Pablo Abeita (1871–1940) was the governor of

Isleta Pueblo Pueblo of Isleta ( tix, Shiewhibak , kjq, Dîiw'a'ane ; nv, Naatoohó ) is an unincorporated community and Tanoan pueblo in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States, originally established in the . The Southern Tiwa name of the pueblo ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, during the decades that Father

Anton Docher Anton Docher (1852–1928), born Antonin Jean Baptiste Docher (pronounced ɑ̃tɔnɛ̃ ʒɑ̃ batist dɔʃe), was a French Franciscan Roman Catholic priest, who served as a missionary to Native Americans in New Mexico, in the Southwest of t ...

, known as "The Padre of Isleta," served there.

Biography

Born into a native family of

, Abeita grew up speaking Tiwa and English. He was educated in the Jesuit School at Old Albuquerque, then at St Michael's College in Santa Fe. After ten years of formal education, he worked first as a typesetter at the

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

newspaper. He next worked at a family business in Isleta. In 1889, at the age of nineteen, Abeita was appointed to serve on the All Indian Pueblo Council, which was organized again after a 300-year hiatus during the colonial period. In 1913 Abeita was appointed by the tribe as a judge, and elected Secretary of the All Indian Pueblo Council. The Council became active in the 1920s, trying to forestall government and private efforts to appropriate pueblo lands. They gained passage by Congress in 1924 of the Pueblo Lands Act, which confirmed pueblo title to their lands. Abeita became friends with Father

, a French

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

priest who was assigned in 1891 to the parish church at Isleta Pueblo, and served there until his death in 1928. They were lifelong friends. In October 1919, Albert I, king of the Belgians, visited Pueblo Isleta with his wife Elisabeth and prince

Leopold Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name) * Leopold (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...

e, and the royal entourage. He decorated both Governor Abeita and his friend Father

, who had served for decades at the pueblo church, with the Order of Leopold of Belgium. The KiMo Theater, located at 419-423 Central Avenue in

Downtown Albuquerque Downtown Albuquerque is the central business district of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. It is where a significant number of the city's highrise buildings are located, and is the center of government and business for the Greater Albuq ...

was built in 1927. its owners held a naming contest to raise interest in the new venue. Pablo Abeita won for his suggestion: in

Tewa The Tewa are a linguistic group of Pueblo Native Americans who speak the Tewa language and share the Pueblo culture. Their homelands are on or near the Rio Grande in New Mexico north of Santa Fe. They comprise the following communities: * ...

the name ''KiMo'' means "

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

." Abeita won $50. Author Joe Sando has appraised Abeita's skills highly, saying that, with his leadership ability, in another era the pueblo governor might well have been elected as a governor of the state of New Mexico. At the time, Native Americans generally did not run for general state offices and were restricted from voting as US citizens if they were members of federally recognized tribes. When the journalist and ethnologist

Charles Fletcher Lummis Charles Fletcher Lummis (March 1, 1859, in Lynn, Massachusetts – November 25, 1928, in Los Angeles, California) was a United States journalist, and an activist for Indian rights and historic preservation. A traveler in the American Southwest, h ...

lived in Isleta, he took a room in Abeita's house. No commercial inns were available.Keleher and Chant. ''The Padre of Isleta''. Sunstone Press, 2009, pp.88-93.

Notes

References

* * * * Samuel Gance, ''Anton ou la trajectoire d'un père'', L'histoire romancée du père Anton Docher. L'Harmattan, Paris, 2013, 208 p. - historical novel {{DEFAULTSORT:Abeita, Pablo 1871 births 1940 deaths Pueblo people People from Pueblo of Isleta Native American judges 20th-century Native Americans