Jornada del Muerto
By Olivia Romo
On the sidewalk near the historic site of Oppenheimers secret war post, hear Olivia Romos powerful poem, “Jornada Del Muerto”
"Jornada del Muerto" is a poetic re-imagination of the secret war post. the location of the historic office of Robert J. Oppenheimer where he and his team of scientist launched the Manhattan Project. Using Augmented Reality (AR) the digital installation manifests a lab worker dressed in a hazmat suit. The character delivers a poem taking participants on a nuclear colonial journey of the establishment of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and a legend of the first nuclear weapon. At the doorway, leading into the office, a person dressed in a hazmat suit delivers my poem that takes participants on a nuclear colonial journey of the establishment of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and a legend of the first nuclear weapon.
As a young woman who grew up farming and ranching in Northern New Mexico, I have witnessed firsthand the economic and cultural impacts the nuclear industrial complex has had on my community. For years now, I have watched my neighbors and friends leave their farms to pursue a career on the “hill”. Burdened with military secrets, burdened to support their families, burdened to continue their cultural traditions, somehow.
The project honors the Tewa homeland and the voices of New Mexicans who alike Robert Oppenheimer dedicated their lives in advancing the technology of Los Alamos Laboratory no matter the trials, seclusion, or sacrifice for national security.
As you go back in time through this poetic journey, I hope you deepen your respect for the people and the land in which is now occupied by LANL.
Before you walk away, ask yourself, has this world really gone “MAD”?
Explore the history with Valerie Rangel
Each site in the Ojos Differentes project was chosen in collaboration with Santa Fe City Historian Valerie Rangel, as an augmented reality expansion and collaboration with her GIS storymaps. Learn more about the What Lies Beneath Monument by reading her essay below.
About Olivia
Olivia Romo is a bilingual poet and water rights activist from Taos, NM. She earned her dual Bachelor’s degrees in English and Chicana/o Studies from the University of New Mexico in 2015. Olivia is also a recognized storyteller, in 2019 she was one of the featured Storyteller’s at the 21st Annual Taos Storytelling Festival. Early in her poetic career, she was titled the New Mexico State Slam Poetry Champion in 2011. Her published works are, “Fighting the tragedy of the commons” University of New Mexico School of Law Natural Resources Journal; “Sheltering In Place Together On Earth” Quivira Coalition Journal Reflections on Resilience in Uncertain Times. Her poems were also published by the New York Times in the 2019 article “Work Songs of the Cowboy Poets”. In 2012, Olivia authored an oral history documentation and cookbook titled, “The Gift of Good Food” that honors traditional recipes, people and families who prepared them. Olivia’s flagship poem “Bendición del agua” was featured in the Western Folklife Center’s “Moving Rural Verse” series in 2017. Olivia intentionally focuses her activism and poetry to educate and mobilize New Mexicans around the risks and uncertainties of their natural resources. She was nominated as a “Remarkable Woman of Taos” and “A Woman to Watch” for the 2013 community-wide celebration honoring outstanding Taoseñas.