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Mary E. Ruddy, Leroy Aragon, Lawrence Chavez, recorders, 1969, 1971

 Item — Box: 2, CD: 138

Scope and Contents

Ruddy, 1971: Reyes Turrieta, b. 1918, Bosque, NM. Gregorillo (Part II, Gregorillo tricks a giant into getting into a casket that they both built, Gregorillo tells the giant that the casket is for another giant that is very mean and powerful, it is for the giant, he gets the giant into the Box and then takes the Box to the king, is rewarded with riches and the hand in marriage of the king's daughter, Medieval story, folk tale).

O. C. Baca, b. 1888, Bosque, NM. Los muchachos perdidos (a poor couple has three children who are illiterate, the rich neighbor kids laugh at them, one day all the children go camping and get lost in the mountains, when found the poor and rich children have all grown close to one another, and not make fun any more, moral tale, poverty, prejudice, injustice, cooperation, equality, tolerance).

Aragon, 1969: Alberto Anzures, b. 1914, Albuquerque, NM. 1. Los dos compadres (a man comes to visit his friend and asks if he can be a scorcerer like him, male witch, the friend says he can and explains the initiation, the initiate has to kiss the tail of a he goat at a witch dance in Chihuahua, Mexico, and let a serpent snake touch his tongue, man fails the tests, when he invokes the holy names of Jesus and Mary, he finds himself alone in the dark and has to walk back to New Mexico, witch story); 2. Un hombre trabajador casado con bruja (witches leave their eyes in a dish when they assume their role as witches and then put in a cat's eyes, when a man sees his wife jump at and try to catch a mouse, he figures his wife is a witch, witch story); 3. Cuento de brujas (one child sees a cat and lassos it but the cat runs into the house, when children enter the house in search of the cat they find only the old woman sitting in a chair and trying to get the rope off her neck, witch story).

Chavez, 1969: Epifania Saiz, Lemitar, NM. 1. Relatos, etc. (a woman follows a snake until it crawls between some slabs of rock, underneath the rocks are bags of gold, the woman takes one and goes for help, when she returns, the rocks have turned to sand); 2. Cuento de brujas, costumbres, etc. (recites various customs among witches and tells a story about witches dancing with snakes and a he-goat, the devil joins them in one of their dances, a child see them and says oh God, what is that, hearing the word God they disappear; stories of omens, weather signs, treasury story, witch story); 3. La manta (an old man is being put out of his son's home, the old man asks his grandson for a blanket, the grandson gets the blanket and cuts it in half, one half is for the grandfather and the other is for his father when he will be asked to leave home, folk tale); 4. El Santo Nino (an old man goes to get some wood, on his way he meets a man selling santos and other religious objects and buys a statue of the Santo Nino, the statue is thrown into the fire by the man's wife, the Santo Nino does not burn, but comes out of the fire unscathed, folk tale, miracle); 5. Feliciano Cordoba, el mudo y la capilla de San Lorenzo en Polvadera, New Mexico, (a mute composes a hymn to San Lorenzo, he says he will sing it if San Lorenzo helps him to speak, he makes a pilgrimage to Socorro, New Mexico, where the statue of San Lorenzo is located, when he gets to the church, he is able to sing, miracle); 6. El que se reia y se quedo paralizado (Ms. Saiz's brother in law does not believe in miracle, one day he is taken to the church of San Lorenzo in Socorro, when he is in front of the saint's image, he laughs in his faco, immediately the man feels a sharp pain in his leg, he becomes paralyzed, miracle); 7. Conversacion (talks about a little boy who is ill, a brother in law who promises a mass to Santo Nino if he catches a horse, an elderly couple who have come back after being dead 12 years, and a woman who becomes ill because she was cruel to her neighbors, women, conversation); 8. Cuento de brujas, etc. (animals that become people, people under a witch's spell, a woman forgets to take lard and string to an old neighbor and develops a ball of string in her stomach, witch story); 9. La que dio a luz un pano (a lady is constantly suffering from stomach pains, when she has her second child, she also has a new handkerchief wrapped in a frogs' skin, child birth, witch story); 10. La abuela, los colchones (a grandmother is saving her money and is placing it in a mattress on her bed, the old woman dies before she can tell anyone where the money is hidden, one day the grandmother's son sells the mattress and the man who buys it finds it and thanks God for his unexpected good fortune, anecdote, women, poverty); 11. Tesoro enterrado (a little girl cannot sleep because of noises she hears in her house, her father discovers a skeleton buried by the front door, some years later men from Mexico hear about the incident and ask permission to dig for buried treasure, buried treasure); 12. Domitila, la embrujada (Domitila does not have any eye lashes or eye brows because a witch has cursed her, another woman, la embrujada, is also cursed by a witch, she turns into a donkey, she is finally cured, witch story); 13. Cuentos de brujas (talks about different people who have a spell cast on them, ball of fire, sickness, death, muerte, witch story); 14. Muerte de una mujer (1937), etc. (narrates two stories: a man kills a girl whom he loves and buries her at Salt Creek, he tries to commit suicide but fails, a man who was found hanged from a mine shaft; informant willing to testify about a recent robbery she has witnessed; conversation about witches, taking animal form, example - a lady feeds many poor peons a corn meal drink, gives leftovers to the cat, she hits the cat and spills the corn meal drink on him, later she sees an old woman washing the corn meal drink from her face); 15. Muerte de Telesfor Tafoya (a man tries to buy a piece of land from a widow, he fails to do so, later, he is found dead in his home, no one knows who killed him); 16. Local history.

Dates

  • 1969, 1971

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