Through Her Eyes: An American Indian Woman’s Perspective A Home Lands lecture and Mountain Man event

Thumbing through most history books, you might have to look extra hard to find stories about women. That’s especially true for Native American women. Despite playing critical roles within Native society, their stories are largely unknown.

Eunice Petramala will begin to fill in those gaps when she speaks on “Through Her Eyes: An American Indian Woman’s Perspective” at 6 pm, Friday, Aug. 12, in the History Museum Auditorium. The event is free and part of the exhibit Home Lands: How Women Made the West, as well as the Santa Fe Mountain Man Trade Fair.

“I’ll be focusing on some women who are well known and some who are not to give them a chance in the spotlight as well,” said Petramala, who has Cheyenne heritage and works as a ranger at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in Colorado. Through that job, she said, “I have found a new found respect for my Native roots. Woman had a large role in Native society, then and now.  ”

Home Lands: How Women Made the West, through Sept. 11, anchors the History Museum's summer-long exploration of women. Originally organized by the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, it features additional materials from the History Museum’s collections.

The Santa Fe Mountain Man Trade Fair runs Aug. 11-14 in the Palace Courtyard. A free event ($1 donations welcomed), it is sponsored by Los Compadres, a support group of the New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors.

Phone number for publication: 505-476-5200

Download high-resolution photos from the Home Lands exhibit by clicking on "Go to related images" at the bottom of this page.

Other summer exhibitions at the History Museum celebrating the unsung heroes of the West:

Ranch Women of New Mexico, April 15-Oct. 30 in the Mezzanine Gallery, highlights 11 women in this excerpt from an exhibit originally prepared by photographer Ann Bromberg and writer Sharon Niederman.

New Mexico’s African American Legacy: Visible, Vital and Valuable, May 15-Oct. 9 in the second-floor Gathering Space, tells the stories of the families who planted their roots and created a home in the Land of Enchantment following the Civil War.

Heart of the Home, May 27-Nov. 20 in La Ventana Gallery, spotlights historic kitchen items from the History Museum’s collections.

The full schedule of lectures and workshops supporting these exhibitions; all are free and in the History Museum auditorium unless other noted:

Sunday, June 12, 2-4 pm: Symposium on “The Journey of the African American North,” including stories from Santa Fe and Española.

Sunday, June 26, 2 pm: “Captive Women in the Slave System of the Southwest Borderland.” Lecture by James F. Brooks, president of the School for Advanced Research and prize-winning author of Captives & Cousins: Slavery, Kinship, and Community in the Southwest Borderlands.

Sunday, July 10, 2 pm: “Fabiola Cabeza de Baca and The Good Life.” Lecture by Tey Diana Rebolledo, regents professor at the University of New Mexico.

Sunday, July 17, 2 pm: “Moving Around to Settle In: Women of the Plains and Range.” Lecture by Virginia Scharff, co-curator of Home Lands and director of UNM’s Center for the Southwest.

Monday, July 25, 9 am to 4:30 pm, and Tuesday, July 26, 9 am to 12 pm: "Planting Seeds:  Home, Healing and Horticulture." Conference in collaboration with the New Mexico Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. $25.

Sunday, Aug. 7, 2-4 pm: “Homespun: Northern New Mexico Spinning and Weaving Techniques.” Members of the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center demonstrate Pueblo, Navajo and Spanish techniques in the Palace Courtyard.

Friday, Aug. 12, 6 pm: “Through Her Eyes: An American Indian Woman’s Perspective.” Lecture by Eunice Petramala, park ranger at the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.

Sunday, Sept. 25, 2-4 pm: Symposium on “Entrepreneurship in the African American Community,” from barbers to caterers, mechanics to artists.

Home Lands is generously supported by Cam and Peter Starret, Ernst & Young, Eastman Kodak Company, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Unified Grocers, Wells Fargo, KCET and the Friends of the Autry. Local support is provided by Stanley S. and Karen Hubbard, the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, the Palace Guard and the Montezuma Ball.