Curanderas-Women Who Heal

The panel names no woman, only a calling. Curar means to heal, and within the calling a partera delivered children, a sobadora worked muscles and a yerbera knew plants, each held to have el don, the God-given gift. From the 1930s the state health department worked with curandera-parteras rather than against them, through a midwife consultant program. The text, by the historian Thomas E. Chávez, was approved by the Cultural Properties Review Committee in August 2008 with its site still to be chosen. The back of the panel describes the women's marker program itself.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Curanderas-Women Who Heal In New Mexico, women blessed with special knowledge of herbs, household remedies, human health and strong faith are trusted to cure real or imagined maladies. Known as Curanderas, these women have been an integral part of the Hispanic fabric in Mora County and in the more remote communities around the state. They oversee the well-being of their respective villages where medical doctors and clinics are scarce. Official Scenic Historic Marker New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative The New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative was founded in 2005 by members of the New Mexico Women's Forum in a statewide effort to recognize women's contributions to New Mexico history on the state's Official Scenic Historic Markers. The Initiative ensures that women's diverse histories will be remembered and told, and will inspire and provide a guide for future generations. The 2006 Legislature funded the project.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Union National Monument — 19 mi
  Three forts in one prairie valley where the two branches of the Santa Fe Trail met: a log post, a star-shaped earthwork, and an adobe supply town that fed the army's wars.
• Montezuma Castle — 23 mi
  The railroad's turreted resort at the Las Vegas hot springs, burned twice in its first years, empty for most of a century, and now home to an international school.

More markers nearby

• La Cueva National Historic District — 5.4 mi
• Strike Valleys — 12 mi
• Fort Union Arsenal — 18 mi
• Fort Union National Monument — 23 mi