CONTACT:
Herman Martinez
martinez_herman@outlook.com
ALAMOSA, CO. (January 12, 2024) – Francisco “El Comanche” Gonzales of Talpa, N.M., has led Los Comanches de La Serna for the past fifty years, beginning initially as a dancer and later becoming a lead drummer. He is the recipient of the Hilos Culturales Lifetime Achievement Award.
Following in his father’s, Nelson Gonzales, footsteps, Francisco Gonzales dedicated his efforts to preserving Comanche culture through multiple tributes in ritual and performance witnessed in Ranchos de Taos and neighboring villages, scattered along the Río Chiquito and the Río Grande in the southernmost valley of the Taos basin.
Los Comanches de La Serna’s long-standing tradition on New Year’s Day centers on the feast of Emanuel, celebrated in song and dance tributes in private village settings throughout the Taos Valley. The performances consist of their indigenous, mestizo heritage including traditional themes and cultural memory that range from captives-captivity to courtship, lullabies and laments. Titles include El Torito-Small Bull and Buffalo; Aguila-Eagle; Tortuga-Turtle, and Estrellita del Norte- Northern Star.
Gonzales and various generations of Los Comanches de La Serna performed in Washington, D.C., for the National 1976 Bicentennial and again at the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival in 1992, and in the Canada powwow circuit.
Their most recent Colorado performances have been in 2012-2016 in San Luis and Alamosa at Hilos Culturales – Adams State University Title V Summer Institutes and the Adams State 2022 homecoming weekend.
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Francisco Gonzales, Talpa, N.M., is a recipient of the Hilos Culturales Lifetime Achievement Award.