1 comments about Nuevo México Profundo: Rituals of an Indo-Hispano Homeland.

1. My 28-year residency in New Mexico ended with my recent move to California. Viewing Miguel Gandert's photographs opened the floodgates of memory in ways I had not anticipated.

   Gandert's images carry the viewer into the most important dimension of ritual: the experiential element. Witnessing these ritual dances, even as a mere spectator, can be a moving experience. A vivid recollection of one New Year's Day at Jemez Pueblo Plaza comes to mind. I sat crosslegged on the ground at the inward-facing edge of the assembly, following the action of the Matachine dancers. A little boy portraying El Torito, the bull, was being chased by a whip-wielding Abuelo, who represents both wise elder and taunting clown. I held my hands over my head, feigning a protective gesture in mock fear, as they ran around me in ever tightening circles. The double-line pattern of the danzantes suddenly shifted and swept over me on both sides with ribbons flying in a swirl of color. In that moment I found all concept of time and structure collapsing into liminality. Afterwards, I became concerned that I might have inadvertently violated ritual space. Upon expressing my feelings to a tribal member, however, I was assured that no such transgression had taken place and that I might have even received a blessing.

   The event described above could, no doubt, be interpreted quite differently from another standpoint and through another's eyes. Similarly, this book can be appreciated on many different levels. It's relevancy to universal elements and ritual may resonate with a widely diverse audience. Gandert and four knowledgeable essayists create a compelling cultural admixture of polarity and paradox. The resultant images emerge through layers of time, space, and history like so many bubbles from some deep, ancient well. This book is truly a verbal and visual treasure.

   Readers interested in expanding their knowledge of the Matachines tradition will also find a valuable resource in The Matachines Dance: Ritual Symbolism and Interethnic Relations in the Upper Rio Grande Valley by Sylvia Rodriguez.

No comments about Rock Climbing New Mexico (Regional Rock Climbing Series).

No comments about A Chicano in China.

No comments about Hiking New Mexico's Aldo Leopold Wilderness.

1 comments about Marking the Land 1.

1. This book is a great study of how the land has been impacted by settlements in variuos areas throughout NM, AZ, and CA. The photos are great. Some more dynamic than others. But a curiousity brews as you look through this publication. I hope this author continues her questioning through further investigation and shares it with everyone.

2 comments about Mobil Travel Guide 2000 Southwest and South Central: Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas (Mobil Travel Guide : Southwest and South Central 2000).

1. I highly recommend this guide to anyone who will be traveling in the Northeast as well as Canada. This guide gives you everything from upcoming events for the year to where to stay & eat. The maps are easy to read and follow. I have been a reader of the Mobil Guide for many years and it is continuing to give the most accurate, up-to-date travel information. This is the MUST-HAVE for the Northeast traveler.



2. The book gives a good overview of the areas with many addresses. Anyhow I found it a bit too black and white. It gives useful maps, but no coloured pictures from the areas, which would make it a bit more pleasant to read.

2 comments about Red White Blue and God Bless You: A Portrait of Northern New Mexico.

1. As a native of Northern New Mexico, I often see all sorts of photo books documenting the touristic attractions to the area. However, Alex Harris' book acurately documents the real life of rural northern New Mexico. The best you could buy!!



2. Anyone who has spent time in these mountain communities and has seen his work, knows that Alex Harris has developed the ability to capture it's soul. Unhappily, his photos also represent a way of life that is dying. These villages represent the oldest non-Native communities in the US. For those who may never have the privilege of entering these spare homes, Alex has brought us inside and provided us both soulful and intimate portraits. Thank you Alex.

3 comments about Bound for Santa Fe: The Road to New Mexico and the American Conquest, 1806-1848.

1. This authoritative volume from Stephen Hyslop sheds new light on an important aspect of the American story. Well-written and full of interesting facts, analysis, and captivating stories, this book is no dry history, but a thorough work that should have great appeal beyond the academic market. It is a book all American history buffs should enjoy. I know I did.



2. Once in a while a book attains benchmark status in the historiography of a particular subject. "Bound for Santa Fe," by Stephen G. Hyslop, might well do so. It has many of the necessary ingredients. Its palate is sweeping, and the author's handling of the story both complex and captivating. More than any other recent work of history on the Santa Fe trail and trade, it captures the essence of the story and relates it to an audience removed from it by some 175 years. Most of all, "Bound for Santa Fe" is an exceptionally well-written work of history, tantalizing in its depictions and seductive in the power of its narrative.

   Beginning with the earliest exploring parties from the United States into the Southwest, Hyslop takes the reader through the origins and development of the Santa Fe trade, using narratives from the trail as the centerpiece of a journey from Missouri to New Mexico. Along the trail readers meet the native peoples who had made the region their homes for centuries, the Santa Fe culture and its sometimes uneasy coexistence with Anglos from Missouri, and the unique world these various cultures made through their interactions.

   At the same time, the interactions proved surprising to both sides. As only one example, Missourians expressed dismay at the mores of the New Mexicans, and that cultural divide never seemed to end despite years of close contact. When trader John Scolly hauled his Latina wife, Juana Lopes, before a Mexican judge for adultery the outcome was remarkably different to what Scolly had expected. Lopes did not deny the charges, instead offering the belligerent explanation, as reported in the court record, that "it was her ass, she controlled it, and she would give it to whomever she wanted" (p. 266). The judge told her to quit "roving" and stay with her family but stopped short of punishing her, as would have undoubtedly been the case in the U.S. Such cultural differences sprinkle this work, demonstrating the oddity and attraction of these two civilizations.

   Hyslop completes his work with a discussion of American conquest of New Mexico in 1846-1848. He follows the path of the Army of the West under Stephen Watts Kearny, the experience of Alexander Doniphan and Sterling Price and their Missouri volunteers, the creation of a territorial government under Charles Bent, and the bloody Taos revolt.

   In 1979 John D. Unruh Jr. published "The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-60" (University of Illinois Press), unraveling the complex story of the overlanders on America's longest trail. Hyslop offers a work very similar to Unruh's in style and substance for the Santa Fe trail, and it may become a standard on the subject for many years.




3. I had very high hopes for this book: The Santa Fe Trail through the eyes of those who were there. Many have used this venue and all of them have always improved the history, imparting a new understanding of events through the eyes of the participants.
   
   Its not that there isn't some good history here, it's that Hyslop applies this technique in a haphazard fashion. We view the trek through the eyes of the same 5-6 participants who traveled the trail at decidedly different points in time. The result is that rather than moving along the trail chronologically, as the participants being quoted did, we visit each point on the trail 5-6 times completely out of chronological sequence.
   
   The result is a hodge-podge of interpretations hopelessly out of sequence. In the end I felt sorry for the author; he obviously spent an immense amount of time in his effort and his work is historically accurate. But it is confusing; it misleads and changes or at least misstates the history that occurred as it unfolded. Taken out of sequence, the story is muted, watered down. And that is a damn shame because significant effort went into this work.

1 comments about The Best Public Golf Courses in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico.

1. This book does a great job highlighting several of the better courses in each state (as well as Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean). It does include resort courses, with tips, phone numbers, etc. to help you get tee times with ease - all in all, a great resource for a golfer who travels for either business or pleasure.

1 comments about Valles Caldera: A Vision for New Mexico's National Preserve.

1. THIS BOOK IS ABOUT A LITTLE-KNOWN AREA IN NORTHERN NEW MEXICO,FORMERLY A PRIVATE RANCH,THAT WAS BOUGHT BY THE FOREST SERVICE IN 2000,AND IS NOW A NATIONAL FOREST PRESERVE.
   THE BOOK DETAILS THE HISTORY OF THE RANCH AND HOW IT BECAME PART OF THE NATIONAL PRESERVE SYSTEM.IT IS A LAVISHLY PRODUCED VOLUME,WITH 59 BEAUTIFUL,FULL PAGE COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS OF THIS OUTSTANDING SCENIC AREA.
   IF YOU ARE A FAN OF WESTERN LANDSCAPES AND WESTERN AMERICANA,I WOULD STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU GET A COPY.
   
   
   BILL NEWTON