New Mexico Books

ellen zieselman is a brilliant writer. a magical piece. i hope she goes on to write others.

I purchased this book for my 6 year old after he expressed a sudden interest in marionettes. He is not yet reading fluently, but sits eagerly by my side nightly as we read through this beautiful book together. He has learned much about the marionettes of Gustave Baumann. The photographs provide high visual interest, and the text with marionettes doing the 'speaking' is quite appealing to young children.

This is a delightful representation of the artist and his work, beautifully and clearly written and magically photographed. It will make an enthusiast of the casual observer!

Patients in the hospital at Sells, Arizona, are away from what they're used to drink and eat. So they're served traditional foods. Respecting the traditional link to nature and people keeps up physical and spiritual strength. In contrast, in the 19th century, Zuni boys and girls were sent to Carlyle, Pennsylvania. They didn't feel part of a community or nature. They'd felt both in the southwest. They never made it back home. They died from loneliness.

In the southwest, life has always been about getting along with nature and people. One traditional way that southwestern cultures do this is through dance. Music sounds within the dancer. That energy joins the dancer to all creation. So the dancer becomes linked with human energy, such as ancestors and future generations.

The dancer also links to natural energy, such as rain clouds. This is why the Hopi rain dance brings rain. In fact, the Hopi say that their corn, grown unirrigated, and their way of life, in harmony with nature and people, will save the world. The Apache also got through war, reservation poverty, depression and censorship by drawing energy from community, nature, and prayers.

It should be no surprise, then, that a southwestern work of art has a link and use too. Pottery stands for the sacred earth bowl. Traditional designs keep the tie strong between past, present and future generations.

HERE, NOW, & ALWAYS comes out of an exhibition at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Along with artworks, such as beautifully useful basketry, pottery and weavings, there are also audios, videos and writings of southwesterners on ancestors, community, cycles of nature and people, and survival.

Southwesterners believe they didn't come from somewhere else. They've always been here first, right from the start, along the Colorado, Gila, Rio Grande, Salt and San Juan rivers. They'll also be the last. For example, the Hopi believe that the life of their people began at the Grand Canyon. That also will be their final spiritual home.

Les malades dans l'hopital de Sells, dans l'etat d'Arizona, prennent de la cuisine traditionnelle du sud-ouest. Se guerit-on lorsqu'on se sent lie avec le culture et la terre maternaux? En fait, les danses qui se font pendant la scheresse se servent de l'energie de la creation liee, depuis les danseurs, jusqu'aux ancestres, aux descendants et a l'univers entier. Les arts du sud-ouest, eux aussi, se font, pour lier le passe, le moment actuel et l'avenir du culture, du peuple et de l'univers. Ainsi sont-ils beaux et serviables, tels que de la poterie, du tissage, et de la vannerie. A vrai dire, les peaux-rouges se croient originaires des terres tout autour des rivieres Colorado, Gila, Rio Grande, Salt et San Juan, les destinations finales de tous leurs esprits lies aussi.

"I am here.
I am here, now.
I have been here, always."

Edmund J. Ladd (Zuni).

In 1989, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, NM, began to put together a project designed to present Native American culture, traditions, and contemporary life from an Indian point of view: not looking in from the outside but looking out from the inside, not analyzing in the way of anthropologists but giving its Indian contributors themselves a place to raise their manifold voices. The process thus begun resulted in a fascinating permanent exhibition presenting all aspects of Native American life from its historic origins to modernity, from arts and crafts to farming and hunting, and from the sacred to the secular (if that distinction applies at all, for there is a profoundly spiritual element to every single act performed over the course of the day). Endowed with a multitude of exhibits - many of them of priceless value - and using traditional displays as well as a multimedia approach combining various audiovisual tools, from its inception the exhibition rested on one inimitable centerpiece: the multi-timbred choir of the First People's very own voices.

Bearing the same title as the exhibition and illustrated by numerous photos, "Here, Now, and Always" provides an additional forum for these voices and sends them out into the world at large. "Listen carefully. Let the stories carry you to the center created by each Native community. Here, at the intersection of sky and earth, you will find the Southwest's people," the museum's former archeology curator, Sarah Schlanger, is quoted at the end of the introductory text to the book's first part, "Ancestors." And thus, the book's Dine (Navajo), Hopi, Zuni, Apache, Tohono O'odham (Pima) and manifold Pueblo contributors become messengers of their respective peoples; talking about Earth Mother, Sun Father, Changing Woman, Spider Woman and Spider Man, Salt Woman, the Great Spirit, the formation of the first clans and their wanderings, the sacred places marking their world and the meaning of home and community, the interrelation of the elements and man's interaction with them, the significance of clay, salt, corn, and tobacco, of minerals and precious stones, and of farming and hunting, the cycles of life, time, and the seasons, the importance of language, oral tradition, and sacred ceremonies in cultural preservation, and obstacles overcome and new challenges arising.

"Each mountain carries precious knowledge. Each is symbolized by certain birds, insects, trees, plants, songs, and prayers. Try to remember this when you think you might want to bulldoze these mountains. Let the sacred remain," warns Gloria Emerson (Dine) in the chapter entitled "Elements." Anthony Dorame (Tesuque Pueblo) explains about cycles that they are "circles that travel in straight lines." In the chapter on agriculture he recounts how his people revived their already-forgotten life as farmers, and wonders, "Today, we again hear the musical thump of a watermelon being split open in the field. Will we forget again what we now remember?" and later on, he adds that "[w]hen the branch is broken, the twig cannot survive. Without our language and without our ways, you cannot survive as a people." Similarly, recalling the young Zunis shipped off to Pennsylvania in the 1800s, all of whom died from loneliness after having been cut off from their cultural roots, Edmund J. Ladd (Zuni) - whose words also provided the project's title - reflects that these days, it is his people's language that is dying from loneliness. In the chapter entitled "Arts," Michael Lacapa (Apache/Hopi/Tewa) adds that the word "art" does not exist in his language at all, and muses, "We make pieces of life to see, touch, and feel. Shall we call it 'art'? I hope not. It may lose its soul. It is life. It is people." And in talking about a mid-20th century professor's prediction that traditional Indian life would vanish within a matter of years due to the spread of a cash economy, federal relocation policies, and WWII veterans' reluctance to return to their prewar lifestyle, Dave Warren (Santa Clara Pueblo) points out that like the footprints and handholds left behind by their ancestors in the southwestern canyons, cliffs, and plateaus, "tradition is deeply etched into our very being. ... [W]e are of these spaces, places, and times. We leave our footprints for another generation; we leave our handholds to steady their journey."

Bringing together all these and many other voices, "Here, Now, and Always" pays tribute to the rich heritage of the Southwest's Native people, and builds a unique bridge to a way of life, traditions, and beliefs sidelined and on the brink of extinction practically from the moment the first white man set down his conqueror's foot in the region, although these very traditions had survived in (largely) peaceful coexistence for centuries before. A slim volume of less than 100 pages, the book is nevertheless powerful testimony to the First People's resilience and ability to adapt to altered circumstances while maintaining the core of their cultural values. As such, it is highly recommended reading - and hopefully, also an incentive to one day go and see the exhibition from which it originates.

"Together we traveled,
in search of the center place.
In numbers we grew.
The center place had not been found.
The gods divided the people.
Some traveled north,
to the land of winter.
Some traveled south,
to the land of summer.
We are the people."

Edmund J. Ladd (Zuni).

Also recommended:
The Native Peoples of North America: A History
The Native Americans: An Illustrated History
Southwestern Indians: Arts & Crafts - Tribes - Ceremonials
Native North American Art (Oxford History of Art)
Four Corners: History, Land, and People of the Desert Southwest
The New Encyclopedia of the American West

Frank Weissburth captures the heart and soul of New Mexico and the beauty of small mountain rivers in an elegant set of essays that both document and illuminate fishing for rare trout in small waters. His writing is a love letter to places both special and beautiful. Woven in the essays on these small fragile waters are meditations on children, friends, dogs, old but trustworthy (to a point) cars, learning to fish and learning to care. He illuminates with thoughts about his growth in concern for the the streams and the mountains and the world beyond both of them.

A well written book about fishing small streams in the southwest, the joys of solitude - in short, a life with quality fishing as one if its foci. Recommended for those with a bent toward fine writing about sport...............

This is a wonderful book. It is a lyrically written expression of Mr. Weissbarth's keen and experienced observations of the beauty and wonders of Northern New Mexico's mountain streams and the trout that inhabit them, as well as a statement of the deep connection between himself and this unique environment. His respect and reverence are apparent. I have read many of John
Gerach's fine essays on fly fishing, rivers, and life. I have read Howell Raines' Fly Fishing Through Mid-Life Crisis. Holy Ghost Creek stands with these works.

This is an excellent novel that was very well researched. The author knows his history and apparently thought this one through before putting pen to paper. Highly recommended!!

This novel is very well researched. It covers the early Spanish settlements in Mexico and New Mexicao from 1540-1680, and is the story of a fictional family based on the author's own ancestors. The writing is formal and somewhat stiff, but many times you can't put it down. And I learned a lot.

Jacona is the story of the Mestas family's experiences and love for New Mexico, especially Jacona, in the early years of Spanish exploration and colonization of the new world. Jacona has everything: adventure, hardship, battles, romance, family, politics and religion - a well rounded view of Spanish life and customs in the harsh but beautiful terrain of New Mexico. Growing up in Jacona myself, I was deeply touched by the story which brought to life a bit of my history and reinforced my opinion that Jacona is and always has been one of the most beautiful and enchanting places on earth.

History, a great story and an authentic historical craft! Not only that, but just the right size for girl-sized hands. A+++++++ Cannot be beat!

This is another one of the American Girls Short Stories series about Josefina Montoya, a nine-year-old girl living in the New Mexico of 1824. In this book, when Josefina and her father journey up to the mountains to visit one of the rancho's shepherds and his grandson, they discover a recent illness has left him blind. In spite of Josefina's pleading, her father decides to retire the shepherd. But, on their way home, Josefina and her father are caught in a sudden storm, and he is injured. Can Josefina save the day?

The final chapter of this book looks at shepherding in 1824, and gives directions for making a mini rug (it looks quite fun and easy, and my daughter and I are going to make one). As always, Jean-Paul Tibbles has produced some excellent illustrations that add a great deal to this already excellent book. My daughter and I both highly enjoyed this book, and we recommend it to you.

"Josefina's Song" is the third Josefina short story that was published, but it is set just before the book "Josefina Saves the Day". In "Josefina's Song", Josefina is allowed to join her Papa on a trip to the local mountains. They are going to visit the shepherd and his son who spend most of the year with the herd of sheep on the more abundant grazing land found in the mountains. When they arrive at their camp, they realize that the shepherd has become blind from a fever, and his nine year old son watches the sheep. Even though the shepherd proves himself capable around the camp, Papa is still worried for his safety. Papa offers to house them comfortably in town, but Josefina boldly speaks up for them, jeopardizing her own trip to Santa Fe that same summer. On their way home, a summer storm hits and Papa is injured when his frightened horse rears at lightning and bolts. Brave Josefina leads her Papa on her own horse back to the shepards camp, until men from home discover the runaway horse and rescue them in the morning. During the night, Josefina sings in her beautiful voice to the shepherd's flute playing. When she runs out of songs she knows, she sings her feelings about her journey, her outspokenness, the storm, Papa's accident and about the care the shepherd gives them. The next day, the abilities of the shepherd and his son are re-evaluated.

Great job papi, and a great read!
love, your daughter,
Julia

John Nichols is always a joy to read. He is the John Stenbeck of our time. No one combines art and social views so beautifully as he does.

My grandmother gave this beautiful book to me for Christmas the year it was published. (I believe it was 1980 or 1981). I feel madly in love and am still madly in love today. I re-read this book every year in October, it has become a most beloved ritual. I took a chance in early 1992 and wrote to John Nichols and was I ever surprised! He wrote me back. I have two copies and now that they have a new edition, I plan on buying it too! I have a hard back signed copy that I treasure and I know it is authentic because the signature is exactly the way he signed his letter to me. Read this book and plan to be thoroughly enchanted. I was and still am after almost 20 years.

Last night I had a dream. It was about this unpublished book. I read it there and it was wonderfull

When I read this book, Simon Ortiz's voice came from the pages. Simon Ortiz writes like he speaks and his stories are rich and beautiful. As a student of his I have had the unique opportunity of hearing many of these stories orally, but they have not lost their beauty and depth being written down. If you like this book, check out Simon Ortiz's poetry. You won't be disappointed.

Mr. Simon J. Ortiz's work, "Men On The Moon", is a collection of three earlier groups of his short stories. The tales are not just of contemporary Native American life but also of their History, and specifically their History with the, "Mericano".

The History of Native Americans cannot be written without the experience of loss, displacement, internment, and racism to mention just a few. The Native Americans are one of the Genocides that this Country is responsible for, and even though we who made read this History took no part in the atrocities, we also are the only ones who can make amends. Those responsible, the dead, are not terribly productive.

These stories are not complaints nor are they a cry for pity. They are each brief statements of fact that no matter how tragic maintain a sense of hope. Justice, fairness, acknowledgement of the crimes committed against them are perhaps some of the redress they illustrate/seek.

The book is not grim; it is full of irony, sardonic moments, and even humor. The short story that is also the title for the book is wonderful. An elderly man muses about the first information he sees on viewing his first TV. A series of questions follow with answers from a younger family member. If NASA had to answer these questions as put forward by this wise old sage, the groping for answers would be amusing, and the space program would be doubtful. I don't believe the Author was actually questioning the merits of the space program, rather illustrating how easily things may happen despite failing the most basic of queries.

There are stories of heroic service for the United States during her wars, and too there is a story of one man that went to prison rather than serve. I mention these as I found this book very balanced. This is not one Native American's list of complaints, rather a reasoned and balanced view of their History and what that History has wrought.

The book is great reading that communicates its message in an informal conversational way consistent with Native American Culture. It loses nothing to the extent its format is not structured in the traditional manner of, "scholarly", History. Nonetheless this man is a wonderful writer, a poet, role model, and eloquent representative for his people.

If you are interested in this subject it is a wonderful book, both for the photos, sketches and history.

this book let me understand a little bit more about this fenomena...
and is kind of rare to find this subject, but is incredible all this devotion
truh this little images.

This book gives a very thorough history of Milagros. It is also filled with a variety of different examples.

From Preface:

"This book has been written to accompany the traveling exhibition of paintings on pottery made by the ancient southwestern Native American culture we call the Mimbres and to present to a wider public a visual record of these remarkable works. The Mimbres painting tradition, which flourished for about 150 years, ended about 800 years ago and disappeared from human knowledge until late in the last century.

For many years after its rediscovery, Mimbres painting attracted little attention except among southwestern prehistorians. Some examples of the art entered public and private collections during the last half century, and a few have been included in virtually all major exhibitions of American Indian art organized since 1932. Nonetheless, exhibitions of Mimbres paintings outside university and anthropology museums have been rare, and this may well be the first one directed toward a public that is unfamiliar with ancient Southwest Indian art. Our intent, in both the exhibition and the book, has been to provide this new audience with the conceptual and historical contexts that make possible an informed interpretation of this exotic art.

We do not know what the Mimbres people called themselves. The name we give them is the Spanish word for 'willows' and refers to the trees that grow along the lovely stream in southwestern New Mexico that was the center of Mimbres territory. The Mimbres were one of many isolated farming groups of the ancient Southwest and their art, for all of its unique qualities, belongs to a much larger tradition shared by many peoples. The nature of Mimbres art and the similarities between the art and culture of the Mimbres and that of their neighbors provide the focus of this book.

An essential aspect of Mimbres painting, and one that is found nowhere else in its time and place, is its representational character. About 1/4 of existing Mimbres paintings -- almost 2,000 examples -- carry images of animals, humans, and objects which are often shown in narrative interaction. Because of the pictorial nature of Mimbres art we know more about the content and quality of the intellectual life of these peole than about any of their contemporary neighbors."

This is classic Mibres at its best. If you don't have this one in your library - WHY NOT?!

This book is hard to find in libraries but is an excellent resource. Excellent photographs of bowls and clear description of styles and meaning makes the book invaluable. We use it in our class.

This book is an excellent read. It provides great estimula for both mind and eyes. As I have lived and worked among poor Mayan peasants for many months, I have been suveying the market of books that describe the situation of the Maya of today. Who they are, how they live, how they think. This book shows you it all, without pretending to be an anthropological monograph.

The advantage of this book is that it does not try to submit its message to the reader in didactical terms. Instead, the photos and the accompanying essays elegantly unfold a series of descriptions, episodes and profound insights that together make it possible for the reader to grasp what Mayan life is like today, and how it evolved from the 1960's and 30 years ahead.

The "photo-essay" chosen by Everton as the form of presentation is a brilliant choice. Everton, author and photographer, lets the reader see a series of facets of Mayan everyday life from the point of view of individual Mayan friends of Everton. The solidarity and love with which Everton shows us scenes from Mayan everyday life do not undermine the books credibility. All general conclusions are based on individual examples. The care for precision in details and the interest taken in describing the common episodes and daily chores of Mayan peasant life make it possible for us to get close to Everton's friends. I have not come across any other book that equals Evertons work in this respect.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of the book is the way it reveals to the reader how the book came to be. Already the introductory chapters pose the problem, how we should think about the concept of Mayan culture. It discusses how Mayas are usually portrayed in the Western world, and it contemplates how this idea can be refined.

Some 20 Mayan peoples of today are the descendants of the ancient Mayas who built the famous pyramid temples. But we must consider that the Mayas have a present and a future as well as a past. Otherwise, we will not be able to understand the dynamics of contemporary Mayan life, says the book. In this respect, the ever changing Mayan culture is just like any other human culture in history.

Everton's photo essays form a persuading defense of the value of what he calls the "cultural diversity" of the world. Everton shows us that cultural diversity may be just as necessary for the survival of the human race as is the biological diversity found in our surroundings.

Everton profiles several Mayan families and follows their lives, in words and pictures, for twenty years. The results are compelling and the black and white photgraphy is stunning. He presents the changes that are taking place in their culture due to the demise of the hennequen and chicle industries and the rise of the tourism industry. The message is one of hope. The Maya have survived through thousands of years of change and they will continue to do so. Having met some of the people profiled in the book in person, I can tell you it is genuine in everyway. A must have for anyone interested in the Maya people and the survival of indigenous cultures!

This book is an excellent read. It provides great estimula for both mind and eyes. As I have lived and worked among poor Mayan peasants for many months, I have been suveying the market of books that describe the situation of the modern Maya of today. Who they are, how they live, how they think. This book shows you it all, without pretending to be an anthropological monograph.

The advantage of this book is that it does not try to submit its message to the reader in didactical terms. Instead, the photos and the accompanying essays elegantly unfold a series of descriptions, episodes and profound insights that together make it possible for the reader to grasp what Mayan life is like today, and how it evolved from the 1960's and 30 years ahead.

The "photo-essay" chosen by Everton as the form of presentation, is a brilliant choice. Everton, author and photographer, lets the reader see a series of facets of Mayan everyday life from the point of view of individual Mayan friends of Everton. The solidarity and love with which Everton shows us scenes from Mayan everyday life does not undermine the books credibility. All general conclusions are based on individual examples. The care for precision in details and the interest taken in describing the common episodes and daily chores of Mayan peasant life make it possible for us to get close to Everton's friends. I have not come across any other book that equals Evertons work in this respect.

Perhaps the greatest advantage of the book is the way it reveals to the reader how the book came to be. Already the ntroductory chapters pose the problem, how we should think about the concept of Mayan culture. It discusses how Mayas are usually portrayed in the Western world, and it contemplates how this idea can be refined.

Some 20 Mayan peoples of today are the descendants of the ancient Mayas who built the famous pyramid temples. But we must consider that the Mayas have a present and a future as well as a past. Otherwize, we will not be able to understand the dynamics of contemporary Mayan life, says the book. In this respect, the ever changing Mayan culture is just like any other human culture in history.

Everton's photo essays form a persuading defense of the value of what is called the "cultural diversity" of the world.