新墨西哥州拉古纳普韦布洛村萨凡纳·彼得斯帕拉赫 — 在拉古纳普韦布洛村一年一度的庆典日清晨，阿什利·萨拉西诺跪在自家屋里，牙齿咬着衣夹。她拉直侄女的黑色棉质曼塔——一种传统的单肩连衣裙，并在她腰间系上腰带。
SAVANNAH PETERS PARAJE, N.M. — On the morning of a Laguna Pueblo village’s annual Feast Day, Ashley Sarracino knelt in her family home holding clothespins between her teeth. She straightened her niece’s black cotton manta, a traditional one-shouldered dress, and tied a sash around her waist.
在这些日子里，萨拉西诺是照料者，为亲人穿戴丰收舞的服饰，并帮忙招待多达150位客人。作为普韦布洛委员会的前成员，她深知如何平衡这些传统责任与公职职责。“对我来说，这些事情根本不冲突，”她说。
On these days, Sarracino is a caretaker, dressing relatives for the harvest dance and helping feed up to 150 guests. And as a former member of the pueblo council, she knows how to balance those traditional responsibilities with official duties. “To me, those things aren’t in conflict at all,” she said.
然而，即便另一位拉古纳普韦布洛女性、前美国内政部长德布·哈兰德即将成为首位担任州长的美洲原住民女性，怀揣领导抱负的女性如萨拉西诺表示，她们在普韦布洛社区中仍逆流而上。萨拉西诺称，她因指控因性别获得较少报酬而被迫离开委员会，普韦布洛官方否认这一指控。
Yet even as another Laguna Pueblo woman, former U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, is set to become the first Native American woman state governor , women with leadership aspirations such as Sarracino say they are swimming upstream in their Pueblo communities. Sarracino said she was forced off the council after alleging she was paid less because she was a woman, a claim pueblo officials deny.
在新墨西哥州的19个普韦布洛中，包括拉古纳，部落法律和习俗不允许女性担任最高政府职位。
In some of the 19 pueblos in New Mexico, including Laguna, tribal law and customs do not allow women to hold top government positions.
哈兰德告诉美联社，她曾被提名在普韦布洛委员会任职，但未能通过初选。她调侃道：“筹集100万美元竞选国会议员，比在普韦布洛政治中取得成功容易得多。”
Haaland told The Associated she was once nominated to serve on her pueblo council but did not make it past a primary. She quipped it was “easier to raise $1 million and run for Congress” than succeed in Pueblo politics.
“在许多普韦布洛社区，尤其是我的社区里，这仍然是男人的世界，”她说。
“It’s still a man’s world in a lot of Pueblo communities, and certainly in mine,” she said.
萨拉西诺获得了一条雄心勃勃的年轻原住民熟知的路线图：离开保留地接受教育，然后回乡服务社区。
Sarracino was offered a road map familiar to ambitious young Native people: Leave the reservation to get an education, then return home to serve your community.
她在非营利工作和政治组织领域建立了事业，包括担任所在县民主党主席。
She built a career in nonprofit work and political organizing, including as chair of her county’s Democratic Party.
2022年，一位普韦布洛长者提名萨拉西诺竞选委员会秘书。她名列第二，但在一名成员辞职后获委任担任该职。“终于有机会用我的技能帮助自己的社区，”她说。
In 2022, Sarracino was nominated by a pueblo elder to run for council secretary. She finished second, but was appointed to the post after a resignation. “Finally I had an opportunity to use my skills to help my own community,” she said.
在审阅预算文件时，萨拉西诺发现，她的薪水比男性前任少 1.4 万美元。她向普韦布洛总督要求解释，引发了一场激烈的争端，最终导致她在委员会的任期结束。委员会称，萨拉西诺薪水较低是因为她缺乏经验，且她擅离职守。
While reviewing budget documents, Sarracino discovered she was being paid $14,000 less than her male predecessor. She asked the pueblo governor for an explanation, sparking a bitter dispute that would end her tenure on council. The council says Sarracino was paid less because she lacked experience and that she abandoned her post.
但萨拉西诺坚称自己是被罢免的，薪酬差距反映了部落法律中根深蒂固的性别歧视态度。自 1996 年以来，该普韦布洛的选举法允许女性竞选委员会财务主管和秘书，但并未明确允许她们担任总督或副总督。
But Sarracino insists she was ousted and that the pay discrepancy reflects sexist attitudes embedded in tribal law. Since 1996, the pueblo’s election code has allowed women to run for council treasurer and secretary, but it does not explicitly allow them to serve as governor or lieutenant governor.
其宪法最后一次修订于 2012 年，文中称呼总督为“他”。萨拉西诺的争议被提交部落法院，但今年因主权豁免理由被驳回，她已用尽上诉途径。此案对她的心理健康造成了影响。她说，看着哈兰德创造政治历史，她感到苦乐参半。“我们都知道，她在这里永远不会有同样的机会，”她说。
Its constitution, last amended in 2012, refers to the governor as “he” and “him.”Sarracino’s dispute landed in tribal court but was dismissed this year on sovereign immunity grounds and she’s exhausted her appeals. The case took a toll on her mental health. She said it’s been bittersweet to watch Haaland make political history. “We all know she would never have the same opportunity here,” she said.
然而，哈兰德的崛起可能有助于改变家乡的观念。艾米莉·亨特在 20 世纪 90 年代末在哈兰德的法律帮助下，成为拉古纳普韦布洛首位女性民选官员，她相信该普韦布洛总有一天会提名一位女性总督。“至于我有生之年能否看到，我不知道，”亨特说。
Yet Haaland’s ascent could help change attitudes at home. Emily Hunt, who became Laguna Pueblo’s first female elected official in the late ’90s with legal help from Haaland, believes the pueblo will someday nominate a woman governor. “Whether I’ll see it in my lifetime, I don’t know,” Hunt said.
一些普韦布洛保留着传统的神权政治，政府职位由仪式长老任命，并保留给男性。
Some pueblos retain traditional theocracies, with government roles appointed by ceremonial elders and reserved for men.
圣菲利普普韦布洛公民夏洛特·利特尔表示，在这些社区中，女性拥有自己受人尊敬的角色。作为新墨西哥州众议员，利特尔从未渴望在家乡担任领导职务。“这是关于尊重我所来自的文化，”她说。
Charlotte Little, a citizen of San Felipe Pueblo, said women in those communities hold esteemed roles of their own. A New Mexico state representative, Little never aspired to lead at home. “It’s about respecting the culture that I come from,” she said.
其他普韦布洛在 20 世纪 30 年代联邦政府的压力下，采用了世俗宪法和选举制度。其中包括伊斯莱塔普韦布洛，1986 年，弗尔娜·泰勒在经历一场激烈的法律斗争后，成为该普韦布洛首位、也是唯一一位女性总督。
Other pueblos, under federal pressure in the 1930s, adopted secular constitutions and elections. That includes Isleta Pueblo, where in 1986 Verna Teller overcame a contentious legal battle to become its first and only woman governor.
现任议员曾试图将泰勒的名字从选票上划去，理由是依据伊斯莱塔法律，女性不能担任公职，但未能成功。泰勒以压倒性优势获胜。
Council incumbents attempted unsuccessfully to strike Teller’s name from the ballot, arguing a woman could not hold office under Isleta law. She won in a landslide.
现年70多岁的泰勒将父权制的持续归咎于殖民统治，她表示这种父权制依然存在于传统上实行母系氏族制的普韦布洛社区中。
Now in her 70s, Teller blames colonization for the patriarchy that she says persists in traditionally matrilineal Pueblo communities.
“当西班牙人和天主教徒来到这里时，他们不想与氏族母亲打交道。他们把女性推到了后排，”泰勒说。“这演变成了男性必须掌权的这种家长式态度。”并非每个普韦布洛都如此。在波哈克普韦布洛，委员会职位向所有人开放，候选人无需被提名，自2021年以来，四个行政职位均由女性担任。
“When the Spaniards and the Catholics came here, they didn’t want to deal with the clan mothers. They threw women in the back seat,” Teller said. “That has turned into this paternalistic attitude that men have to be in charge.”That’s not the case at every pueblo. At Pojoaque Pueblo, where council positions are open to all and candidates don’t need to be nominated, women have held all four executive positions since 2021.
哈兰德是普韦布洛女性在主流政治中取得成功的一波浪潮中最知名的人物，从校董会到州政府再到美国国会。她鼓励普韦布洛女性超越家乡社区寻找机会。“我们需要更多原住民女性无处不在，”她告诉美联社。
Haaland is the most prominent among a wave of Pueblo women who have found success in mainstream politics, from school boards to state government and U.S. Congress . She encouraged Pueblo women to look beyond their home communities for opportunities. “We need more Native women everywhere,” she told The AP.
萨拉西诺并未排除未来竞选普韦布洛委员会的可能性，在参加了哈兰德的选举之夜庆祝活动后，她现在看到了在州政治中发展的潜在路径。
Sarracino has not ruled out a future pueblo council run and, after attending Haaland’s election night celebration, now sees a potential path in state politics.
在节庆日，随着亲友陆续到访，家里热闹起来，萨拉西诺拥抱迎接亲朋好友，为他们续满冰茶，后来又确保他们带着烤箱烤制的面包和水果派回家。
On Feast Day, as her family home sprang to life with visitors, Sarracino greeted friends and relatives with hugs, refilled their iced teas and later made sure they went home with oven bread and fruit pie.
她满怀自豪地看着侄女们咯咯笑着吃着玉米卷，她们的手因清晨的舞蹈仪式而沾满白色的陶土。她正在为下一步行动做计划，心中装着这些女孩。
She watched with pride as her nieces giggled over plates of enchiladas, their hands white with ceremonial clay from the morning’s dances. She is planning her next move with those girls in mind.
“这就是我不能就此罢休的原因，”她说。“因为我知道她们正跟在我身后成长。” 本文通过美联社全球原住民报道网络发布。
“That’s the reason I couldn’t just let it go,” she said. “Because I know they’re coming up behind me.”This story is published through the Global Indigenous Reporting Network at The Associated Press.