Restoring the land: PBS documentary chronicles Santa Ana Pueblo's efforts to revitalize its ancestral home

One acre at a time.

This is the effort the Pueblo of Santa Ana has been involved in for nearly a decade.

In 2016, the pueblo paid $30 million for 60,000 acres, buying back their ancestral lands — lands that had been privatized and then grazed for more than a century.

Now, they’re using traditional knowledge and western science to protect Tamaya Kwii Kee Nee Puu for traditional uses.

Along the way, the pueblo is protecting their cultural heritage, restoring grasslands and springs, removing fence lines, and studying and helping species like mountain lion, elk, deer, pronghorn and more.

Restoring the land: PBS documentary chronicles Santa Ana Pueblo's efforts to revitalize its ancestral home

Buying back their lands is a number one priority, says Nathan Garcia, former governor of the Pueblo of Santa Ana.

“This was home, and I still feel that,” Garcia says.

The effort is chronicled in the documentary, “Our Land: Ancestral Connections.”

Laura Paskus is the producer on the episode, which takes a deeper look at the Pueblo of Santa Ana’s effort.

Paskus says “Our Land” did a segment in 2017 on what the pueblo was doing with the lands closer to the Rio Grande.

“I wanted to do an update,” she says. “Then I was told that they would talk to me about the amazing work they were doing to get the lands back. The more I learned about the restoration and the springs and corridors, I felt like we needed to do a whole documentary.”

Paskus produced the piece, while Antony Lostetter was the director and editor.

Paskus has reported on environmental issues in New Mexico since 2002, when she began her career at High Country News.

She has worked for print, online, radio and television outlets, covering the most important environmental issues of her generation, including climate change and its impacts.

She says every time she drives up near Rio Rancho and sees the sprawl and solar development, it hurts.

“Those are not my lands and that’s not my home,” she says. “I’m thankful the pueblo is doing what they are doing to protect wildlife.”

Paskus says the pueblo gave the team access to their wildlife footage, which they keep on a daily feed.

She says working on this piece was different from others she’s worked on over the years.

“All of the stories I do have heartbreaking angles,” she says. “This piece was incredible and every minute we were able to spend out there was an opportunity to learn. I feel like this is a hopeful piece.”

“Our Land: Ancestral Connections,” features interviews with Julian Garcia, Pueblo of Santa Ana; Nathan Garcia, former governor, Pueblo of Santa Ana; Ruben Lujan, former lieutenant governor, Pueblo of Santa Ana; Thomas Armijo, cultural resource technician, Pueblo of Santa Ana; Dillon Eustace, wildlife technician, Pueblo of Santa Ana; Dan Ginter, range program manager, Pueblo of Santa Ana; Glenn Harper, Range and Wildlife Division manager, Pueblo of Santa Ana; and Monica Murrell, tribal historic preservation officer, Pueblo of Santa Ana.

Lostetter and Paskus wouldn’t have been able to complete the series without the help of the pueblo.

“We all know the destruction that humans have placed on wildlife,” she says. “The pueblo is looking for ways for animals to cross I-25 and Highway 550. This would allow for more wildlife to get out of the boundaries that were made for them.”