Those whose ancestry can be traced to Mexico or to Spain through Mexico. Theirs is the
most studied folklore of any ethnic group in the United States. Mexican-American history
and folk traditions differ significantly from those of Puerto Ricans, Latin Americans, and
other Hispanic groups in the United States. Mexican American folklore makes clear the
great intracultural diversity found among Mexican Americans in the American
Southwest, as well as those of Mexican descent who have settled in such areas as Florida,
New York, Michigan, and Illinois. Although they share many traditions, there is significant diversity.
The ancestors of many of today’s Mexican Americans occupied the Southwest—
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, southern Colorado, and California—long before it became
a part of the United States in 1848, with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. They came
from many different parts of Mexico, and their ancestors came from various parts of
Spain and mingled with a number of diverse indigenous peoples. Recent immigrants have
traditions significantly different from those whose ancestors have lived in the region for centuries. Those living in urban areas have traditions significantly different from those
living in rural areas, emphasizing the fact that folklore reflects the values and concerns of
those who share it.
The folk architecture and traditional foodways in south and west Texas demonstrate
convincingly that Mexican Americans in west Texas have much more in common
culturally and historically with Mexican Americans in New Mexico than they do with
those in south Texas.
Those of Spanish Mexican ancestry in the Southwest and beyond refer to themselves
in a number of different ways, depending upon a number of factors, including region,
social class, and historic background. Those in the wealthier classes tend to call
themselves Spanish or Hispanic, and sometimes Latinos, while those in the working class
often refer to themselves (among themselves) as mejicanos, to differentiate themselves
from the Anglos or other ethnic groups. When they go into Mexico, they tend to call
themselves mejico-americanos to differentiate themselves from Mexican citizens.
Mexican Americans in south Texas commonly refer to themselves as tejanos, while those
in New Mexico and southern Colorado call themselves hispanos, and those in California
call themselves californios. In more recent times, a small percentage (8 percent– 10
percent) of Mexican Americans refer to themselves as chicanos, a term rejected by many
others, particularly those in the working class. The term “chicano” is used mostly by
those who are political or social activists or those involved in higher education. Mexican
Americans have a number of neutral and pejorative labels for Anglos, including
gabachos, americanos, and gringos, the latter being the most pejorative of the more
common terms. There are also terms of varying degrees of severity used to label those
who are seen as acculturated—Inglesados (Englishized), engabachados, vendidos (those
who have sold out), or agringados (gringo-ized).
Although folk traditions have changed significantly among Mexican Americans since
the mid-18th century, a wide variety of folklore genres continue to be important, some
more than others. Studies of Mexican American folklore, beginning in the late 19th
century, reflect the interests of scholars as much as the actual richness of types of folklore
known among the people. A wide range of genres has been studied: folk narratives, folk
music, folk speech, folk medicine, folk arts and crafts, customs and beliefs, architecture,
foodways, costume, and folk games and play, among others. Generally speaking, material
culture has received less attention than other types, except in New Mexico. Likewise,
certain areas of the Southwest have received more scholarly attention than others, most
often the result of whether or not scholars interested in folklore lived and worked in the
area.
Some Mexican Americans are monolingual Spanish speak-ers; some are fluently
bilingual in English and Spanish, while others are monolingual English speakers.
Consequently, Mexican American folklore may be transmitted in Spanish, in Tex-Mex
(the regional dialect of Spanish), in English, or in a combination of these.
Among the verbal arts, such genres as folk speech and naming, proverbs, riddles, and
folk poetry may be found in almost every community of Mexican Americans throughout
the Southwest and beyond. A wide variety of folk-narrative types remain viable wherever
Mexican Americans are found. These differ from group to group, as one would expect.
Most Mexican Americans are strongly Roman Catholic, and religious legends related
to various saints continue to be important. La Virgen de Guadalupe is the subject of a variety of narrative types, including the story of her appearance to Juan Diego as well as
numerous more personal narratives about individuals’ experiences with her. Among the
many other saints who are the subject of local legends are Santo Niño de Atocha, San
Juan, and San Antonio. In addition, many legends circulate about such folk saints (those
treated as saints by the people but who have not been canonized by the church) as Don
Pedrito Jaramillo and El Niño Fidencio, folk healers of considerable reputation in south
Texas and beyond.
Supernatural legends and personal-experience narratives about witches are common.
Stories about La Lechuza (a woman with an owl’s face or one who takes on the form of
an owl) are common in many areas, as are stories about La Llorona, the weeping woman
searching for the souls of her children—a punishment for having drowned them after
their father betrayed her. Pata de gallo stories, about the devil appearing at a dance and
severely disfiguring a young lady who disobeyed her parents and slipped off to the dance,
are well known in many regions. Stories about vanishing hitchhikers and ghosts of young
women appearing at dances or other places are also fairly common.
Some older legends about folk heroes of earlier epochs continue to be told in certain
areas; these include stories about Gregorio Cortez in south Texas, Joaquin Murietta in
California, and Pancho Villa in New Mexico and west Texas. One also finds legends
about lost treasures in many rural areas of the Southwest.
Perhaps the most ubiquitous forms of folk narratives are the casos, historias, tallas,
and jokes. Casos are short, first-person-experience narratives (like cases-in-point) used to
illustrate or validate a wide variety of beliefs. Historias are “true” stories about local
events of interest. Tallas are jests that are used to poke fun at someone present at the
telling. The term comes from the verb tallar, meaning “to rub or chafe.” Mexican
Americans enjoy a wide variety of jokes, including ethnic jokes, dirty jokes (chistes
colorados), agringado jokes (which reprove those thought to be too anglicized), and
many other types.
A recent survey in south Texas reveals a broad variety of folk narratives popular
among vaqueros (cowboys) in the region. Storytelling in this group is called hechando
mentiras (telling lies), and these stories cover such topics as horses and horse training,
vaquero skills, local tragedies (including work-related deaths and serious injuries), and
stories about encounters with ghosts, mystery lights, and lost treasures.
While folk music is still found in some areas, in most communities it has been
replaced by popular music, which has become widely available on radio, television, and
via cassettes and records. Modern conjunto music, which evolved from an earlier folkmusic form, may be heard on many Spanish-language radio stations wherever there are
significant populations of Mexican Americans. Likewise, the corrido (folk ballad)
became a popular form of recorded and broadcast music, although some still sing the old
ballads from earlier periods. Earlier forms, like the verso or copla (a short, lyrical stanza)
and the décima (a ten-line stanza), once very common throughout the Southwest, have
virtually disappeared.
In the area of customary folklore, the traditions of folk medicine, folk beliefs of
various types, rites of passage, and rites of intensification (celebrations) continue to be
important in the lives of many. Folk games can still be found in many rural areas,
especially among children—games like spinning tops and playing marbles.
Folk medicine continues to be important to many Mexican Americans. Recent
scientific surveys in south Texas reveal that about 90 percent of the Mexican American
families in that area continue to rely on herbal remedies, and in some communities as
many as 29 percent of the women report having used the services of parteras (lay
midwives). Curanderos (as) (the healers par excellence in the culture, who have a don de
Díos, or gift from God, to heal, particularly cases of witchcraft) can still be found in most
larger cities and in many smaller communities where there are high percentages of
Mexican Americans.
The rites of passage important among Mexican Americans everywhere include
baptisms and the compadrazgo (ritual co-parenthood) relationships, the quinceañera for
young women (a coming-of-age ceremony and celebration at age fifteen), wedding
celebrations, and funeral rites. While most of these events require formal Catholic
ceremonies, folk beliefs and practices and some specific traditional activities are almost
invariably associated with them.
A broad variety of rites of intensification in the form of celebrations in which Mexican
Americans celebrate their mexicanidad, or Mexicanness, can be found throughout the
Southwest and beyond. The most common are el cinco de mayo (May 5) and el diezyseis
de septiembre (September 16) celebrations. Many who celebrate el cinco de mayo are not
aware that they are celebrating the victory of the Mexican campesinos over the French
troops at the Battle of Puebla. A broad variety of other Mexican American celebrations
include charreadas (the Mexican form of the rodeo) and other local activities celebrating
local events important to Mexican Americans living in the area.
As to material culture, many folk arts and crafts traditions remain popular. While folk
architecture is not produced in most areas, that of earlier eras is still present. For example,
while jacales are still being built in many parts of Mexico, they have not been
constructed in Texas and other parts of the Southwest for several decades. And while
adobes are still made and adobe houses are still being built in west Texas and New
Mexico, the earlier forms of stone and sillar (caliche block) houses once common in
south Texas have not been constructed since the late 1800s.
Folk arts and crafts traditions that have continued among Mexican Americans include
paper-flower making, piñata making, quilt making, instrument making (particularly of
vihuelas and bajo sextos—instruments important in conjunto music or mariachi music),
saddle making, boot making, and a number of vaquero folk-arts traditions, including
making objects of rawhide and horsehair—quirts, bridle reins, ropes of various kinds,
chicotes (cattle whips), hackamores, and so on.
The vaquero’s occupation is an excellent example of a folk occupation. One learns the
necessary skills—riding, working cattle, roping, branding, and such—by observation and
practice over a long period of time. Vaqueros hold great respect for those who have
mastered these skills, and young vaqueros understand that it will take years for them to
master them. These skills have been modified over the centuries by new technologies.
Religious folk art continues to play an important role in most areas. The religious folk
art found in most Mexican American cemeteries includes handmade decorations,
gravemarkers with a number of traditional epitaphs, and a variety of different images of
saints, particularly the Virgin of Guadalupe. Likewise, one can find nichos or grutas
(handmade yard shrines) in working-class neighborhoods throughout the Southwest.
Home altars can also be found in many working-class homes, although this tradition is
much more common among older women than younger ones.
Roadside crosses, documented as early as the 1820s along the Rio Grande, are still
found in south and west Texas, as well as in various areas of New Mexico. These crucitas
are used to mark the place where someone has died, where the spirit departed the body.
Families erect these crosses and return to them on a regular basis to conduct private
rituals in memory of the departed.
A number of religious folk-art traditions can be found in such areas as New Mexico,
where they have existed for centuries. The santeros (santos makers) developed a rich
tradition of making religious objects, documented by scholars and preserved in several
museums in New Mexico. The retablos (paintings) and bultos (hand-carved statues) have
been influenced in recent years by the marketing of these objects to outsiders, mostly
tourists, who are not part of the older tradition.
Secular yard art can be found in many working-class Mexican American barrios
(neighborhoods) in rural areas as well as larger cities. This yard art includes a variety of
manners of decorating with plants (including planters made from castoff automobile or
truck tires) and clay figurines.
Public folk art can be found in many communities, particularly in the larger cities. The
low-rider tradition of remodeling older automobiles (including the installation of
hydraulically operated shock absorbers to make them jump up and down) and decorating
the cars with a number of traditional artistic designs continues. Two traditions recently
brought to the United States from Mexico include the painting of large murals on public
buildings and the making of park benches and other public art objects of cement. Both
traditions can be found in such larger cities with large Mexican American populations as
San Antonio.
Traditional foodways remain popular throughout the Mexican American population.
They vary from region to region, and many have been adopted by such popular-culture
institutions as fast-food restaurants. Tamales, tacos, tortillas, and pinto beans in a number
of forms are common throughout the Mexican American community, both urban and
rural. Tamaladas (gatherings where women make tamales) are more common in rural
areas. Fajitas (a dish made of skirt steak), tripitas (a dish made of beef intestines), and
pan de campo (camp bread) remain popular folk foods in south Texas. Barbacoa de
cabeza (barbecued beef head), cabrito (barbecued kid goat), or cabrito en su sangre (a
kid goat cut up and cooked in its own blood) are common in many rural areas of the
Southwest. A dish made of the internal edible parts of cabritos (kid goats) is called
machitos in south Texas, buriñate (or buruñate) in west Texas, and burrañate in New
Mexico. One can find a number of traditional pastries (including buñuelos and bizcochos)
served at weddings and other celebrations.
Mexican American folklore will continue to adapt to the changing circumstances in
which its bearers find themselves, and these traditions will continue to play an important
role in the lives of Mexican Americans.
Joe S.Graham
References
Briggs, Charles L. 1980. The Wood Carvers of Córdova, New Mexico: Social Dimensions of an
Artistic “Revival.” Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.
Brown, Lorin, Charles L. Briggs, and Marta Weigle. 1978. Hispano Folklife of New Mexico: The
Lorin W.Brown Federal Writers’ Manuscripts. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
Bunting, Bainbridge. 1974. Of Earth and Timbers Made: New Mexico Architecture. Albuquerque:
University of New Mexico Press.
Graham, Joe S. 1991. Hecho en Tejas: Texas-Mexican Folk Arts and Crafts. Publications of the
Texas Folklore Society No. 50. Denton: University of North Texas Press.
Miller, Elaine K. 1973. Mexican Folk Narrative from the Los Angeles Area. Austin: University of
Texas Press for the American Folklore Society.
Paredes, Américo. 1976. A Texas-Mexican Cancionero. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Robb, John D. 1980. Hispanic Folk Music of New Mexico and the Southwest: A Self-Portrait of
People. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Simmons, Marc. 1980. Witchcraft in the Southwest: Spanish and Indian Supernaturalism on the
Rio Grande. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
West, John O. 1988. Mexican-American Folklore. Little Rock, AR: August House.