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Land Loss Among the Hispanos of Northern New Mexico

Abstract There has been little exploration of the psychological impact of land loss and displacement on American minority populations. What little there is, is evident in research on Native Americans. Virtually absent from the mental health literature is research on the psychological processes of land loss and the coping strategies employed by the Hispanos of Northern New Mexico. Hispanos received land grants by the Spanish and Mexican governments beginning in the 17th century. Living in Northern New Mexico for many years, this author observed negative emotions regarding land loss within the Hispano community. Such observations were reinforced by the continued appearance of local and national newspaper articles on land grant activism and litigation in Northern New Mexico and annual commemoration of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, a document drafted at the end of the Mexican American War in 1848, upholding the rights of Hispanos to the possession of land grants. Such observations led this writer to initiate a pilot survey that would capture current Hispano feelings regarding land loss. The hypothesis guiding this investigation was that Hispanos in Northern New Mexico would express negative emotions when discussing land loss. Six Hispanos were purposefully recruited. Some claimed fifth or sixth generation of Hispano Northern New Mexican ancestry. A survey questionnaire in English was generated by the researcher and normed with a local Hispano. It included demographic items and open ended questions on acculturation, language, land grants, and land loss. Overall findings described sadness, anger, loss, resentment of outsiders, and dishonor. Responses also elicited feelings of injustice, loyalty to the land and domination by the Euroamerican culture. Collapsed responses revealed two concepts, encroachment by the Euroamerican culture and the Federal government, and class conflict within the Hispano community. Implications for such findings include various coping behaviors needing more investigation and future research that will generate relevant clinical theory and motivate public policy in the interest of Hispanos.