New Mexico Books

Practical Spoken Spanish by F.M. Kercheville is exactly what it purports to be: practical. Professor Kercheville, like Mario Pei, Robert Hall and others of his generation, were part of a movement towards teaching the common everyday language rather than starting from a lofty, literary approach.
Instead of discussing sunsets or philosophical questions, you dive right in with the things you need to know most: small talk, ordering food, the weather, where is the restroom?
Also, you learn basic communication before irregular verbs and exceptions to the exceptions, etc.
Despite having been published more than four decades ago, this book remains very practical and very useful for self-study or an adult education group. It is gratifying to see that this classic work is still in print. Kudos to the University of New Mexico Press.

Dr. Stuart has mastered the art of bringing ancient times to life. He details the beauty and splendor of the area in an extraordinary fashion. I recommend this book!

William J. Buchanan writes impressively about racism, misuse of political power, and the white supremacy bigots who seek and hold high offices, then use the office against US citizens and other citizens of the world. His title is honest, because he clearly indicates that much of the present day politicking involves people with special agenda.

Fascinating book by Forrest on a special place at a special time in southwestern history. Very well researched. Very well written. Wonderful foreword by acclaimed New Mexican writer, conservationist, and historian deBuys. A delight all around.

The regions included in this beautifully-produced book include: New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, North and South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming. This comprises a vast and varied section of the country with remarkably diverse geography. Elaine Freed has covered a vast amount of territory to present this lively and well-illustrated study of the architecture and the preservation history of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain West. She has worked extensively on preservation projects in Colorado, Arizona and the Midwest and is now at Colorado College.

A project of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Large paperback, over 400 pages.

PsyEarth Quest is a workable blueprint for a future society based in peace and built by technology. Anyone who liked Celestine Prophecy will enjoy this phenomenal book. It's one of the best visionary fiction novels I've come across. FYI: "The Touchstone," "Queen of the Sun" and "A Fall to Grace" are a few others.

Many credit William Lumpkins with starting the adobe and pueblo revival movments. His designs are inspired. Lumpkins went back to the cliff dwellings and ancient pueblos looking for organic shapes and forms. His rooms seldom have square corners. Hornos, bancos and nichos (beehive fireplaces, bench seats and wall recesses)abound. There are living and dining rooms modeled after kivas, subterranean ceremonial chambers. Library and bedroom might be found in a three-story tower. Ceilings are made of vigas overset with latillas in herringbone pattern. Doors are carved. The roof-line is never even having an organic look like a range of mountains.

A word of caution. These work best in adobe and similar materials. The designs were laid down in the 1960s and before. Bathrooms and closets are tiny. Utility rooms are nonexistant. Each design needs some reworking to be useful today. They are not inexpensive homes to build. They are spectacular.

Ms. Keegan does an excellent job of showing the rest of American how one contemporary Pueblo family lives. The photos show how both the everyday, modern lifestyle and the tradition "old ways" fit comfortably together. The Roybal girls' story is told with respect to their family and their culture. As a librarian and as a member of one of the Pueblo tribes of New Mexico, I appreciate being able to find such fine examples of Indians and their lives in modern America. The photos are beautiful and bring to life the world of Sonja and Desiree, as well the Pueblo of San Ildefonso. It is a book I would definitely recommend for anyone interested in learning more about American Indians and our place in contemporary America.

Throughout the 1600s settlers from central Mexico migrated north into today's New Mexico, settling along the Rio Grande where the Pueblo Indians had long resided. With them came Franciscan friars whose chief goal was to convert the Pueblos to Christianity and establish missions. Two main practices leveled against the Indians that fostered resentment and eventual rebellion was the encomienda (forcing the Indians to pay tribute to the Spaniards, usually in maize or manual labor) and the friars' insistence on the Indians abandoning totally their native religious ceremonies (the kiva, for instance) and adopting Christian ways. Abuses developed in both practices until a unified uprising among the Indians against the settlers occurred in 1680, where hundreds of colonists and over 20 friars were killed, and thereby emptying the province of all Spanish settlers. Property and churches were destroyed by the Indians, and for 12 years the Pueblos were free from Spanish rule, even presence.

In 1692, however, under the leadership of Diego de Vargas, the Spaniards returned, and over the next few years, using mainly diplomacy but also arms when necessary, re-established their authority. Churches and missions were rebuilt and Santa Fe (pretty much in ruins) was forcefully retaken from the Indians. Many of the Indians were still resentful, of course, and by 1696 another revolt was in the making. As time went on, the Friars became very much aware of this imminent rebellion and wrote letters to Vargas pleading for better military security and warning him of the dangers that were brewing. This book collects a number of those letters, and to read them is to feel the despair felt by the friars; some prepared themselves for martyrdom. Open rebellion erupted in June 1696 (some of the atrocities suffered by the friars are revealed in further letters collected here), but swift action by Vargas and a less-than-unified Indian action ended the revolt by late summer, with Spanish control assured.

The book consists of a long and very useful historical introduction about life along the northern Rio Grande up to 1700, and sections of letters written mostly by the friars and missionaries concerning the re-establishment of the missions after 1692, the warnings and pleas to Vargas, and then first-hand accounts of the revolt of 1696 itself. Most of the letters and documents come from archival repositories in Mexico City and Spain. It's a fascinating account and the immediacy of the dangers felt by the writers, even to the point of assuming their own deaths as they performed their sacred duties, packs quite an emotional wallop. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the Spanish-Indian relationship in early New Mexico.

This book is an excellent study of Santo Domingo pottery with over a thousand examples of designs and motifs, most in black and white with some in black, white and dark red. There is also a map of the 18 river pueblos and a brief history of Native American pottery in New Mexico. It was originally published in 1953 as "The Pottery of Santo Domingo Pueblo : A Detailed Study of It's Decoration" by the Laboratory of Anthropology in Santa Fe. I bought it thinking it was a survey of all pueblo pottery designs (which the title would lead you to believe) but it's only focus is Santo Domingo.