It’s been just over 13 months since Valentino “Tzigiwhaeno” Rivera, age 8, known as “Lightning Boy” walked on, and in that time, Valentino’s Father and Former Pojoaque Governor George Rivera, an Institute of American Indian Arts and California College of the Arts trained sculptor and painter, has created three major works —a monument, a painting, and a sculpture as a loving tribute to his son.

Cut with diamond-bladed chainsaws and polished with waterfed air sanders, it took Former Governor George Rivera six months to draw the template and oversee the creation of a granite monument that he says “brings permanence to Tino’s life.”

The granite monument, which includes classic pueblo kiva steps that symbolize the clouds and a heart carved out of the stone, is atop a hill overlooking the Pojoaque valley, just yards from the front door of the family’s home.

“We decided not to place it at the gravesite, but at home, because that’s what we desire—to keep him as close to us as we can,” Rivera said.

“I didn’t want its shape to appear too mechanical; I was not looking for a super-geometric form, “ he said. “The steps are often seen on our kivas and churches and on the tablitas in the headdresses worn by pueblo women.”

He says the large heart was cut out to reveal the vast northern New Mexico sky.

“I was thinking about a portal, about our life here, and his spirit. We believe that spirits go upward, and we look for him and feel his energy in the sky. At sunset we just feel closer to him and when there’s lightning we cry, ‘There’s Valentino!”

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