Kinship and the Responsibility to Care for La Junta

In the communities of La Junta, history does not live only in books. It lives in families.

For many of us, our connection to this place stretches back far beyond a few generations. Archaeological records and oral histories show that people have lived along the Rio Grande in the La Junta region for more than 1,500 years. The villages that once stood here were part of a living network of communities who understood the river, the desert, and the responsibility that comes with caring for a place over time.

For descendants of families such as the Ornelas and Aguilar families, these connections are not distant ideas. They are part of daily life. They live in the cemeteries where our relatives rest, in the stories passed down by our elders, and in the land that continues to sustain our community.

Kinship, in this sense, is not about privilege or ownership. It is about responsibility.

When your family has remained tied to a place for generations, the obligation is not only to your relatives. It is to the entire community and to the land itself. Stewardship means caring for what has been entrusted to you so that it can remain for those who come after.

Long before People of La Junta for Preservation existed as an organization, members of our families had been working together to care for a little cemetery in the middle of town. Generations later- their descendants helped to preserve what is now known Cementerio del Barrio de los Lipanes. The cemetery holds generations of our relatives and serves as a place of memory and responsibility for many families connected to La Junta. Protecting and maintaining it became a shared effort among cousins and extended family members who felt a responsibility to ensure that the site would be respected and preserved.

Out of that work, People of La Junta for Preservation was eventually formed so that these efforts could continue in a more organized way and so that they could participate in protecting places that matter to many families in the region.

PLJP continues to be guided by descendant families connected to the cemetery and the La Junta region, reflecting the long-standing responsibility families hold to care for places tied to their ancestors.

Around that same time, a small parcel of land was donated to support the preservation of the surrounding landscape. In the beginning, family members also contributed their own time, labor, and personal resources to begin the work. The goal was never personal gain. It was to ensure that an important place in our community would remain protected.

Our work has also always been guided by a simple belief: the knowledge passed down through families and elders is not something to be sold. It is something to be shared. Whether through conversations with neighbors, teaching younger generations, or welcoming visitors who want to understand the history of this place, we have never charged our community for the knowledge that was entrusted to us. It is part of our responsibility to carry it forward and make sure it continues to live.

Through the work of our elders and the efforts of People of La Junta for Preservation, we were also able to repatriate nine ancestors to the Cementerio del Barrio de los Lipanes. These individuals had been taken from our region and held in museums, private collections, and educational institutions. Returning them to the ground among their people was not only an act of respect, but a reminder of the responsibility families carry to care for those who came before us.

Over time, the work has grown. What began with the care of the cemetery expanded to include education, land stewardship, and efforts to protect sites that carry deep meaning for the people of this region. We have been honored to have the community entrust other sacred sites to us along with helping us to identify other prospective projects. With the support of foundations and partners, grants have helped to expand this work so that more more of these site can be protected for future descendent.

But the path has not been without challenges.

Today, the communities along the Rio Grande in the Big Bend region face the possibility of a border wall being constructed through landscapes that have remained connected for centuries. Such construction could disrupt fragile desert ecosystems, block wildlife migration, and restrict access to the river that families and communities have depended upon for generations.

Our concern about these impacts is rooted in our responsibility to care for the land, the river, and the community that have sustained life in this region for centuries.

For families whose ties to this place stretch back many generations, the Rio Grande is not simply a line on a map. It is the heart of the landscape that connects communities, history, and daily life.

Kinship ties that stretch back more than a millennium remind us that our role is not temporary. We are part of a long line of caretakers.

And like those before us, we will continue doing what is necessary to care for this community, protect the Rio Grande, and ensure that the land that connects our families and neighbors remains alive for generations to come.