Closed in and Closed Out ~East Entrance to Pojoaque Pueblo ~ April, 2020, photograph by Jada Griffin

The photograph, Closed in and Closed Out was taken on April 7th, 2020. It is the east entrance to Pojoaque Pueblo on the east side of the freeway, just north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. My home is along a narrow, winding dirt road, Old Callejon Road, that begins just to the right, and that leads to the legendary High Road to Taos at its other end. Since lockdown, I’ve been in the habit of taking a daily walk in the hills above my house. Beautiful trails climb and meander through land owned by Pojoaque Pueblo, whose residents are always welcoming. On April 7th in my neighborhood, things changed. Access, both to walking trails and through the pueblo itself by car was halted. Today, it’s strictly controlled by this dramatic, padlocked gate at one entrance, and police in squad vehicles at the other. Only tribal members are allowed through.

The photograph to me embodies the stark reality of our current generic condition of separation. But in the American southwest, more and more news is circulating about the singular plight of Indigenous communities, in particular the Navajo, whose nation straddles 27,000 square miles across New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. Pandemics affect marginalized communities more than others and increase existing inequities. Covid-19 is the not the great equalizer. In these contemporary times each of us is closed in and closed out, both literally and figuratively, but the degree of our condition of separation varies greatly. This could be the felt reality that my photograph conveys.

Words: Jada Griffin

10% of Jada’s online sales donated to the Taos Art Museum at Fechin House.

Jada Griffin is a painter and a dancer, a published writer and poet. Read her tribute essay to Thomas Paul Augustine, The Man Who Named The Pearl in PORTLAND INTERVIEW magazine.

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