Genizaro
From NativeWiki
Genizaros are a class of Indians in the Southwestern United States whose descendents were recently recognized as indigenous people by the 2007 New Mexico Legislature. Genizaros were Indian slaves who served as house servants, sheepherders, and in other capacities in Spanish, Mexican, and American households well into the 1880s. By the late 1700s Genizaros and their descendants comprised nearly one-third of the entire population of New Mexico.
Genizaros were settled in New Mexican villages such as Belen, Tome, Valencia, Carnue, Los Lentes, and San Miguel. Genizaros also lived in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Chimayo, Taos, and Abiquiu. Most of the more recent Genizaros were of Navajo origin as they comprised the majority of Indian Slaves during the Mexican and American period. During negotiations with the United States military, Navajo spokesmen complained that over half the tribe were servants in Mexican households. Most did not return to the Navajo nation but remained as the lower classes in the hispanic villages. Today they comprise much of the population of Atrisco, Pajarito, and Los Padillas in the South Valley of Albuquerque.
