It is important to make note that the land now known as Quintana Ranch, and indeed the entirety of the Trujillo Creek Valley and surrounding area, was home to a thriving community of First Nations Peoples at the time of the United States Homestead Act of 1862 .
This act involved land deemed by the US government to be under government ownership and therefore 'public' and available for settlement despite those lands having been occupied already for thousands of years.
We are profoundly aware that it was through this violent removal of a culture that the ranch became our family's home. In addition to acknowledging this devastating history and with an understanding that this and other acts of dispossession and colonization can never truly be remedied, Anastacia's and the Lucero family are currently researching ways that, within present-day context and circumstance, appropriate reparation can be made.
We will be posting here about our progress through this sobering process and welcome any comments, suggestions, and guidance that can be offered.