Leafwater: An Enchanted Land in New Mexico

Leafwater Needs your Help

Looking at the picture above I am reminded of my time at Leafwater last fall. I remember being moved by the power and history held by the land. I remember feeling moved to do something to help preserve this place of power and healing. I feared that this place, like many other areas in the southwest, would fall to the trend of development without regard for community or tradition.

Below is a note from Gloria Valencia about Leafwater:

"Leafwater - or KAP in Tewa, is the name of a 13th century pueblo that sits atop a sacred mesa overlooking the magnificent Rio Chama river. This river lined with its ancient cottonwoods runs through a valley of northern New Mexico, through a small village called Medanales where Leafwater's ruins rest at the most southern end of this village.

This mesa and river are part of 80 acres of unique high desert land, unique because it also has 16 acres of vital agricultural water rights attached to it that date back to the mid 1700's when these water rights were first allocated to the land during the Spanish settlement.

My name is Gloria Valencia and I am telling you this story because I need your help. This land has been with my family for about 40 years. When my father passed away in 2004 the land was going to be sold to a well known developer in the area. I have witnessed the invasion and destruction of these developers' efforts over the last few years, which in my opinion are harming these valleys and villages to a point of possible extinction. I believe the people of these small villages hold the key to our future......through their beliefs and knowledge of the ancient ways, and strong ties to their culture and traditions they are holding a crucial piece to the survival of the planet.

Through my efforts over the last 3 years I have been able to keep this land out of the hands of the developers, this is possible for a few more months then the financial burden of this may force me to have to let this go.
Dr. Lang visited this land last summer, was touched by its sacredness and is graciously offering to help.
I will be honest with you, the money needed to secure the land is about $800,000, but ANY donation will help in our efforts!

I thank you for taking the time to read this and encourage you to visit or perhaps revisit this magnificent part of the world and personally invite you to come and experience Leafwater and its sacredness! Please contact me if you have any questions or want to learn more about us and all the projects going on at Leafwater! Again, thank you and many blessings to you and yours."

Sincerely, Gloria Valencia leafwater@zianet.com www.leafwater.net

After hearing the story of Leafwater and its dire situation, I wanted to help. I'm sending this out to ask you for your help in saving this sacred place from development. I am offering a clinic credit to anyone who makes a donation to Leafwater. The credit would equal 1/2 of the amount you donate and would be good for services or supplements at The Healing Way. So if you think about it, you're only donating 50% of your check and I'm donating the other 50% with my time and supplements. Now that's a bargain!

The credit amount is limited to $600 per person; meaning applicable on donations up to $1200. This credit will only be good through the month of June because of the business merge. Please send any checks made out to "Leafwater" to my office address if you would like to take advantage of the clinic credit. Otherwise, please send checks directly to Leafwater at:

Community of Leafwater
PO Box 71
Medanales, NM  87548

Thank you for your consideration and time. I know it may be difficult to connect with a place so far removed from us geographically. However, in saving this sacred place, we're ensuring the survival of desert knowledge and traditions. Knowledge we may need in the not too distant future if global warming continues to change our seasons.

Yours in health,
Dr. Renee

Mission statement from the website:

"The Community of Leafwater is committed to the acquisition, preservation and stewardship of 30 acres of historically unique northern New Mexico river land and culture. We recognize and respect the need to protect both the land and centuries old land-based traditions, in a region where biological and cultural diversity are inseparable."