Table Of ContentBeliefs and Holy Places
Beliefs and Holy Places
A Spiritual Geography of the Pimerfa Alta
James S. Griffith
The University ofA rizona Press
Tucson
The University of Arizona Press
Copyright © 1992
Arizona Board of Regents
All Rights Reserved
@l This book is printed on acid-free, archival-quality papPI.
Manufactured in the United States of America
08 07 06 05 04 03 8 7 6 5 4 3
Library ot Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Griffith, James S.
Beliefs and holy places: a spiritual geography of the
Pimeria Alta / James S. Griffith.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8165-1261-2 (alk. paper)
ISBN 0-8165-1407-0 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Pimerfa Alta (Mexico and Ariz.)-Religious life and customs.
2. Shrines-Pimeria Alta (Mexico and Ariz.). 3. Religion and
geography. I. Title.
BL2527.S68G75 1992 91-26425
291.3'5'097217 -dc20 CIP
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Contents
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction xi
1. Meeting la Corua 3
2. A Mountain and a Shrine 14
3. A Saint and His People 31
4. Native Christianities 67
5. The Presence of the Dead 100
6. Places of Thanks and Petition 130
7. Art: Our Created Landscape 147
8. Some Final Thoughts 172
Notes 181
References 193
Index 205
v
Illustrations
Baboquivari Mountain 16
The Children's Shrine 23
San Francisco Xavier, Magdalena, Sonora 33
San Francisco, San Xavier Mission 46
Chapel altar at Chuwhiy Guwsk, Sonora 53
San Francisco Xavier Chapel, Palo Verde Stands 91
Altar of San Francisco Xavier Chapel,
Palo Verde Stands 92
Roadside crosses for Father Ignacio
de la Torre, Nogales 102
El Tiradito 106
Shrine to the Virgin Mary 132
Main Retablo, San Xavier Mission 149
San Xavier Mission from the southeast 152
vi
Acknowledgments
Any book whose scope is this broad is of necessity the collaborative
work of many people. Few of my trips of learning in the Pimeria
Alta have been made alone; a comprehensive list of all my compan-:
ions, guides, and mentors would be impracticable to compile. How
ever, certain names stand out, one in particular. Richard Morales has
traveled long with me and taught me much. Companion on numer
ous trips in Sonora and Arizona, he shared my search for information
concerning fa corua and Juan Soldado, and has greatly increased my
understanding of San Francisco. Much that is accurate and respect
ful in this book is due to my long association with this good man.
I first heard of la corna from Olga Ruiz of lmuris, Sonora. Pete
Castillo of Marana, and Carmen Villa Prezelski, Luuis Armando Sa
lazar, and Tom Sheridan of Tucson all shared their knowledge of that
huge serpent. Barre T oelken of Utah State University suggested par
allels between 0'o dham lore about snakes and sucking monsters
and similar beliefs from elsewhere in Native North America.
Danny Lopez of Big Fields Village and Blaine Juan of San Simon
have increased my understanding of O'odham traditions. Willard
Anita, then chairman of Gu Achi District, took time from a busy
schedule to escort me to the Children's Shrine and explain that sa
cred place to me. Ethnobotanist Gary Nabhan shared information
concerning the nehbig, as well as other valuable ideas. Julian Hay-
vii
Acknowledgments
den of Tucson gave me much to think about concerning various
kinds of shrines, both in Pima country and on the far western desert.
I have had many good companions on my trips to Magdalena.
Among these, Bernard Fontana, Lee Larson, Charles Polzer, S.J., John
Schaefer, Frank Urquides, and Antonio Federico stand out in my
memory. Gary Nabhan and anthropologists Bob Thomas and Tom
Sheridan discussed their experiences at Chuwhiy Guwsk with me.
Father Keiran McCarty, O.F.M., helped me with historical details.
Artura Carrillo Strong enlightened me on the uses of certain printed
prayers.
Charles Carrillo and Yvonne Lange of Santa Fe enlightened me
on problems of iconography concerning both San Francisco and the
Santo Nino de Atocha. Diane L. Stevens of the Taylor Museum at
the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center sent me a photograph of that
institution's copy of the Currier and Ives print of San Francisco.
Helena E. Wright of the Division of Graphic Arts of the National
Museum of American History explained the dating of Currier and
Ives prints. My compadre Peter Morse of Honolulu provided advice
and assistance as well.
The late Ted Rios of San Xavier Village accompanied me on
many visits to churches and chapels on the Papago Reservation. He
taught me much, limited only by my imperfect ability to learn. Dan
iel Matson generously shared his memories of the desert missions in
the 1940s and took a memorable trip to Gunsight village with me.
The late Fathers Lambert Fremdling, O.F.M., Regis Rohder, O.F.M.,
and Theodore Williges, O.F.M., took time from their vital work in
the early 1970s to tell me of the churches they had built twenty
years before. Bernard Fontana served as director of that long ago
dissertation and has been friend, neighbor, and field companion ever
since.
Lalo Guerrero and a host of others have told me stories of el
Tiradito. Randall Legler remembered for me how the shrine looked
in the 1920s, and Jim Elliott introduced me to some early written
descriptions. Pete Castillo, Ramon Machado, Richard Morales, and
Antonio Federico are among those who have shared their knowl
edge of ghosts and el Tejano with me. Margaret Redondo shared her
family traditions of the seige of Caborca.
viii
Acknowledgments
I have had many companions on my trips of investigation into
the baroque art and architecture of Sonora. The late Tom Naylor,
Bernard Fontana, Leah and Oscar Ward, Ed and Mary Catherine
Ronstadt, Father Charles Polzer, S.l, Mardith Schuetz-Miller, and
many other companions of the Southwest Missions Research Cen··
ter's Kino Mission Tours have contributed much. Robert Quinn of
the University of Arizona Art Department introduced me to the glo
ries of the baroque styles of New Spain, and Arquitecto Jorge Olvera
of Mexico City took me ever farther toward an understanding of
those vital styles.
The late Edward Spicer of the University of Arizona taught me
much by word and action. His hand is on all my work in-subtle ways.
Anyone who works in the folklore of Southern Arizona owes an
incalculable debt to Frances Gillmor who founded the Arizona Folk
lore Archive and to Byrd Howell Granger who continued it through
the 1960s and 1970s, and to many students and other collectors
who have enriched that wonderful resource over the years. I espe
cially wish to mention Doris Seibold of Patagonia, whose collected
legends of Santa Cruz County provide a perfect starting place for any
further study in the region. Acknowledgment must also be made of
the many people of Arizona and Sonora who have taken time to
help all these amateur and professional folklorists, for without them
there would be neither archive nor book.
Donna Howell accompanied me on fieldtrips to Sonora, the Pa
pagueria, and elsewhere in Arizona, and introduced me to the Rin
con and Leon Ranch cemeteries. She edited the first versions of this
manuscript and gave much good advice, some of which was heeded.
Bernard Fontana and the late Robert K. Thomas, both anthro
pologists at the University of Arizona, read the manuscript and
offered valuable suggestions. My wife Lorna and my children Kelly
and David shared much of the fieldwork and its attendant inconve
niences for more than twenty years. Each has taken an active interest
in the work and contributed to it. John Shaefer generously allowed
me to use his photographs.
All these people and others whom I have not named contributed
much that is of value within these pages; any errors of fact and in
terpretation are my own.
IX
