I was impressed with the intensity and unique nature of New Mexico culture in the Taos and Santa Fe area. The Indian and Spanish and Mexican have combined with the American. mainstream Anglo to form an intriguing 21st century multi-cultural society. I have always considered our Texas culture as a good example of a multi-cultural one, but New Mexico seems to go beyond the Texas example. First and foremost in Texas there is very little remaining of the Indian. The United States moved most of the native Texas tribes to Indian Territory before the end of the 19th century. But in new Mexico in the Taos and Santa Fe area, Indian life in the pueblos continues perhaps not in the same manner as a thousand years ago, but the people still continue living their present day lives as pueblos Indians today in the 21st century. In Texas there is most certainly a vibrant Hispanic culture. Yet in New Mexico much of the Spanish and Mexican population seems much more aware than their counterpart in Texas of their Spanish and Mexican period, and their actual family origin in the land where they now live. Finally the Anglo element of New Mexico seem to have themselves come to accept the Indian, Spanish, and Mexican as a part of their own heritage.
Books On New Mexican Culture
I brought back four books to probe deeper into New Mexican history and culture. One is a non-fiction history books, two are novels (a third novel was recommended and is listed below also), and one is a recipe book. Click on the title name to link to the amazon.com on line Catalog page giving descriptive information about the book, (Note: I could not find at least two of the books in the B & N Catalog, So I used Amazon where all four were available.)
History
Simmons, Marc, New Mexico - An Interpretive History, University of New Mexico Press. Albuquerque, 1988
Fiction
Walters, Frank, The Man Who Killed the Deer, A Novel of Pueblo Indian Life, Swallow Press/Ohio University Press, Athens, OH, 1970.
Collignon, Rick, The Journal of Antonio Montoya, MacMurray & Beck, Aspen, CO, 1996
Treadwell, Nichols, The Milagro Bean Field War, (This is the only one of these recommended books that I did not buy in New Mexico. Surprisingly it is not listed in the B & N catalog and the publisher and date is not available in the amazon.com catalog. This is perhaps the most popular of the novels listed here as a few years back it was made into a major Hollywood movie)
Recipe Books
Nusom, Lynn, New Mexico Cook Book, Golden West Publishers, 2000
WWW Links To New Mexico Culture
New Mexico Culture and History
Hispano Music & Culture of the Northern Rio Grande
fin