Experience the Land of Enchantment Through Those Who Live it!
The New Mexico True Living Legends campaign elevates the voices of real New Mexicans whose lives personify the state’s spirit. With authenticity as our north star, we created a series of character-driven documentary shorts focusing on locals whose personal histories intertwine with the Land of Enchantment’s culture and environment, illuminating New Mexico’s renowned tradition of adventure steeped in culture.
Meet Parker Hooks
Parker Hooks' journey into the world of bull riding began at just three years old when a trip to the Lea County Fair and Rodeo sparked a deep passion. Although too young to ride the big bulls, Parker's determination to participate was clear. Parker does not live on a ranch, so, with the help of a family friend, Parker started mutton busting—riding sheep like a bull—at the age of five.
He transitioned to bull riding, and by the age of nine, he had already achieved the title of Youth World Champion through relentless training. Parker Hooks is a young athlete with a big dream, and his story is just beginning.
Meet Cisco Guevara
Cisco Guevara is a New Mexico living legend, founder of rafting company Los Rios River Runners, and has been running the Rio Grande and Rio Chama for over 50 years! His unparalleled knowledge gives thrill-seekers on the main waterways of New Mexico the experience of a lifetime.
Cisco is also a fervent advocate for the protection of the Rio Grande and its surrounding wildlife, having founded Amigos Bravos to support the revitalization of watersheds and to hold polluters accountable. Revitalize yourself and learn about the distinctive culture and history of New Mexico while traveling through the canyons and waterways with Cisco!
Meet Stevie Lund
Stevie Lund is a ski instructor at Angel Fire Resort who holds PSIA certifications in alpine and freestyle skiing, is on the PSIA-AASI Rocky Mountain Regional Team, has won an X Games Rail Jam silver medal, and has earned multiple accolades, including New Mexico Ski Instructor of the Year.
Stevie’s passion for the sport is reflected in her dedication to having her students fall in love with the art of skiing. From teaching youth skiers, the basics to helping seasoned veterans perfect their carving and freestyle skills, Stevie’s skillset and love for teaching is what makes her so irreplaceable in New Mexico's ski industry.
Meet Justin Pioche
Justin Pioche is an Áshįįhi (Salt) Diné born for the Bit'ahnii (folded arms) who grew up in northwestern New Mexico on the Navajo Nation. Inspired by his grandmother’s home-cooked meals with fresh-picked garden ingredients, Justin has been creating award-winning dishes since he was a teenager.
Blending creative visuals with balanced components, his dishes stimulate all the senses and evoke creative expressions of his culture, history, and authenticity. A graduate of the Arizona Culinary Institute, Justin now owns Pioche Food Group in Fruitland, NM along with his sister Tia and mother Janice and continues to create innovative dishes inspired by his Navajo heritage.
Meet Emily Trujillo
Emily Trujillo is an eighth-generation Chimayó weaver and the daughter of master weavers Irvin and Lisa Trujillo. Emily is an artist of many disciplines and uses this experience to combine the traditional stylistic cornerstones passed down from her ancestors with her own modern flair. Representing her family and the time-tested culture of weaving — while also creating pieces that reflect her personality and story — is paramount.
Meet Jeff Massey
Born and raised in Farmington, Jeff Massey has been fishing the waters of the San Juan since he was a young angler. Now, Massey provides guide services on the San Juan for venturous fishers that want to expand their horizon as the co-owner of Soaring Eagle Lodge. Massey believes that the San Juan offers an opportunity for anglers of all skill levels to learn while exploring the unique landscape of the river.
Meet Ben Hanna
Santa Fe native Ben Hanna has been rock climbing since he was a toddler. Facing adversity in his early career, Ben pushed through his doubt and made huge strides in both the competition and outdoor climbing scene, including becoming one of the youngest climbers ever to establish a new 5.14d route: a New Mexican climbing destination outside of Truth or Consequences.
He demonstrated enormous skill in the sport, elevating himself from his high school’s junior climbing team to the World Cup Circuit, while also ticking off many difficult outdoor routes in New Mexico and beyond. Ben continues to strive to compete professionally in addition to his inspired personal climbs in the wilderness.
Meet Shandien LaRance
Shandien LaRance is a Native champion hoop dancer and instructor who lives on ancestral lands near Ohkay Owingeh. Inspired by her family with creative underpinnings, Shandien has been hoop dancing since the age of eight. Following her late brother, Nakotah’s, lead, Shandien joined Cirque Du Soleil’s show “TOTEM” and toured across the world with the troupe until 2020.
When not touring, Shandien teaches hoop dance to Indigenous youth through her family's Lightning Boy Foundation and is a model, host, and actress.
Meet Whitney Spivey
Spivey, a two-time member of the U.S. National Snowshoe Racing Team, began snowshoeing when she moved to New Mexico more than 10 years ago. And although she loves competing, running in snowshoes has taken her across the state, the country, and even the world—she says that nothing compares to a leisurely snowshoe outing with her identical twin daughters in the mountains near their Los Alamos home.
When she’s not exploring the outdoors, Spivey works as a communications specialist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. She’s also the author of award-winning Goodnight Los Alamos and A Los Alamos Alphabet, two children’s books that celebrate all her adopted hometown has to offer.
Meet Chef Fernando Olea
Mexico City native Fernando Olea has been a part of the Santa Fe culinary scene for more than three decades now. Fernando began his career in Santa Fe by purchasing the beloved Bert’s Burger Bowl, famous for its green chile cheeseburgers. From there he opened Bert’s La Taqueria, which was followed by El Encanto, his first upscale establishment.
His current endeavor, Sazón, serves contemporary takes on traditional Mexican cuisine influenced by Olea’s grandmother and mother’s cooking. This includes his signature “New Mexican Mole” that he created to celebrate Santa Fe’s 400th anniversary. Sazón offers both a dinner menu and Chef Olea’s Degustación menu: Curated by Olea with limited seating, this is an experience unlike any other.
Meet Kenny Bowekaty
Zuni Native Kenny Bowekaty is a Zuni guide who provides historical context into his people, their culture, and the land they inhabit. He invites outsiders into an intimate setting in order to teach them the importance of the Zuni people’s past and present influence.
The Zuni Pueblo is found on the western border of New Mexico, just south of Gallup. As the largest of New Mexico’s nineteen pueblos, the Zuni have an immense influence, recognized to a large degree through their intricate forms of art.
Meet Kialo Winters
Kialo Winters (Diné and Zia) is a guide local to the Navajo Nation surrounding the Bisti Badlands. He grew up in the area and has worked as a guide and an educator, specializing in the geologic and cultural heritage of Bisti and the surrounding wildernesses.
The Bisti Badlands/De-Na-Zin Wilderness is a sprawling geologic formation south of Farmington on the Navajo Nation. Formed the remnants of an ancient inland sea, these high-desert landforms are otherworldly in their unusual beauty. Bring your camera — sunrise or sunset, you’ll find the perfect shot.
Meet Mariah Duran
Mariah Duran played many sports while growing up in Albuquerque, but when her brothers gifted her a skateboard on her 10th birthday – suddenly things changed. Just three years later, Mariah was entering her first skateboarding competition.
In 2016, at age 19, she went pro and began competing internationally on a board bearing her name. Her big break came in 2018, when Mariah won gold twice at the X Games Minneapolis and the X Games Sydney. And in 2019, Mariah qualified to become one of 12 members on the inaugural U.S.A. Skateboarding National Team for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Now, age 26, and with more than 153,000 Instagram followers, Mariah is the pride of New Mexico. And she’s just getting started.
Meet La Emi
Emmy Grimm, who goes by the stage name La Emi, began her love affair with flamenco dancing at the age of four when she began taking classes at the Institute for Spanish Arts.
By age 12, La Emi was teaching the art of flamenco within the Northern New Mexico public school system.
“The stage is a sacred place, and it has to be honored in that way,” La Emi said in an interview with New Mexico Magazine. “Every day I show up and do my absolute best.”
Meet Ross Anderson
Skier Ross Anderson isn't your typical champion. He was born at Holloman Air Force Base, outside of Alamogordo, but followed his ski passion as far as the French Alps. That's where he perfected the daredevil art of speed skiing. Unlike the Olympic racing disciplines, where skiers navigate a set course with control gates, speed skiers simply tuck themselves into a tight aerodynamic stance and measure their victories in top speeds rather than finish times. Anderson, wearing an aerodynamic speed suit, clocked 154.06 MPH in 2006, which makes him the fastest American skier ever. Ross is part Mescalero-Apache and Chiricahua, is enrolled in the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes and calls New Mexico home.
Roxanne Swentzell
Roxanne Swentzell is a prominent Santa Clara Pueblo clay and bronze sculptor and contemporary pueblo artist whose award-winning works are featured in major public collections, including the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, Cartier in Paris, and other world-class museums and venues.
Today, Roxanne’s deeply emotive works and unique artistic style continue to be recognized and renowned worldwide. Using the ancient technique of layering coil upon coil, her large, contemporary works reflect the range of the human experience, connecting with both Native and non-Native audiences.
Ernie Blake & Taos Ski Valley
Hailing from Germany and Switzerland, ski legend Ernie Blake first moved to New Mexico with his wife, Rhoda, in 1941. By the early 1950’s, the ski enthusiast was managing both the Santa Fe Ski Basin and its sister ski area, Glenwood Springs. It was during the commute between the two ski areas in his Cessna 170 that Blake would search for the “perfect spot” to start a new ski area. He eventually found it when he spotted the big snow basin north of Wheeler Peak. He moved his wife and children to the valley where he created what would become a world-class ski area.
