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Julietta Ortega, Frank Snell, Tobias Espinosa, Sigfredo Marcos Garcia, Mary Lou Arguelles, recorders, 1970

 Item — Box: 1, CD: 108

Scope and Contents

Ortega: A. B. Baca, Sorocco, N.M. Elfego Baca (some of the personal characteristics of the famous sheriff, A.B. Baca nephew still has his uncle's pistol and badge, local history).

Snell: Maria de los Angeles, b. 1941, Albuquerque. NM. 1. Leyenda de Popocateptl (legend of Mexico's snow covered mountain, the king, his daughter and man who finds her dead, his devotion to her, Aztecs); 2. anecdote (a man who builds a house for a family asks the head of the household for a gun, the house owner tells him he does not need a gun, he drinks and is already loaded, drinking, drunk, anecdote); 3. La Llorona (common story, warning that children should not be out at night, see CD 107); 4. El que no queria morir (relato, a man claims that a friend of his who has been dead for many years takes him out at night to show him where some treasure is buried, one night the man finds buried treasure but dies on the spot, other friends will not touch the money out of fear); 5. Un cura que queria ir al mercado (on the way to market, a priest sees a mulberry tree, gets under it and stands on his horse to reach the largest berries, the horse drops him on the thorny bushes, the priest explains his predicament, it is his greed and his sins, church, religion, moral tale).

Mike Guerin, b. 1948, Santa Cruz, NM. 1. El hijo enfermo y la curandera (a man has a very sick boy who is cured by an herb healer, curandera, with home remedies and ritual dancing, doctors of town amazed, praise her knowledge of herbs and remedies, health, medicine); 2. La Llorona (legend, another version, Mike said she lived near Espanola, New Mexico, was angry with children, drowned them, killed herself, goes up and down the Rio Grande looking for them and her soul, women, family, muerte, death, suicide).

Espinosa: Viola Espinosa, b. 1946, Las Vegas, NM. 1. Los tres deseos (folk tale, New Mexican version of the folk tale concerning three wishes, witch grants couple three wishes, woman asks for a cabbage, not pleased her husband wants it stuck to her behind, third wish used to get it off); 2. Los dos manofashicos (anecdote, two simpletons are shot for stealing grapes, thought to be dead, dropped in a ravine to be buried, what they say) ; 3. No junten (two woman gathering spinach want to go on the other side of the fence where the spinach looks greener and better, a sign says do not gather but is meant to say no hunting, play on words, language, anecdote); 4. El perico que compro lena (another New Mexican version, parrot and dog hiding in horno, folk tale).

Mary Wells, b. 1914, Albuquerque, NM. 1. El perico maldiciento (the rain annoys a bad mouthed parrot who misinterprets what a man says about it, folk tale); 2. Los dos perros y la viejita (two dogs whose names are Skin and Bones are called out, they take care of a thief under a little old lady's bed, folk tale).

Priscilla Vicente, b. 1940, Laguna Pueblo. Los jotitos (a queer asks for one beer then another and inquires as to the whereabouts of the men of the town, is informed that they are hanging a queer, gay, homosexual, bad joke; informant then reads some aspects of Mexican and Indian religious customs, anecdote, ).

Emma Espinosa, b. 1917, Tierra Amarilla, NM. 1. El compadre rico y su compadre pobre (folk tale, los dos compadres, a rich man gives milk to his poor friend, who tires of the milk and kills the rich man's cow, rich man kneels before the poor man's saint, santo and then tells poor man he knows who killed the cow, poor man smashes te santo); 2. El borracho y el bulto (young man goes to a dance against his parents' wishes, a large pig follows him after the dance making him late back home, once at home he faints, supernatural story, devil); 3. Los viejitos y el marrano (puerco, a fattening pig is taken by a prowler passing himself as death when a man and his wife cannot decide which one should be taken in death first, folk tale); 4. El viejito que no sabia ingles (an old man knows one word of English and gets lost, stops at a house, tells the lady there he is slow, she then tells him to walk fast, anecdote).

Garcia: Maria Candelaria Garcia, b. 1906, Albuquerque, NM. 1. Cuentos de don Cacahuate (humorous incidents in the life of rogue trickster don Cacahuate, he says his five sons will pick oranges for him, has fun on Saturday and Sunday, does not talk abou the other days of the week, anecdote); 2. Adivinanzas (two riddles, one about la llave, the key).

Arguelles: Carlos de la Garza, b. 1916, El Paso, Texas. El cura y el juego de ajedrez (on the way to a chess game a priest stops at a house to give a dying man his last rights, his companions tell him that the house he has been to has long been abandoned, after the house is demolished a skeleton is found, church, supernatural story, ghost story, more episodes).

Maricela de la Garza, b. 1948, El Paso, Texas. 1. La manta (folk tale, wife and son make old father leave, put him in old folks' home, divide a blanket between him and son when same happens to son in later life); 2. La joven y el diablo (supernatural story, girl likes dancing, goes to dance without permission of her mother, dances with a young man who killed her on the balcony, people believe she was dancing with the devil, women, children, discipline).

Mrs. Carlos de la Garza, El Paso, Texas. La madre que mimaba a su hijo (a wife lets her son go out to a party and the boy is killed, her husband turns over the keys of the house and tells her that he is going away, she is now the boss, moral tale, family).

Dates

  • 1970

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English, Spanish

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Extent

From the Collection: 13 boxes (12.25 cu. ft.)

Creator

Repository Details

Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository

Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451