This presentation is drawn from Pablo Abeita: The life and Times of a Native Statesman of Isleta Pueblo, 1871-1940 (2023) also coauthored by Malcolm Ebright and Rick Hendricks. It is available from the New Mexico History Museum’s Spiegelberg Shop, the University of New Mexico Press, and your local bookstore (bookshop, org).