Family’s regalia stolen at Albuquerque hotel

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo dancer, Ashkia Trujillo, had his regalia stolen over the weekend.

Trujillo, a single father, had taken his two children to the Black Mesa powwow Saturday.

“When COVID started and everything, everything was put on hold. So we call it, being out of powwow shape,” Trujillo laughed.

Then, after a night of dancing, he discovered Sunday morning that his car had been broken into in the parking lot of the Howard Johnson in Albuquerque.

“They went and busted my window wide open,” he said.

Someone had crawled over the car seats, stolen his regalia and also taken the Minnie Mouse suitcase with his children’s regalia inside.

“It’s heartbreaking, honestly,” Trujillo said. “A lot of them were also priceless, because they were my grandfather’s feathers.”

Trujillo said his northern traditional style of dance is about telling stories and honoring the bravery of warriors. His grandfather was a WWII veteran, and his father was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.

“They were able to, you know, escape death,” Trujillo said. “Those are the stories that we tell when we dance.

Trujillo said he doesn’t have hate in his heart toward whoever did this.

“I just pray that whatever happens to my regalia and my children’s regalia that it goes to The Creator in a good way,” he said.

Trujillo’s truck was also completely disabled as someone tried to steal it. He’s just trying to find the regalia, so he’s been bringing fliers to pawn shops around the city.

To contact Trujillo, reach out to him via Facebook.