e are closing in on the first year of my work as president of the Society. It has been a rewarding tour of duty raising over $14,000 in contributions in the first eight months of our fund raising efforts. We have offered a different program or workshop each month, attracted 35 new members and have begun to document the lives of descendants of early pioneer families. We have held our first Shabbat Symposium in Southern New Mexico (Carlsbad). We have initiated the reorganization of our archives allowing internet access to a collection-level description. We have launched an endowment fund for the first time in our history, hired an administrator to take care of the daily business of our organization and have installed a toll free number for ease of communication all over the country.
      Our 12th Annual Conference in November 1999 was a success. We opened up new possibilities to do academic research on the relationship between Jewish pioneers and Native Americans. We learned about the interesting work now going on at the Walking Stick Foundation under the direction of Rabbi Gershon Winkler, and we were exposed to new information about a variety of interactions our members have had with the Native American community. For those of you who could not come to the conference, we have video tapes available for your viewing. Please contact our administrator, Rebecca Benard, if you want to arrange to view the conference tapes.
      We are, as always, looking for volunteers to help the Society do its work. We suffer from a syndrome called TFPDTMW (too few people doing too much work) and your help would be FABULOUS. Please come to our Annual Membership meeting on April 16th in Santa Fe, and let us know what you would like to do. We want to organize committees which will help make the Society grow in an intelligent way. As always, we say thank you to those of you who include the Society as a priority in your life.

A. David Scholder

Saul Cohen Explores New Mexico Literature

Nordhaus Documents Land
Claims of Jicarilla Apache

n January 30, 2000, our Society, together with the St John's College Library and Fine Arts Guild, sponsored a lecture by prominent Santa Fe attorney, Saul Cohen. Saul is a well-known bibliophile and an expert on many areas of New Mexico arts and letters. For the first time, the issue of Jewish identity in New Mexico literature was explored in depth.
      As Saul Cohen said in a recent interview, "Jews are an introspective people. They have tended to be conscious of themselves, their culture, their history and their ëpeoplehoodí. Books and essays have been written about Jews in sports, Jews in science, and Jews in business. It is also true that there is research available regarding Jews in English literature, French literature and American literature. But the role of Jews in the literature of New Mexico has not been previously explored."
      The following list of books was suggested as reference material for those interested in reading more about Jewish references in New Mexico literature: