Stories From Hispano New Mexico

The fourth volume in the New Mexico Federal Writers' Project Book series records authentic accounts of life in the early days of New MexicoNdetailed descriptions of village life, battles with Indians, encounters with Billy the Kid, witchcraft, marriages, festivals, and floods.

Transforms New Mexico's colonial history into an engaging story of real people and the real events that shaped their lives.

"Let Abe Pena transport you to a Hispanic New Mexico village. There in San Mateo and in the nearby town of Grants, he introduces us to relatives and friends from his youth on his family's sheep ranch. His stories of their lives and experiences between the 1920s and the 1950s speak to such universal themes as coming of age, striking out on one's own, and joining family and neighbors to celebrate good times and to aid them in overcoming hardships."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The New Mexico difference -- The roots of dependence -- The mystique of the village -- Assault on Arcadia -- The New Mexico, Mexico, new deal connection -- Federal relief comes to New Mexico -- Implementing the cultural agenda -- Restoring village lands -- The final years and later -- Reprise.

Nancy Hunter Warren trained her camera on scenes rarely witnessed by outsiders-a Penitente service, the blessing of a ditch, feast days, religious processions, the interiors of houses and village churches. Her photographs, taken between 1973 and 1985, preserve a valuable record of rapidly vanishing traditions in the remote Hispanic villages of New Mexico.

After Santa Fe was founded in 1610, the Hispano people were restless to expand their colony. They slowly pushed their borders to the north, establishing little villages along the Rio Grande and dozens of its tributaries. Their progress was often interrupted, first by the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and later by fierce resistance from the native people whose territory they were invading. Nonetheless, over the centuries of Spanish and Mexican rule, their frontier plaza villages survived. During their long journey, these unique people retained a strong sense of their Spanish identity and tradition. Most remarkably, they also continued to speak a version of castellano, the sixteenth century language of Cervantes. Historians usually say that the outer boundary of the Hispano homeland was defined by the 1860s or 1870s. But the last of the Hispano homesteaders were not finished and continued to create new settlements in the final decades of the nineteenth century and even the early years of twentieth century. This is the never before told story of a few of these New Mexico Hispanos, among the last pioneers, who made their home along a little known river in the high mountain wilderness at the northern edge of New Mexico. And it was happening at just about the time that New Mexico became a state.

A comprehensive overview of New Mexican folk arts from the 16th century to the present time.

The "cuentos" or tales of this bilingual collection evoke the rich tradition of the early Spanish settlers and their descendants, relating the magic and events of everyday life in Colorado and the Hispanic villages of New Mexico.

New Mexico's Spanish legacy has informed the cultural traditions of one of the last states to join the union for more than four hundred years, or before the alluring capital of Santa Fe was founded in 1610. The fame the region gained from artist Georgia O'Keefe, writers Lew Wallace and D.H. Lawrence and pistolero Billy the Kid has made New Mexico an international tourist destination. But the Spanish annals also have enriched the Land of Enchantment with the factual stories of a superhero knight, the greatest queen in history, a saintly gent whose coffin periodically rises from the depths of the earth and a mysterious ancient map. Join author Ray John de Aragón as he reveals hidden treasure full of suspense and intrigue.