Geography ETDs

Publication Date

Spring 2026

Abstract

In the U.S. West, research points to a significant transformation of rural places, including rural blight, a decline in extractive industries, and changing migration patterns. In Northern New Mexico, these rural transformations are occurring alongside a long and continuing history of tensions and conflicts relating to land, water, and property regimes, which are intertwined with notions of identity, culture, and power. Using participant observation and semi-structured interviews, this thesis explores how rural transformations, particularly shifting land ownership, have influenced identities and cultural values along the Upper Rio Chama in Northern New Mexico. I find that comparatively wealthy in-migrants are purchasing land in the study area for seasonal homes, seasonal businesses, outdoor recreation, and financial investment. The participants in this research, based on their experiences and common narratives surrounding rural transformations in the U.S., construct an outsider-local dichotomy in order to make sense of these changes. This dichotomy is used as a heuristic to describe differences in “outsider” and “local” identities and cultural values, particularly surrounding the questions of land ownership, use, and management. However, this heuristic also acts as a shorthand that belies much more complex struggles for power and self-determination in the study area. This research has implications for how we conceptualize rural development and rural revitalization theoretically and on the ground, and opens the door for explorations of possible futures within rural Northern New Mexico.

Degree Name

Geography

Department Name

Geography

Level of Degree

Masters

First Committee Member (Chair)

Marygold Walsh-Dilley

Second Committee Member

David Correia

Third Committee Member

Eva Stricker

Document Type

Thesis

Language

English

Keywords

Culture, land, Chama, Tierra Amarilla, in-migration

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