By Marc Simmons

For more than 50 years I have been attracted to the study of New Mexico’s traditional Hispanic culture. Somewhere along the way I came to realize that as the colonial society evolved on the upper Rio Grande, it took on its own distinctive characteristics and became a true sub-culture within the larger Spanish-speaking world.

History by Marc Simmons

This old culture – the ancient practices and customs that suggest the flavor, the hardships and the picturesqueness of times long gone – was far more complex and richly textured than most people know.

Many rural New Mexicans who couldn’t afford metal tools made their own, including knives, chisels, awls, hammers or mauls, axes and even arrowheads. A poor farmer at Oje de la Vaca in the Sandia foothills is reported to have built an entire wooden grist mill using only his stone axe.

A once-popular folk custom called for villagers to parade through the streets visiting neighbors on the eve of their saint’s day and singing hymns to honor them. For instance, it was the rule to serenade on new Year’s Eve those who bore the name Manuel or Manuela. By long tradition, babies born on New Year’s Day were most often named after the Christ Child, or Emmanuel, the word St. Matthew used for the Messiah.

If there were a lot of Manuels in the community, musicians (guitarists and violinists) might show up for a few coins and go from house to house accompanying the singers.

This quaint custom lasted into the 20th century.

Hispanic farmers in days past often erected small wooden crosses in their fields meant to protect the crop from drought or hail damage and increase the yields.

The Pueblos had a parallel practice. On planting they would bury a prayer plume or other offering in the field to ensure a bountiful harvest.

The earliest Americans from the East entering New Mexico were often startled by the absence of pews in the churches and missions. Worshippers, when not kneeling, sat on the hard earth-packed floor.

Further, the congregations were segregated – men on the left and women on the right. This formality continued in some of the Indian missions. Old-time New Mexicans, poor and rich, were celebrated for their open-handed hospitality. An English-speaking visitor put it this way: “They entertain all travelers but never demand payment, leaving that question wholly open to their guests.”
That was part of the broad pattern of native etiquette. Though New Mexico was a rough frontier province, manners still mattered.

As is true everywhere, the heavy hand of change sweeps away much of what went before, both the good and the bad.

The late Cleofas Jarmillo, who founded the Sociedad Folklórica to the regret of elders. The land of Poco Tiempo has become the land of haste and hurry, as old customs vanish.”