The surname Jojola began to appear in Catholic sacramental records and Spanish and Mexican censuses in the early 1700s. Erroneously many believe that the Mormon Church keep such records. The LDS “Mormon” church acquired permission from the Catholic churches to microfilm the church registries. These microfilms are available at any local Mormon church. Catholic churches usually keep these books in the church office or deposit them in the Archdioceses office archives.
All of the early Jojola people are found in the Isleta Pueblo, New Mexico (Tigua Tribe) and the surrounding mestizo (half Spanish and Indian) villages of Belén, Tomé and Los Lentes. The name is most likely of Tiqua origin. It was told to me that the word means sesame seed. But this would have to be verified by speaking to an elder who knows the Tiqua language. In the 1800s an individual or couple of the Pueblo /Genizaro Jojola families migrated south to Socorro, N.M. and intermarried with the rest of the mestizo New Mexicans. This is what formed the now Hispanic branch of the Jojola family. They have lost superficial cultural identity to the Isleta Indian culture. The Jojola family that stayed in Isleta maintained a Tigua Indian (although Hispano and Mexicanized) identity.
For more on the Jojola surname see Fray Angelico Chávez, Origins of New Mexico Families p.204. Also see and article by Margaret Buxton, “Jojola: An Indian Ancestry.” Herencia, Journal of the Hispanic Genealogical Research Center., Vol.6 Issue 4, 1998, p.27. Their web site is
http://www.hgrc-nm.org/ Samuel Sisneros
May 30, 2001