Zuni Pueblo Ancestor: Josefa de Hinojos, wife of Diego Montoya

Certain words and phrases in this article have links to articles and a video on the Internet. Click on the underlined words to review these site.

Josefa de Hinojos is a common ancestor of many New Mexicans. She was the wife of Diego Montoya, and had at least seven children. My research shows that I descend from her at least 22 times, with all four of my grandparents being descendants. 

In the prenuptial investigation of her descendants, Josefa de Hinojos is alleged to be a coyota of the Zuni people. A "coyota" was a woman of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry. She is also noted to be the sister of and Indian named Ventura.1.

DNA tests analyzed by the New Mexico Genealogical Society DNA Project Team has identified five Josefa de Hinojos's matrilineal descendants as being in the mtDNA Haplogroup C1b11, a Native American haplogroup. Researcher Miguel A. Torrez wrote that DNA research technology is not able to identify which specific tribe their ancestor is from. 2. 

New Mexican Hispanics will find that they most undoubtably have Native American Ancestry. When the Spanish conquered Mexico, they paired off with and had children with Native American women. Their descendants of mixed race came to New Mexico and mingled with various Pueblo tribes here. Captured native children, known as genizaros - sold to and raised by Spanish families - were freed and blended in with the growing mestizo population of New Mexico.

My ancestry includes all of these people. The paper trail frequently lists my forebears as  "mestizo", "indio" and "genizaro". My DNA results show from 18% (FamilyTreeDNA) to 23% (Ancestry.com) indigenous American blood. When I began understanding the true nature of my ancestry decades ago, I began celebrating the diversity of my family. This fact is not unique to me. The only uniqueness of my ancestry is that only my sisters and I have the specific combination of our pedigree. However, all Nuevo Mexicanos can tell this mestizo story.

In his presentation "Nuevomejicano Ancestors with Spanish & Indian Antecedants", Jose Antonio Esquibel profiles Josefa de Hinojos. I linked the video at the 8 minute, 46 second mark when he begins talking about Josefa. However, I suggest you rewind the video to the beginning. Earlier in the video, Esquibel explains how our mestizo ancestors helped negotiate with their Indian cousins to end the 17th Century Pueblo Revolt and allow the Spaniards to occupy New Mexico once again. There were definite close familial bonds between the Spanish and Pueblo residents of the Kingdom. 

Endnotes:

1. Fray Angelico Chavez, New Mexico Roots, Ltd.: A Demographic Perspective from genealogical, historical and geographic data found in the Diligencias Matrimoniales or Pre-Nuptial Investigations (1678-1869) of the Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. (Santa Fe, New Mexico: typescript, 1982), volume 2, p. 316. Prenuptial Investigation of Jose Vicente Duran y Chaves and Maria Concepcion Aragon.

2. Daria Celeste Landress, Henrietta Martinez Christmas, and Miguel A. Torrez, "Josefa de Hinojos: Colonial-period matriarch of New Mexico and Haplogroup C1b11," New Mexico Genealogist, 60 (March 2021): pp. 30-42.