Christmas Time in Tierra Amarilla
Alfonso De Herrera-Ulibari reflects on Christmas traditions from his youth growing up in Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico.
Regalo: The Book of My Ancestors
As a small child about 7 years old I remember my grandmother Martha inheriting a beautiful old photo album shortly after the passing of her father Abe. I remember my grandmother bringing the album home, setting it on the table, dimming the kitchen light and stressing that we had to look through it quickly to preserve the photos. I remember asking my grandmother who the people in the photos were and her response, “old people,” followed by a chuckle, “they…
Nombrando La Muerte
As a consequence of the so-called Spanish Flu, in November and December of 1918, La Revista de Taos recorded the names of those who had died in villages throughout Taos County, including Arroyo Hondo, Arroyo Seco, Cañón, Chamisal, Taos, Ranchos, Talpa, Rio Pueblo, Llano de San Juan, Llano Largo/Santa Barbara, Córdovas, Picuris, Peñasco, Valle, Trampas, Questa, and Cerro.
Independence Day – Imagining the Nation, in Questa, New Mexico
Recently, I came across a couple of photos taken of a Independence Day Parade in my home village of Questa, from circa 1935, which led me to reflect about this commemoration. It is interesting to reflect on this celebration of Independence Day (4th of July) for a mountain village that had been settled by Mexican citizens after Mexican Independence and before the U.S.-Mexican War that resulted in the annexation of the northern portion of Mexico. Questa, which was actually founded…
RECONCILIATION
The IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) opened, Reconciliation. The exhibition responds to last year’s ending of “La Entrada” as part of the Santa Fe Fiestas and using artistic expression, adds to the ongoing dialogue of the astonishing complexity of being and belonging to this place we now call New Mexico.
Alabados – Voices of Spirit
Today, on this highest of holy days to Catholics, I recall the deeply resonant sounds of the ancient spiritual hymns known as alabados. Recognizing the value and importance of recording these spiritual praises and other musical and religious traditions, folklorist and linguist Dr. Juan B. Rael returned home in the summer of 1940 and recorded the voices of fifteen men and four women from villages in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, including these deeply spiritual hymns. Listening to the alabados in moradas,…
The Moon Rises Over Hernandez Again and Again
One of the most famous and most sought after photographs in American fine-art photography is called “Moonrise, Hernandez, NM” shot by Ansel Adams in 1941. I first encountered this photograph as capital “A” art in my university art history course. I was taught to appreciate this photo from an objective perspective, to memorize all manners of facts about its medium and technique. It is silver gelatin print that stands the testament of time for many reasons, but particularly in terms…
Yearbooks- Reflections of a Community’s Youth
There is something deeply intimate about yearbooks. Filled with professions of eternal love and friendship, inside jokes and the youthful signatures of our classmates, each copy is an intense snapshot of a very particular time and and a very particular place. But, what each year’s edition has in common, beneath the personalized messages from ones friends and classmates, is a record of community.
‘Dando Los Dias’ – Greeting the New Year with Poetry and Song
In the spirt of a history that forms an arc from ancient troubadours to modern day slam poets, in my own natal villages of Amalia, Costilla, Cerro and Questa, one of the most beautiful traditions is that of ‘Dando Los Dias,’ which I translate to ‘gifting the blessing upon the day — the day of days.’ In this tradition, musicians and poets travel from home to hom serenading families. They begin striking up the music at the thresholds of each…
LOS ABUELOS – Keepers of Culture
Abuelo and abuela are words that reflects the gift of our elders, our grandfathers and grandmothers. The word comes from the Latin, “avus,” grandfather, which comes from the Hebrew “abba,” which meant father and also God, which also evolved into or from the Arabic, “abu” little father (linguists have not fully agreed). One of my dear friends who grew up speaking Arabic described this word “abu” to me, as those individuals who are “the keepers of culture.” It is this…