Tio’s Kitchen – Bernalillo, New Mexico
I may not have much respect for the national media or for politicians, but I sure do respect the elderly (unless they’re members of the media or politicians). My parents engendered among their six children, respect for our elders. None of us would ever consider addressing an elder by their first name. We would never use the pronoun “tu” (you) when speaking with someone older than us. We always use “usted,” also a Spanish term for “you,” but used in a formal manner for people we respect and always for our elders. We were raised with the type of respect for seniors that is practiced in India, Thailand, Somalia, Indonesia and other nations who venerate their elderly. Being raised in Peñasco (which is within the confines of the Picuris Pueblo reservation), we witnessed respect for seniors quite often. Similar to the aforementioned nations, many Native American cultures across the fruited plain are exemplars in how to treat their elders. In the Lakota culture, grandfathers are viewed as “the elders of the tribe and in many ways personify the sacredness of the goodness and wisdom of the Great Spirit. Grandfathers carry the spirit of the people. Grandmothers are even more…
