Cynthia Radding
University of New Mexico
Landscapes and the Creation of Regional Identities in Northwestern New Mexico
This contribution to the Third Congress on Vías del Noroeste joins together the meanings of landscapes as constructed environments with the historical development of regional and ethnic identities as these emerge and change over time. Focal points include physical landscapes and claims to resources, land tenure and use, and the spiritual landscapes that are an integral part of the regional identities of historical peoples. The paper will explore the differences and overlaps among cultivated landscapes and cultigens, appropriation of uncultivated sources, and the reciprocally creative tensions between nature and culture in the historical formation of “el noroeste,” situated primarily in the provinces of Sonora, Sinaloa and Ostimuri.
