Experiencing the Southwest
June 22nd, 2006The titles featured in this installment all have something in common: a deep, endless passion for those sometimes intangible things Southwest. They touch on the spiritual, the religious, the natural, the unexplainable, the humorous, and always the undercurrent of beauty to be found and experienced here as no where else. These works of art all deserve to be read by those who understand or want to know the majestic silence of place.
It is always a delight to open a Children’s Book Press package because of the colors and characters you know are going to greet you. Kiki’s Journey did not fail to delight with its wonderful blues and oranges and depiction of the natural world all just on the cover. Inside, the blue end papers are fun and full of promise leading to a story about Kiki, a native American descendant who lives in Los Angeles and knows and feels little of her heritage. Kiki and her family make a journey to New Mexico and discover what true home and family and heritage is—something we all long for. The book takes us all back as if we belong here, and, in fact, we do. This is a wonderful story that all children should read or have read to them.
Come Sundown by Mike Blakely is the continuing story of Honore Greenwood, a “reluctant hero” but a man well-suited for the job. While the story is a fascinating one in which the hero joins the New Mexico Volunteers in the Civil War and gets placed alongside a long-standing nemesis, leaves his bride, rides with Kit Carson, gets attacked by the cavalry, the way in which it is told will delight the western reader. From the prologue Mike Blakely pulls the reader into a warmth of atmosphere and an air of storytelling. And then, he begins the gripping tale. Honore finds himself having to choose between two lives and allegiances.
The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion is written by five-time Spur Award Winner Loren D. Estleman. It is a wonderful idea for a story: a traveling old west theatre troupe who also may possibly be robbing banks while on tour. This is a fun book with a fun premise and is told is a fun way. Set in 1873 and filled with the most renown and classic of plays, the story is set up for a most wonderful experience of the old west. It delivers in comedy, story, and character. It makes you want to be there and join in the fun.
Fine Indian Jewelry of the Southwest: The Millicent Rogers Museum Collection by Shelby J. Tisdale is a remarkable collection and loving tribute of handcrafted wonder and beauty, intelligently compiled in this photographic and memorable table book. With striking color-coordinated pictures of silver, turquoise, and black, the jewelry’s setting gives it the perfect opportunity to be seen in detail and loved as it was by its collector. The inspiration behind the work is just as beautiful as the jewelry it contains: Millicent Huttleston Rogers and her love of life, creativity, and learning. The heart of this book belongs in every lover of the Southwest’s home.
The preface of Classic Hopi and Zuni Kachina Figures with text by Barton Wright and photographs by Andrea Portago begins by giving the many famous artists who collected kachinas beginning with Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keeffe, Max Ernst, Andre Breton, Marcel Duchamp, Andre Malraux, among a list of others. This alone probably testaments to this art form’s unique personalities and cache for inspiration. The kachinas chosen to be represented here were all carved prior to 1940 because according to photographer Andrea Portago, “the old-style carvers imparted not only beauty to their handiwork, but also through their artistry spoke of their culture and illustrated a sense of the inherent pride, dignity, humor, and distinct individual character of each kachina” (x). The book does indeed try to capture what it sees in the kachina: “the spiritual in art.” Each individual kachina portrayed in the book has a distinct personality, something to come to know in each one. Interspersed with portraits of place in the Southwest, these (now) museum residents are reunited in the powerful surroundings that created, loved, and were inspired by them.
When I Was a Horse is a brilliant, insightful, and often humorous collection of short stories by Brianda Domecq translated to English by Kay S. Garcia. Domecq speaks of freedom in many forms. Her own life was transformed by this search (and demand) for freedom, and her stories emit this passion for the ultimate life of freedom. In an interview quoted in the introduction, Domecq states, “We are beginning to acquire the habit of freedom: external freedom to move in the world, internal freedom to know ourselves and to reveal ourselves as we are, the freedom to live in service to ourselves and not in service to others” (1). Each story is a unique adventure into this quest. For any human who longs for absolute personal freedom these words and experiences are not to be missed.
Latinos and the New Immigrant Church is a study of what some consider to be an overarching “Latino experience” which author David A. Badillo seeks to dispel. In taking a closer look at Catholicism, city life, and ethnicity, Badillo shows the depth and complexity of Latino urban culture. He also challenges the common belief that Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cuban Americans share in one experience. This study also delves into the deep issue of formal Catholicism versus the personal spiritual experience. Badillo traces the history, effects, influence, and most importantly, the lives lived in the milieu of this far-reaching religion.
If one visits or lives in the Southwest, one will probably discover or come to know the intense cultural and spiritual devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Sitting next to a strongly patriarchal culture, it is hard to imagine that this devotion survived, let alone has thrived and kept its beauty, intensity, and wonder. Timothy Matovina examines this wonder in his study Guadalupe and Her Faithful centered in San Antonio’s San Fernando Cathedral. It is both history and personal experience. Matovina worships alongside the faithful, sometimes interviewing them, other times merely witnessing the struggle to keep her power alive. To understand the spiritual and cultural personality of the Southwest, one should come to know Our Lady of Guadalupe. This study is the perfect place to be shown the inside world in her honor.
Crossing into Medicine Country: A Journey in Native American Healing tells of author David Carson’s adventure and experience with Choctaw medicine woman Mary Gardener. In his desire to understand and harness the healing properties of the natural world, Carson comes to know this extraordinary woman and the spirit of living in balance with nature and in the process learn of healing and the mysteries of life. The experiences told are personal, down-to-earth, non-judgmental, and open to understanding the realm that so few understand.
Tseyi Deep in the Rock: Reflections on Canyon De Chelly with text by Laura Tohe and Photographs by Stephen E. Strom is a collection of writings paired with the natural magnificence of the Southwest. Tohe is a Dine poet who carries the Southwest deep in her soul and transmits this in her words magnified by the extreme beauty in the images captured by Strom. Tohe writes, “These poems evolved from the canyon’s voice—the stories in and around the rock walls, the sounds of animals and trees—and in the movements of light, wind, and water” (Introduction). Clearly there is passion for the topic at hand—passion for both place and life.
Shiloh Richter, M.A.
