Abby Arquero (also Kathayatz), Cochiti/Kewa Tribal Nations (Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico)

My name is Kathayatz which means Moonlight in the Keres language. My other given name is  Abby Arquero. I am a member of the Cochiti/Kewa Tribal Nations and live in Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico. I am a grandmother, mother, educator and tribal community member.  I retired in May 2020 from Santa Fe Indian School culminating 40 years in education.  As a teacher and administrator, I worked with public, private and Bureau of Indian Education schools. My pedagogical focus was to represent the students’ indigenous identity, culture, traditions and history in the classroom and the community. I worked with the University of Idaho’s Indigenous Knowledge for Effective Education (IKEEP) Program as a Teacher Mentor.  Through IKEEP, mentors professional development for Indigenous Educators at the University of Idaho. Currently, I work  part time at Keres Children Learning Center(KCLC), a Keres Language immersion Montessori school.  At KCLC, in my Grandmother Role , I help  infants and toddlers to learn, hear, and speak the Keres language. To keep the  Keres Language Alive, Learning and speaking is a continuous and primary process  within  the Cochiti Pueblo Nation. The Cochiti people strongly believe that language is key to the preservation of culture and traditions. I participate in many gatherings such as the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, The Path, Mother Earth Delegation, University of New Mexico and local schools where I share my  life experiences, wisdom and traditions.  As an Elder, I participate in  the Yakanal Culture exchange which is a program that brings together multi-generational groups of indigenous People from the Southwest U.S. and Central American countries.   The goal of this program is to strengthen native languages, food sovereignty and cultural identity through learning and sharing of our ancestral knowledge systems.