It has been my pleasure to read your wonderful, informative, educational magazine for several years now! Each issue is well thought out and the articles are relevant to issues we face in our everyday business lives.

I encourage my staff, friends, and teenage granddaughters to read your magazine and learn from those women who are achieving the success they so richly deserve.
Sandra Young
Gallup COC/CVB volunteer and business owner

I was very impressed with the originality of the cover story on Annie Sobel, (September 2003) the excellent photography, and the quality of this issue. What a class act you all are! Thank you for your huge contributions to women, young women, and the quality of life in New Mexico.
EJ
Albuquerque, New Mexico

OOPS! Our mistakes
Please Note: The correct phone numbers for the UNM Cancer Research & Treatment Center are (505) 272-4946 or (800) 432-6806.

We apologize for incorrect information in the October issue. Sonya Lia Saavedra is a Farmer’s Insurance Agent. She has recently opened a Farmer’s Insurance office in Old Town.

Native American Artists
By Jan Abugharbich

American Indian culture and philosophy teaches that all things are related and interconnected. It teaches us to live within the natural environment, not dominate it, taking in our surroundings in their entirety.

For centuries American Indian people have used experience, inquiry, creation, and reflection to teach and influence children, and posterity to appreciate and embrace the journey of life and its gifts. That appreciation is manifested through the use of the senses: touch, sight, sound, smell, taste—and often a sixth sense, intuition.

Through the use of the senses and a culmination of life experience, American Indian people past and present have created unique forms of self-expression. These forms have resulted in works of art that are reflective of lessons learned. Thus, it is through the arts that we celebrate, commemorate, and change culture.

Many Native American women have created art that transcends more traditional American Indian forms. They are professionals who have established careers in art and reputations not only in the Southwest, but also internationally. These amazing women of strength, beauty, and wisdom courageously reveal and expose their thoughts, emotion, and spirit through their respective mediums.

These women consider themselves inventive and innovative in the world of art. They aggressively challenge and refute the mundane and commonplace and have developed new themes, techniques, and processes with unexpected results.

TahNibaa Naat’aanii, Christine Nofchissey McHorse and Margarete Bagshaw-Tindel relate how their imagery began, became more complex, and conveyed their vision, passion, and hard work. Each woman possesses an innate curiosity to explore and foster her intuitive nature from both cultural traditional, and modern influences.

TAHNIBAA NAAT’AANII
(NAVAJO) WEAVER

TahNibaa Naat’aanii joined the Navy and traveled the world. She once walked through an indigenous neighborhood market in the Philippines and spoke of the experience saying, “The culture, and the people are like some of my people who still live in the heart of the rez.” They are very traditional.

Naat’aanni spoke of the sound of the loom at the market, and the connection she felt with the people of the Pacific Rim. “Just the tapping of the weft (the strings that go across horizontal) was soothing to me. It’s like a song that nurtured me. I was drawn to the weaving. I think the weaving was talking to me. I saw the [Philippines’] weav-ings— I had an affinity for the weavers, a connection. I told them, ‘Hey, I’m a weaver too!’ I never forgot I was a weaver—sometimes it lay dormant, but I connected while away from home.”

Born in 1962, she was named TahNibaa with an addition to her name “Aglohiigiih,” which means ‘the weaver.’ Her name is a permanent influence. At age seven, under the guidance of her mother, Sara, she learned to weave and showed exceptional artistic talent. She remains true to her name and is a dedicated, proficient student and teacher.

Today she weaves in both contemporary and traditional style. Her weavings begin with stripes and graduate into complex designs. She says, “When you see my contemporary style, it is asymmetrical, yet balanced. I create a collage of weaving designs composed in one piece. My weavings tell a story; they are my signature. They begin in simplicity and graduate to complexity, panes of texture with interlocking wefts between the warps.”

TahNibaa is adamant about the fact that Dine’ (Navajo) people survived on their weavings. The art of weaving is not a novelty or romantic craft art; it’s spiritual. The loom and weaving are symbolic of Navajo beliefs. The four corners of the loom represent the four sacred mountains. The warps (the strings that go up and down) represent rain. The tension cord (the zigzag) represents lightning. Each tool has a song. There are songs sung by the weaver. Everything about the loom and the materials are sig-nificant— there is etiquette to weaving.

TahNibaa left the Navy, earned a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Conservation, and worked as an environmental specialist. She has chosen the career of a weaver and shepherdess. She not only weaves, but also is caretaker of the sheep. She shears, washes, cards, and spins the wool, and practices traditional “graze management.” She describes the total process as “a way of life, a partnership. Weaving guides me, teaches, protects, and helps keep me in balance—I NEED MY WEAV-ING!”

Her strong work ethic, determination, and love of weaving drives the world of Naat’aanii in preserving and documenting the art. She has chosen weaving as one of her life’s tributes to the Navajo culture—its ceremonies, symbols, and stories.

“The weaver” looked at her home, surrounded by grand mesas, an ocean of desert, and spoke, her words soft yet powerful: “One must trust their creativity, feelings, and especially intuition. It took me a long time to trust myself. First, I made a decision to be creative, then I made my choices—intuition took over and opened doors.”

Eight and a half months pregnant, TahNibaa sees her weaving grow in a different way with influences of “baby” and baby’s father (a traditional practitioner). Baby’s influence is represented in TahNibba’s latest weaving of horses in pastel colors. When she created the weaving she wasn’t aware of her pregnancy, but now she believes “baby influenced it” and her family will form new directions.

TahNibaa Naat’ Aannii
Tahnibaaa’s work has been shown at the Heard Museum, Eight Northern Pueblo Arts and Crafts Fair, Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial, and Santa Fe Indian Market
P.O. Box 3994
Shiprock, New Mexico 87420
weavinginbeauty@yahoo.com
phone: (505) 368-4906

Margaret Bagshaw-Tindel’s appreciation of her life, surroundings, values, and family, as well as her allegiance to the Creator, has shaped her art. She says, “Without sounding esoteric, I see my paintings as a prayer— something that needs to happen, or some-thing that needs to be attended to whether it is in my life or our world.”

As we sat in her home, she relaxed at the soft sound of trickling water flowing through a fountain sculpture, she smiled and reflected on her journey as an artist. “I’ve been an artist almost 13 years. I started doing pastels. The first pieces I created were for a juried show at the New Mexico State Fair, when I was pregnant with Forrest.” In an unexpected burst of laughter, she remembered her first pieces, and she revealed, “I can’t believe they were accepted; everything sold. I wouldn’t have allowed them in the show if I were the jurors.”

She revealed that her art is equated with her whole identity. Margarete used her Bagshaw-Tindel name to enter this first of many juried shows. “I didn’t use my mother’s name, Helen Hardin [known for her adaptation of traditional style to abstract references and symbols of her own personal, modern expressions, distinguished by self-taught techniques], or grandmother’s name, Pablita Velarde [a famed artist, whose art is one of the must culturally important, historically significant ethnographic records of Santa Clara Pueblo life and lore].”

Use of her own name made Margarete feel accomplished. She realized her start as an artist gave her life new meaning. She states, “My life started improving; I started feeling better about myself as a human being. I had a purpose. I was going to do what I wanted.”

Due to the successful careers of her mother and grandmother, people often asked, “Are you going to be an artist?” In the beginning, her answer was a resounding, NO! Often, she ignored the question. But her own experience fanned her desire to be an artist. “I feel strongly about my own independence, my own creativity, and my own ideas. As I progress I become more independent and rebellious and willing to take chances,” she said.

The composition of Margarete’s art is dependent on her mood. Her art reflects that mood. Her feelings can change in the middle of a drawing. While in a structured mode she can depart from that structure to make her colors dance. Bagshaw-Tindel layers her color with chalk or oils. She thinks about how the paper, canvas, or wood feels, the texture of color on her hand, and the smell of that color. She sometimes keeps her creations as light as possible, other times she applies layer after layer until they’re deep and rich.

“I paint what I feel, that is as simple as I can say it.” Her latest piece, Women of Heaven and Earth, uses skill, senses, and intuition. She sees her process, belief, and painting as “a prayer.” She explains, “There are many levels of creativity, I see creativity as something sacred and holy.”

Appreciative of her family, heritage, the Creator, and self, she says “All these influences make me crazy, creative, and wild. The Margarete that I am is what I put on canvas, on board, in sculpture. When you look at my body of work all that crazy mixed up stuff is what you see. I am Margarete. I am a woman. I am an artist—living life on my own terms.”

Margarete Bagshaw-Tindel
Represented by: Ventana Fine Arts
400 Canyon Road
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
www.ventanafineart.com
ventana@rt66.com
phone: (505) 983-8815 or (800) 746-8815

Each of these women has found the path or gift of self-expression that has blessed, enlightened, and influenced their lives, as well as the lives of those who view and witness their artistry. They have invested time, interest, and emotional commitment to reap “the gift” of visual expression.

They stand as transitional figures from traditional to modern to contemporary. They create something good and are drawn toward untouched fields and yet-to-be-discovered imagery. They have overcome fears and stepped out-side traditional art forms.

TahNibaa, Christine, and Margarete are truly treasures. Collectively their works create a legacy from which generations can learn and grow.

Jan Gutierrez-Abugharbieh is from the Tewa-speaking Pueblo of Santa Clara, and is a former co-producer and co-host of Public access TV’s "Talking Circle," and a radio host of "Singing Wire" at KUNM. She currently works as a consultant in non-profit management and fund development.

Lynda Lovejoy
(Navajo – Sagebrush Hill Clan born for Towering House clan)

A little girl who spoke only Navajo and herded her family’s sheep was once considered not too bright by her teachers. Three years ago Lynda Lovejoy was selected as one of New Mexico’s top 100 power brokers by the New Mexico Business Weekly and received the Governor’s Award for New Mexico Woman of the Year in 2001.

The granddaughter of a Navajo Chapter President, she grew up with a sense of service, but also with an ingrained sense of the role of women in her world. An associate’s degree from the Gallup campus of the University of New Mexico allowed her to work in various educational settings. Later, a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Northern Arizona University qualified her for higher-level positions in the human resources and education fields.

Urged by Crownpoint neighbors to run for the state legislature, her first question, she recalls, was, “What does it pay?” Told that it paid $75 per day, she decided it was an honor she couldn’t afford. She later relented and began her journey from the Sagebrush Hill country to the merry Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Never admitted to the leadership councils of the legislature, after ten years she took her agenda to the voters of New Mexico and was rewarded with a seat on the newly created Public Regulation Commission. Today, as its chair, she presides over the regulation of all public utilities, telecommunications companies, insurance companies, and pipelines in the state, and registers all other corporations seeking to do business in New Mexico.

The only Native American woman ever to serve in the New Mexico State Legislature, she is believed to be the only American Indian woman in the nation’s history ever elected to a statewide regulatory body.

Like most professional women today, Lovejoy balances her life between career and home. She is married to Rudolph John Lovejoy and is the mother of three adult sons and five stepchildren. Photo by Kyle Zimmerman

Sandra Begay Campbell
(Navajo – Zuni Clan born for Bitterwater Clan)

Sandra Begay Campbell at Sandia National Laboratory, helps advance 21st century science. Begay Campbell graduated from Rehoboth Christian School in Gallup and received a B.S. in civil engineering from UNM in 1987. In 1991 she added a master’s degree in structural engineering from Stanford University.

With the help of a scholarship from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, she returned the favor by starting AISES chapters in New Mexico, first one for students and later a professional chapter. The Boulder, Colorado-based organization rewarded her by appointing her as the first woman executive director in 1998. She also became the first woman to chair the AISES board. She has also worked for the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories.

When then U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson directed national labs to collaborate with Indian tribes and pueblos, she forged a partnership between Sandia National Labs and the Navajo Nation. As the leader of SNL’s Native American Renewable Energy Program, she works tirelessly to improve nutrition for Indian communities without electricity, and pioneers efforts to harness solar energy for basic elecpersonal as well as professional. Diabetes claimed her mother, Cecilia Damon Begay. “American Indians don’t know that this disease is at epidemic proportions in their communities,” says Begay Campell, who has also been diagnosed with Type II diabetes.

Like Lovejoy, Begay Campbell has been showered with honors for her career and life accomplishments, among them the Women of Color Emerald Honor for Community Service (September 2003) by U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology magazine. She has also received the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Women from the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women and in 2000 received Stanford University’s Multicultural Alumni of the Year Award. In 2001, Governor Gary Johnson appointed her to the UNM Board of Regents, making her one of only two Indian women ever to receive an appointment to the board of regents of a public education institution.

Ada Pecos Melton
(Pueblo of Jemez)

Ada Pecos Melton is the country’s best-known Native American woman advocate of criminal juvenile justice for Native communities. She has combined her education, experience, and talent to establish a successful business enterprise: American Indian Development Associates (AIDA) of Albuquerque, a technical assistance, training, and research firm. With a B.A. in criminal justice and a master’s in public administration, Pecos Melton has provided training in public policy research and development, conflict resolution, and peacekeeping methods for reducing crime, delinquency, violence, and victimization issues to Indian nations throughout the country.

Peocs Melton has studied indigenous justice systems throughout the South Pacific as a Fellow of the Asia Foundation. She also serves on the board of the Albuquerque-based American Indian Graduate Center, on the Tribal Court Advisory Committee of the National Court Appointed Special Advocates Association, on the Subcommittee on Cultural Diversity of the American Correctional Association, and as a board member of the Jemez Riverside School.

In 1995, she was asked to establish the American Indian and Alaska Native Desk in the U.S. Department of Justice for then Attorney General Janet Reno. She received the New Mexico Distinguished Public Service Award in 2000, the Distinguished Alumni Award from the UNM Department of Public Administration in 1999, and the 1998 Outstanding Achievement Recognition for Advancing the Needs of Indian Children from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Pecos Melton is much in demand as a speaker at national conferences and universities throughout the country.

Christine Zuni Cruz
(Isleta Pueblo)

Christine Zuni Cruz, the first American Indian woman to be tenured as an associate professor of law at the University of New Mexico, founded and is also the director of the Southwest Indian Law Clinic and editor-in- chief of the online Tribal Law Journal. She received her B.A. from Stanford University in 1980 and her J.D. from the UNM Law School in 1982.

Verna Teller, the first woman to serve as Governor of the Pueblo of Isleta, calls her “a fine model for many native students, especially Pueblo woman. She exerts much influence in the position she holds and has the potential for great impact on the law students she now teaches. She has influence over the way future Indian attorneys apply the law as they return to their respective tribes.”

Professor Zuni Cruz has not only taught the subject of developing modern legal systems in ancient cultures, but has maintained an active practice on both sides of the bench, having been a practicing attorney, a trial judge, and a court administrator. She presently serves as an associate judge on the Appellate Court for her own Pueblo of Isleta.

In 2001 she was invited to teach an intensive course on international indigenous human rights at the International Training Center of Indigenous Peoples in Greenland. Her work is increasingly bringing recognition not only to herself, but also to the University of New Mexico’s leadership in the area of the law of indigenous peoples.

Melvina McCabe
(Navajo Salt clan born for Towering House clan)

Melvina Pablo McCabe, M.D., has come from Iyanbito, New Mexico to become Associate Professor and chair at the University of New Mexico Department of Family Medicine and Geriatrics. A 1984 graduate of the UNM School of Medicine, she has served on the New Mexico Health Policy Commission. Navajo educator Charlotte Begay is quick to point out that Dr. McCabe also headed the Hantavirus study in the early 1990s when that disease appeared to rise from the desert to afflict rural residents throughout the Southwest.

Today, she heads a Diabetic study on the Navajo Reservation. Marla N. Pardilla, a friend and colleague adds, “Dr. McCabe is an outstanding role model for all women, minorities, and especially Native American students at UNM. She is a staff doctor at the Family Practice clinic and researcher of chronic diseases that affect Native Americans. She is bicultural and bilingual, and is often recruited for her special skills by health authorities. She often volunteers for special projects and makes presentations at the national, state, tribal, and local levels to promote better relations between Native Americans and the non-Native community.”

Dr. McCabe has served as president of the Association of American Indian Physicians, and was the inaugural Stoklos Visiting Professor at the University of Arizona, a program endowed by the Stoklos Foundation to build linkages between Western medicine and traditional Native American healing.

Sara Misquez
(Mescalero Apache)

When Wendell Chino, long-time president of the Mescalero Tribe and for generations one of the country’s most eloquent Indian spokesmen, died in November 1998, the tribe was racked by turmoil and upheaval. Out of the confusion emerged a Mescalero-Lipan Apache grandmother who became the first woman ever elected to lead the tribe.

Sara Misquez has since been re-elected by her tribal members with a resounding 70 percent of the vote. Undaunted by constant challenges to her leadership, recall efforts and even death threats, Sara Misquez has maintained not only her own leadership, but that of her Mescalero Apache Tribe in addressing issues that confront Indian tribes nationally. Her major accomplishments are at home, however. In five years, she has overseen construction of a new K-12 School, a Mescalero Elderly Nursing Home and Dialysis Center, and a Casino Travel Center.

In April of 2002, she announced plans to expand the tribe’s already renowned Inn of the Mountain Gods to an even more upscale facility. “We will continue to have one of the few true destination resorts in New Mexico and the Southwest,” she said.

Maintaining the tribe’s forceful role in regional matters is important to preserving the tribe’s sovereignty and prerogatives. In May of 2002, she joined U.S. Attorney David Iglesias to announce the formation of the Southern New Mexico Arson Task Force. The Mescalero Tribe posted a $50,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in the rash of more than 60 fires that had been set to destroy homes and forests in the mountains and canyons around Ruidoso. In August of last year, President George W. Bush expressed his gratitude to her for her role in regional development and border security.

She says she wants her grandchildren to have better employment opportunities, better health care, and better facilities without leaving the reservation.

Claudia J. Vigil-Muniz
(Jicarilla Apache)

A direct descendant of Augustin Vigil, one of the modern Jicarilla Apache Tribe’s 19th century patriarchs, Claudia J. Vigil-Muniz got her first glimpse of the world beyond the reservation when she was selected by the Up With People program to tour the Eastern U.S. and Europe. It was not family role models, but Bureau of Indian Affairs counselors who told her that marriage, children, and a series of menial jobs were her role.

Unwilling to allow either circumstances or the BIA to confine her options, she pursued her education, combining homemaking, work, and commuting 100 miles each way to college classes, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree from the College of Santa Fe. When the tribal membership amended its Constitution in 1998, she was elected as the first woman president.

Under her leadership, the tribe soon changed its name to the Jicarilla Apache Nation to underscore its sovereign status. She has moved aggressively to reinvest some of the tribe’s mineral wealth in its own community and earlier this year presided over the opening of a supermarket complex that is the envy of many largercommunities. Work is presently underway on a new elementary school, a high school athletic complex, and a judicial center. A new tribal headquarters and a wastewater treatment plant are also under consideration.

A typical day now for this one-time federal program director includes discussing the tribe’s foreign investments, search and rescue operations, custody disputes, big game management, construction supervision, oil and gas administration, ponderosa pine nurseries, housing allocations, local rodeos, traditional ceremonies, and Congressional hearings.

Leading by example and expectation, Vigil-Muniz has created more investment and employment in her reservation community in three short years than in the previous generation. “Oil and gas won’t last forever”" she says. Presiding over the largest single employer in the more than 1,000 square mile area of northern New Mexico, this daughter of a Jicarilla artist and a homemaker has, like her colleagues profiled here, defied all the stereotypes and broken all the barriers.

Editor’s note: There are many, many influential Native American women in every field and the numbers are growing. We couldn’t possibly write about all of them. We would like your suggestions for the next special issue featuring Native American women. Please e-mail suggestions to New Mexico WOMAN at heygals@nmwoman.com.

Veronica E. Tiller,
Ph.D. is president and director of Tiller Research, Inc. and BowArrow Publishing Company. She is also the publisher of Tiller’s Guide to Indian Country: Economic Profiles of American Indian Reservations Contact Tiller Research at (505) 797-9800 or at vtiller99@comcast.net.

THE 11TH ANNUAL TOP 25 AWARDS
New Mexico WOMAN is compiling the 2004 list of New Mexico’s largest women-owned businesses. “Largest” is defined by total gross revenues during the 12-month period ending September 30, 2003 and “women-owned” is defined as at least 51 percent women-owned and operated. If your business or the business of someone you know should be included, please contact NM WOMAN at (505) 247-9195 or complete the form in this issue. The Top 25 will be featured in the April 2004 issue and honored at a special awards luncheon at the Hyatt Regency on April 2, 2004. The deadline for entries is January 16, 2004.

FEAST DAYS AND ARTS EVENTS AT NEW MEXICO’S PUEBLOS
November and December are filled with celebrations at New Mexico’s pueblos, including, the Christmas Light Parade at Zuni Pueblo the last week in November, the Walatowa Winter Arts & Crafts Show at Jemez Pueblo Dec. 6 & 7, and the Harvest Dance at Laguna Pueblo December 25-28. For a complete listing of pueblo events, log on to www.santaana.org /calendar.htm. or call the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque at (505) 843-6950.

WEEMS INTERNATIONAL ARTFEST
The 21st annual Weems International Artfest is November 14, 15, & 16 at the Expo NM State Fairgrounds in the Manuel Lujan Building. The Artfest will feature International Artisans and host an estimated 50,000 attendees. Actress Lauren Bacall will be honored at preview night on November 13. Proceeds will benefit All Faith’s Receiving Home, the People’s Anti-Cruelty Association, the Wildlife Center, Candy Kitchen Wolf Rescue, ArtStreet, and the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. For information call (505) 293-6133 or visit www.weemsgallery.com.

DONATIONS FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
The most appreciated holiday gifts for families at the Women’s Community Association Shelter from Domestic Violence are gift certificates of $5 to $10 from Target, Wal-Mart, and K-Mart. Volunteers are needed to wrap holiday packages. If you can help, please call Frances at (505) 265-9233.

NEW MEXICO HOME TO MISS INDIAN NEW MEXICO, MISS INDIAN WORLD
New Mexico WOMAN congratulates Onawa Lynn Lacy, 2003-2004 Miss Indian World, and Paulene Shebala, Miss Indian New Mexico 2003-2004. Lacy, a Diné from the Navajo Nation and Gallup and a student at the University of New Mexico, was awarded her title at the 2003 Gathering of Nations Powwow in Albuquerque. Shebala was crowned at the Expo NM State Fairgrounds in September. She is a graduate of West Mesa High School and a resident of To’hajiilee. Shebala, who is half Navajo and half Zuni, is a student at the Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute and plans to work in the tourism industry. Learn more about the Miss Indian New Mexico pageant by logging on to www.missindiannpageant.org. For more information about the Miss Indian World pageant go to www.gatheringofnations.org/NMCAI_Info.html.

CROSSING EAST AND WEST
Artist Samantha Clark will share snap-shots of her journeys, featuring explorations of the oceanfront, portraits of a once great industrial city, and her adventures in New Mexico at Studio Estevane Gallery at the Patio Market in Old Town, Albuquerque. The opening of the solo photography exhibit entitled Crossing East and West will be held on November 21 from 5-8 p.m. and runs through December 6.

NMSU AND TRIBAL LEADERS UNITE TO AID NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS
New Mexico State University and several area tribes are combining efforts to increase enrollment and academic achievement of Native American students at NMSU. So far, officials of the Pueblos of Acoma, Zuni, and Cochiti and the Jicarilla Apache Tribe have formalized the relationship by signing a memorandum of under-standing, and several more tribes are scheduled to sign on. The collaboration will help address retention and recruitment issues and ensure the academic success of Native American students. For information, contact NMSU’s American Indian Studies program at (505) 646-3196.

UNM SPEAKER TO ADDRESS NATIVE AMERICAN ISSUES
Women in American Indian society is one of the topics expected to be addressed by activist Susan Shown Harjo when she speaks at the University of New Mexico as part of the UNM Native American Studies Program Fall Lecture Series. Harjo will speak at 6:30 p.m. on November 17 in the Lobo Room of the Student Union Building on the University of New Mexico Campus in Albuquerque. Harjo is a Cheyenne writer and the director of the Morning Star Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based Native American advocacy organization focusing on cultural and treaty rights. The series is free of charge. For information, call (505) 277-3917.

PARENTS WITHOUT PARTNERS HOSTS FALL BALL
Even though the New Mexico chapter of Parents Without Partners organizes some 12 to 25 activities for single parents and their children each month, the annual Fall Ball is the biggest event of the year and the major fundraiser for the group. This year’s ball will be held November 8 at the Albuquerque Convention Center’s Brazos room. The ball is open to members and non-members for a cost of $10 at the door. Dress is semi-formal. The proceeds fund educational programs and get-togethers for parents and family activities including field trips around the state. For more information, visit the web site at www.pwpnm.com.

SPECIAL HONORS IN ADDITION TO TOP 25 AWARDS
Two special awards will be presented at the April 2004 Top 25 Women-Owned Businesses of New Mexico awards luncheon on April 2, 2004. The Atkinson Woman of Achievement Award will honor one woman whose company has shown significant growth and/or achievements over the past year. The New York Life Phoenix award will recognize a woman business owner who has overcome significant obstacles and is an inspiration to us all. Each recipient will be profiled in New Mexico WOMAN in the April 2004 issue and honored with a $1000 cash award from the sponsor. To enter or nominate a woman business owner, please contact NM WOMAN at (505) 247-9195, or fill out the form in this issue and fax to (505) 842-5129. Entries must be received by January 16, 2004.

GHOST RANCH FEATURES NEW MEXICO FIBER ARTISTS
November is the last month to catch the work of 28 women fiber artists at the Ghost Ranch Conference Center in Abiquiu. The women, members of the Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Guild, produce woven and knitted pieces in a wide range of styles and materials. On display and for sale at Ghost Ranch’s Florence Hawley Ellis Museum of Anthropology through November 22 will be items from wearable art to wall pieces, table linens, and rugs. For directions and museum hours, call the Ghost Ranch at (505) 685-4333 or visit www.ghostranch.org. For information on the Espanola Valley Weaver’s Guild, log on to www.evfac.org or call (505) 747-3577.

JOIN "WOMEN’S BUSINESS CONNECTION" CONFERENCE CALLS
At 3:00 ET on the fourth Tuesday of every month, you can tune in by phone to information, dialogue, and insights on topics of interest to women entrepreneurs on the National Women’s Business Council’s “Women’s Business Connection” conference calls. To join the call, dial (877) 326-2337 (toll-free) and enter code #3687613 (this number stays the same for each call). If you can’t make the live call, you can listen to previous "Women’s Business Connection" calls. For detailed instructions, visit the website at www.nwbc.gov and click on Women’s Business Connection, or contact Lindi Harvey at (202) 205-6829, e-mail lindi.harvey@sba.gov.

SIPI EXPANDS PROGRAMS WITH NEW $12 MILLION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BUILDING
The Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute has begun holding classes in its new $12 million science and technology building. SIPI officials say the two-story, 72,540-square-foot building will allow the school to expand course offerings to tribes around the country and become a national leader in developing technology for resource management, environmental science, and computer networking. For more information on SIPI’s programs, go to www.sipi.bia.edu.