LOS MOLINITOS DE LA GENTE — A PRESENTATION BY ENRIQUE LAMADRID

Molinos, small, hand crafted grist mills, for many generations provided New Mexicans a simple and effective way to grind home-grown wheat into flour and chile peppers into chile molido. Fed by the waters of the life-giving acequias and streams, the molinos used a horizontal water wheel (a distinctive Spanish Colonial/Northern New Mexican design) and were usually housed in log structures. There were many in the Chimayó Valley, each owned by a community member and typically shared with extended family and neighbors. They were an expression of community cooperation and self-sufficiency, but only a few of the hundreds that served the region remain. Historian and scholar Enrique Lamadrid will present a lecture on the history and cultural importance of these quintessential New Mexican artifacts.