The road from Tesuque Pueblo to Taos, following the Rio Grande River Valley for much of its length, is a journey through landscapes—the piñon trees north of Santa Fe, the earth tones around Española, the black basalt canyon near Pilar. It is here, along the river four miles north of Pilar, that I meet Louie Hena, the 68-year-old raft guide and Tesuque and Zuni elder, and his wife, Serena (Ohkay Owingeh/Hopi). Every summer, along with a few Pueblo and Apache river guides, the couple host a guided river trip through these landscapes called the Native Cultures Feast and Float. It is an experience like no other. “We put people in the center of the raft and tell our Native stories,” Hena says. “People often come to this region to see the art, but we’re giving them another story—one that is etched into these boulders.”

Started in the 1990s, this day-long experience runs regularly from the end of March through October and exposes visitors to the northern New Mexico landscapes as well as Tewa and Tiwa stories—Indigenous knowledge that, according to Hena, you won’t find in any history books. At the end of the trip, organized through the Taos outfitter Los Rios River Runners, guests enjoy a feast prepared by Serena, during which they learn about precolonial diets and taste the wild plants mentioned on the float—like cota tea, a chamomile-like plant that’s high in magnesium. “It’s great medicine,” Hena says. “It enhances my immune system.” 

Many of the state’s 19 pueblos are located near the Rio Grande, including Tesuque, where the Henas live. The people of Taos, Santa Clara, Ohkay Owingeh, Picuris, Nambe, and Pojoaque all live in ancient communities along the river’s tributaries and celebrate it in different ways. Hena and his guides share experiences and stories to educate guests with a renewed understanding of humanity’s connection to what Hena calls “Earth Mom.” “We’re connected to everything around us,” he says. “Everything out here are brothers and sisters to us.”

When Hena isn’t floating the river, he’s gathering wild plants and herbs, such as yerba mansa, cota, juniper, and prickly pear, and sharing Pueblo culture with youth from neighboring communities. One of his favorite concepts is that of the spiral, which he points out can be found everywhere in nature, from the river and wind to bighorn sheep and the swirl of hair atop a baby’s head. With a spiral in mind, he asks you to imagine pulling it from side to side, like dough, and seeing how it becomes waves and mountain ranges, the changing terrain as you climb or descend, or even the curves of a human body. In this way he shows how we are all one with our Earth Mom. “Everything has a bigger purpose,” he says. “And recognizing that energy can have a global effect.”

You’re a member of both Tesuque and Zuni Pueblos. Where did you grow up?

Hena: I grew up here in Tesuque, on the river with my dad, mom, and sisters. We spent a lot of time out here. My dad was instrumental in the creation of Navajo Community College [in Arizona], so I also grew up in Many Farms, on the Navajo Nation, and in Tempe, because that was part of an Arizona State University project. Then he was the assistant to the secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Louis Bruce [under the Nixon administration], so we lived in the D.C. area. I spent a lot of time at the Smithsonian and the national parks surrounding D.C. Then we moved back and I graduated from Farmington High School.

Is there a particular moment when you experienced something that made you want to devote your life to the outdoors and guiding?

I’ve always been part of the outdoors. As Native individuals in our communities, it’s just who we are. The first time I took somebody out, I’m standing there laughing to myself, thinking: I guess this is how professional ballplayers feel—I’m getting paid to go play around. 

What happens during your Native Cultures Feast and Float rafting experience? 

It’s basically a float trip, and we tell our stories. Serena, my wife, has the feast at the end. She’ll make short ribs, chicos [dried sweet corn], red chile chicken stew, calabacitas [sautéed squash and corn], and Anasazi beans. We started the Native Cultures Feast and Float in the 1990s. Our kids grew up on the river, and now our grandkids are doing the same. They love it.

Was there a big market for learning about Native cultures in the 1990s?

Within northern New Mexico, people come here to see all the arts. However, we’re giving them another venue to come to and share our stories and this beautiful country with them. That’s what I share—our landscape, how we use the plants, water, everything out here. 

Are all of your guides Indigenous?

Yes, from all the pueblos. We have another guy from Arizona. He’s Apache. It’s important to get the real history out there from different viewpoints.

What are the types of stories you share with guests?

I instruct my guides to tell our story, not “his-story.” Meaning that when I was growing up, I learned “his-story,” the Western stories. My generation, we created our stories, and all the younger generations are now hearing our stories. That’s what I tell the guys to share. Nothing in a book, but how they grew up in their communities.

What do you hope guests will take away from the experience?

Who we are as Native people, that we still live off the land. We’re stewards of the land. From the middle of this river to the top of those mountains, the Sangre de Cristo and the Jemez ranges, is my pantry and my pharmacy. 

On the riverbanks we have willows, which are used for aspirin, basketry, and ceremonial purposes. We have cottonwoods you can use for medicine, handles for rattles, and drums. We use the juniper. We’ll boil the leaves and soak it up in a cloth, then wrap our sore muscles and joints. And then we have the yucca and sage. I use all these plants to enhance my immune system. On top of the peaks, we have our bighorn sheep, deer, elk, bear, and turkeys. We get the fish and the water itself. And one of the good things about New Mexico is that we have water-quality standards. For me to practice my ceremonies, I have to immerse myself in the river. So the river has to be clean.

Aside from being active on the river, how do you stay healthy?

About 15 years ago, there was a group of us that went on a traditional, precolonial diet. I lost 40 pounds. I felt so good and still do. So when people come on the Feast and Float, they learn about that diet.

One of the things I get asked about our ceremonial dances is “What’s the message you’re sending?” I say, “I want everybody to get up off your butt and move around.” Because that’s what we’re doing, creating energy with all the dance moves. It all means something, but the main thing is we’re moving. 

You’re recognized for your river work, but you also have plenty going on off the water. Can you tell me about that? 

I’m part of a sustainable continuous design course housed at the Camino de Paz Montessori School outside Española that is going on its 30th year. It’s a two-week course. Every day, we take young men and women out and show them hands-on work. It’s based on permaculture, and we say permaculture actually means “permanent culture,” and agriculture is just one part of our culture. All these young men and women that have taken the course are going back to their communities and sharing it.

I’m also cofounder of the New Mexico Food and Seed Sovereignty Alliance. It’s our 20th year together, and we have a seed-blessing ceremony. We have kids bring seeds from their communities, exchange them, and then enjoy a feast. I also developed environmental programs in three different communities—Tesuque, Picuris, and Santo Domingo. By going into those communities, I’m just sharing my experience with them, too. 

It seems like much of what you do ultimately ties back to the same place, the land.

People might see this as a desert, but there is so much food out here. We point out foods that we still use as we come down the river. At the end of the trip we serve a sampling of what people would enjoy if they came to one of our feast days. There was a high school class from Texas that did this float for their senior trip going across the country. Afterward, I think they forgot the rest of the U.S.  

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To join a Native Culture Feast and Float, contact Los Rios River Runners: (575) 776-8854

losriosriverrunners.com