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Emma Perez de Estrada Margaret Estrada

from October 2018 Gallup Journey Magazine

by Gallup Journey

from October 2018 Gallup Journey Magazine , page 9

Article from: October 2018 Gallup Journey Magazine

Happy 50th Anniversary UNM Gal...

EMMA PEREZ de ESTRADA Gallup’s Partera - Curandera

In honor of National Hispanic Month, Margaret Estrada shares this story about her mother Emma Perez de Estrada.

By Margaret Estrada

Whenever I see a newborn baby, I think of my mother. Her name was Emma Perez de Estrada, and she was a partera midwife, a woman who helps other women in childbirth. But to write the story about her, I must begin by telling you about the mysterious tan metal suitcase my siblings and I called her “baby bag” (a regulation bag with equipment issued to her by the State of New Mexico) which she carried to deliveries. One of my earliest memories is of her telling me that the stork would deliver the babies to her, and she would put them in the tan suitcase and deliver them to the mothers when their time had come. I remember being curious about it and wanting to open it. However, she kept the suitcase in the closet located in her bedroom and told me never to touch it.

It was March 25, 1961, and I was nine years old. My mother woke my two brothers and me very early. She told us we were going next door to my Grandfather Manuel’s house. She reached into her closet and pulled out the tan, metal suitcase (which is now housed at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque). I remember we spent the whole day there. Occasionally, my mother would come out of my grandmother Catalina’s room, and I would ask her, “Is the baby here yet?”

Finally, about 5:00pm, she came out of the room and announced that my uncle Jimmy had finally arrived. He was the last of my grandmother’s thirteen children to be born. This was the first time I had been closely associated with the actual work of a partera.

It was about a week after my uncle was born that I boldly opened the tan bag. Much to my surprise, I did not find a baby. What I found was the gauze used to rap the severed umbilical cord, measuring tape, rubber gloves, a small hand scale, a bar of soap, scissors, large white linen napkins that were used to catch the baby as it was being born, a small metal container that held capsules of silver nitrate which the partera put in a baby’s eyes, a funnel and rubber tube, boiled and dried cotton balls, a scarf used to cover the head, and a gown which my mother would wear. There were a few other indispensable objects contained in the suitcase. A small cross made from blessed palm which was held together with a piece of red embroidery thread which brought good luck and kept the evil spirits away, plus some needles, and a skein of red embroidery thread which my mother used to pierce the ears of newborn females.

It was a chilly February morning in the year 1933 when my mother Emma was born in the small central New Mexico town of Bernalillo, first settled in 1698. Most of the people who lived in this community were the descendants of Spanish Colonists. Her great-great-grandfather, Jose Maria Perez, and his brothers and sisters were born in Spain and came via Mexico to Bernalillo in the 1700s.

Emma was a small woman of medium built, her complexion was very fair, and she had auburn-hair and hazel eyes. She was strong-willed and bossy. She did not have much formal education. In fact, she had very little schooling. Her life was sad in some respects; but she was blessed with a special gift. She not only was a midwife but also a Curandera, a folk practitioner (healer), who relied upon her faith, experience, and knowledge of the use of traditional medicines made from plants to cure her patients.

Like many people before her, Emma was influenced by the customs and beliefs of family members of past generations who were dominated by religion, tradition, and superstition. To my mother and her family, Catholicism and its traditionally prescribed set of rituals and practices were passed down from one generation to another. Everything was entrusted to God, with sincere faith. Therefore, when she prescribed a remedy or delivered a baby, she would make the sign of the cross first, then utter the words “en el nombre del padre, del hijo, y del espirito santo,” (in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit) or “que sea la voluntad de Dios,” (may God’s will be done) followed by either a un Padre Nuestro (an Our Father) or un Ave Maria, (a Hail Mary). Faith and prayer being the most important elements in respect to the patients healing or the effectiveness of a remedy.

Emma Estrada 18 years of age, when she officially started training as a Licensed Practical Midwife Emma Estrada is depicted next to the Holy Bible holding the white bundle.

Emma received her training on the use of Remedios (remedies) from her abuelito, grandfather Elias, whose family had depended on the use of traditional healing plants (herbs) and natural cures for generations. Her grandfather would take her with him up into the foothills of Bernalillo, Algadones, and at times the Sandia Mountains, to pick herbs that were used as basic remedies. Some of the herbs they picked were Cebollitas def Campo (wild onions), Canagria (red dock) Cihimaja (Indian Parsley), Cola de Caballo or Canutillo del Llano, Horse tail, and Yerba def Manso. When picking the herbs, he told her, “Always leave a small piece of the root so that the plant will return next year.” She learned the art of midwifery from the older Parteras which included Dofia Cuca Rosales, as well as one other well-known midwife within Gallup’s Hispanic community.

Emma tagged along with the older women, first, because she was fascinated by the experience, and secondly, to acquire knowledge of how home deliveries were carried out and to learn more about what remedies were used to treat a particular illness. When asked how she became interested in the art of healing, she replied, “My grandfather told me it was a gift from God. It was not all my doing!”

As a child, my mother was afflicted with many health problems. Therefore, she was not able to go outside to play with the other children, so she spent a lot of time with her abuelito Elias who explained to her that for countless years the Hispanic people of the region first sought out the services of folk healers to treat whatever bothered them because most persons lacked the means to obtain medical care, also the unavailability of medical doctors, and most importantly because people believed that some ailments or conditions such as susto (nervousness, anxiety, and/or depression were brought on by a sudden or extreme state of fear), empacho (intestinal obstruction caused by food blockage), mal de ojo (the evil eye), and mollera caida (fallen fontanel caused by pulling the bottle out of the mouth of a nursing infant) could not be cured by a medical doctor. Therefore, the expertise of someone with a specialized practice must be sought out; a curandera (a woman or man who uses faith and herbs to treat illness) a Partera (folk healer who specializes in childbirth), or a Sobadora (a folk chiropractor healer who treats their patients by massaging or rubbing the affected part of the body).

He told her his own mother, Felecita Perez, was a Curandera and Partera, and about the remedies and some of the methods of healing the Spanish brought with them from Spain which he himself practiced. He showed her the indiginos plants used as medicine by the Pueblo Indians. He informed her that when he was a child the people were poor and lived in remote areas causing them to be isolated from one another, therefore, the yerberos (herb peddlers) were responsible for passing on knowledge about the different types of herbs used to make medicine. He explained to her that herbs could not only be used for cooking but also to make remedies. They could be brewed and made into a tea, or steeped and used as an eye wash, or made into a plaster or an ointment. This could then be used to treat anything from bruises to purifying the blood and stimulating the liver. She learned that the herb, anis Estrella (star anise), which is primarily used to add flavor to food, can also be boiled and made into a tea and used as a mild sedative or given in moderation to an infant to promote sleep.

At the age of seven, my mother contracted Baile de Sambito (St. Vitas Dance), which was preceded by rheumatic fever. Because of the illnesses, Emma spent several months in bed before she could slowly increase her physical activities. Her grandfather Elias would sit her on a chair and cover her with a blanket to keep her warm. It was during this time she received most of her training on how to identify, clean, and string the herbs so they could be hung out to dry. She learned about the uses of the herbs and how to prepare them.

When Emma was nine years old, she and her family moved to Gallup, New Mexico. It was there she had her first experience with helping birth a child. The date was December 1, 1942. The snow had started falling earlier that evening and continued late into the night. Nena, Emma’s mother, went into labor with her sister Betty. Due to complication Nena had experienced at a prior birth, the doctor was called to do the delivery. However, because of the extreme weather conditions, he was not able to reach Nena in time to deliver the baby. Through the guidance of her mother, Emma caught the baby, tied and cut the umbilical cord, and then delivered the afterbirth.

Emma lived in Gallup with her immediate family for a time and then traveled back to Bernalillo to live with her abuelito Elias and other relatives. It wasn’t until she turned eighteen and got married that Gallup became her permanent home. She had four children: Raymond, Margaret, Howard, Jr., and Dianna and helped raise four orphaned brothers and sisters.

My mother’s fascination with midwifery continued. She was determined to become a licensed midwife in the State of New Mexico. I remember as a child, my siblings and I would accompany her to the local health department where she met and consulted with a public health nurse/midwife. At the age of 18, she and four other women began studying at her home under the direction of the Mrs. Ann Fox and Mrs. Lucas, both public health nurse/midwives who worked for the New Mexico Department of Health and were part of the Midwifery Consultant Program. This was a program designed to formally train, qualify, and license midwives throughout the State. She trained with the midwives for two years and assisted with many deliveries before going out on her own. In 1954, at age of 20, she received her first license from the State to practice her trade. Women like my mother are recognized as Curandera-Parteras (traditional Hispanic midwives) by the State of New Mexico. These Hispanic women, living and working in New Mexico, had little formal education, but received hands-on training and gained knowledge and experience through working directly with older midwives within their communities.

My mother told me that according to cultural beliefs and traditions, the Parteras used herbs associated with their practice, however their expertise was in helping women during labor, delivery, and after the birth of their baby. Often midwives were also called upon to care for expectant mothers, sick babies, and young children. For example, she might dress the navel of a newborn with the powdered leaves of Romero (Rosemary), or prescribe Tea de Yerba Buena (Spearmint Tea), for a baby suffering from colic. However, for Emma her training went further. She practiced the art of Curanderismo (a folk healer), along with being a Partera.

It was a cold January morning. The snow had finally stopped falling, and the sun was starting to peak through the clouds. Juan Romero had gone outside to shovel the snow off his driveway when he slipped and fell on a sharp object, leaving a large laceration below his right knee. Although Juan had gone to see a doctor, the wound would not heal. The jagged tear was oozing with pus, and the doctors told Mr. Romero that he was highly susceptible to contracting Gangrene. He contacted Emma to see if there was anything she could do to help him. My mother began treating the wound. First, she cleansed the wound with a wash made from Rosemary, and then she applied a generous amount of an ointment called Trementina de Pinon (a salve made from pinon pine resin which she prepared herself). The injury began to heal leaving just a nice clean scar.

When my mother first began her practice, she was delivering mostly for Hispanic mothers of all ages. She charged the expectant mothers a small fee which could be paid in cash or by paying with a truckload of coal or wood. The charge also included accompanying the patient on her pre-natal visits to the doctor. Occasionally an expectant mother did not have the money to pay for the delivery of the child; nonetheless, Emma never turned anyone away. Toward the end of her practice, a time when the evolution of the art was being lost to modem medicine, she was delivering babies to a wider range of females who wanted to experience natural childbirth at home.

When Emma was not delivering babies, she was prescribing remedies to various people. When my son Jay was about seven years of age, he awoke with the right side of his face paralyzed. My mother explained his condition in terms of hot and cold. (Aire - an illness brought on by exposure to extreme conditions of hot and cold temperatures.) Upon going to bed, my son was sweating, so he slept next to an open window where the cold breeze could hit him. He awoke with a condition the medical profession refers to as Bell’s Palsy, usually a temporary paralysis of the facial muscles on one side of the face. My mother took Azufre Mexicano (Mexican Sulphur) and some herbs and made a poultice and applied it to his face for three nights just before he went to bed. After the third day, his face lost its paralysis.

Doctors, nurses, and other individuals from within the community and even other parts of the country who were interested in ethno-pharmacology and traditional medicine would consult Emma on the various herbs and their uses. Medical professionals, as well as lay people, attended her lectures throughout the state and within the community.

My mother practiced midwifery for well over thirty years. Throughout those years, she was confronted with life-threatening situations and would face many challenges due to her lack of formal education. Nevertheless, she was well-known for her expertise in the field of midwifery and Curanderismo. Because of the literacy barriers the CuranderaParteras faced, my mother was one of only two women who took the new State test required for licensing and passed it in 1986. Then in 1989, the State of New

Emma Estrada at the New Mexico Midwife Conference in 1986

Mexico Public Health Division recognized her with a certificate of appreciation for “becoming the only Curandera-Partera to become a fully licensed midwife.” She died in July of 1997 at the age of 64. My mother delivered more than 700 babies during her lifetime.

In early 2000 the City of Gallup commissioned several local artists to paint outdoor murals on buildings which feature some elements that have influenced local life as we know it throughout Gallup’s history. One such artist is Ric Sarracino who painted a mural on the east-facing wall of City Hall, known as the “Gallup Community Life Mural” which includes a picture of my mother weighing a new born baby.

In the year 2005, members of the New Mexico Women’s Forum founded the “New Mexico Historical Women’s Marker Initiative” to recognize and insure that women from New Mexico’s individual stories would be remembered and their stories told. In 2010 my mother was recognized as one of the “Parteras of New Mexico” by the State of New Mexico, and an Official Scenic Historical Marker was placed on Joseph Montoya Boulevard (I-40 off-ramp/Exit 22) across from The Playground of Dreams city park in Gallup, New Mexico. May she live on in the lives of the many who passed her way.