10:30 am

This month, Robert Martinez will present “Mulatos of Cochiti: Caste in Spanish New Mexico.”  In this presentation, former Deputy State Historian and now newly appointed State Historian Robert Martinez examines the role of racial mixing, identity, and the categorizing of humans living in Spanish Colonial New Mexico. The approach will be through the lens of the casta, or caste system. Historical research, genealogy, and DNA all converge to provide a clearer understanding of Hispano roots in New Mexico, as well as in Latino-Meso America and Hispanic Europe.  Mr. Martinez was a history teacher for 10 years in the Rio Rancho School district.  Mr. Martinez served 14 years as a research historian for the Sephardic Legacy Project.  Mr. Martinez is an accomplished musician, who performs with his brother Lorenzo, and the group Los Reyes de Albuquerque.