Antonio “Ike” DeVargas-Norteño Warrior

Antonio “Ike” DeVargas-Norteño Warrior is the political profile of an activist whose life was dedicated to the pursuit of environmental and social justice in northern New Mexico, a distinct regional community that has long struggled for economic viability and autonomy. A colorful man with a head of premature white curls and blue eyes, born and bred in a traditional Hispano village, Ike, as everyone knew him, came of age during the Vietnam War where he witnessed firsthand American imperialism against a developing nation. Once home, he recognized that the same forces were at work against the Hispano and Native American communities in “el norte,” under the rule of a despotic Rio Arriba County official. As a founding member of La Raza Unida Party he learned the organizing skills that would help topple a despot and prepare him for future battles: logging wars that pitted communities against corporate timber companies, the US Forest Service, and urban environmentalists; corruption and malfeasance by future county political machines; and tragedies within the criminal justice system. He was a man whose grounding in the cultural traditions of Hispano resiliency and resistance to the dominant paradigm prepared him for a life that left a lasting legacy. His story is the larger story of northern New Mexico.