James S. Griffith - Saints, Statues, and Stories: A Folklorist Looks at the Religious Art of Sonora

THE SOUTHWEST CENTER SERIES

Joseph C. Wilder, Editor

JAMES S. GRIFFITH

With Research Associate Francisco Javier Manzo Taylor

The University of Arizona Press

www.uapress.arizona.edu

2019 by The Arizona Board of Regents

All rights reserved. Published 2019

ISBN-13: 978-0-8165-3961-1 (paper)

Cover design by Leigh McDonald

Cover photograph by James S. Griffith

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data are available at the Library of Congress.

Printed in the United States of America

This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

Any study of this scope and duration must of necessity reflect the hard work and willing assistance of many people, and this book is no exception. First and foremost, I am indebted to my research associate, Francisco Javier Manzo Taylor, known to all as Paco Manzo. Paco was born in Guaymas and has deep family roots in Sonoran history. His paternal grandfather was three-star general Francisco Manzo Robles, who served under General lvaro Obregn in the Mexican Revolution. His maternal great-grandfather, the printer Douglas Alexander Taylor, arrived in Guaymas in 1880. The Taylors have been deeply involved in the commercial and social life of that important port city ever since.

Paco is an affable and gregarious man, with widespread acquaintance throughout Sonora. He holds degrees in law from the University of Sonora and the Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mxico. He currently resides in Puerto Peasco (Rocky Point) and holds the position of Sonoran notario publico no. 26. Early on, he worked for the Museum of the University of Sonora and is an enthusiastic and well-published scholar of Sonoran history and archaeology.

For this project Paco accompanied me on as many field trips as he could, interviewing, suggesting ideas, and generally shortening the road with his inexhaustible supply of stories about the personalities of Sonora, past and present. He is the ideal traveling companion. In addition, he supplied me with introductions, books, clippings, literary references, knowledge, and ideas. In fact, Paco Manzo made this study possible.

Paco Manzo holding a statue of the Santo Nio, Opodepe (July 5, 1999).

Many others contributed greatly to the project. The Southwest Center of the University of Arizona generously provided funds that made much of the field research possible. Its director, Joseph C. Wilder, gave us constant interest and encouragement.

Others whose help was invaluable include the late Bernard Bunny Fontana who was my mentor, neighbor, traveling companion, and friend for almost sixty years; Alfredo Gonzales, traveling companion and source of ideas; and Jess Garca, Sonoran botanist and traveling companion.

Occasional field companions included Father Charles Polzer, SJ, of Tucson; Father Thomas Steele, SJ, and Charlie Carrillo, both of Santa Fe; and Meg Glaser of Elko, Nevada. Sonorans who joined us in the field included arquitecto Joaqun Rodrguez, Padre Principio Celaya, Padre Guillermo Coronado, Mario Mungua, Jos Rmulo Felix, and Director Francisco Borbn of the Casa Cultural Indgena, San Pedro, Ro Mayo.

Among the people whom I interviewed and photographed in Sonora, I must thank doa Etelnidora Gil of lamos, Ropy of Colonia Batuc, and especially the Contreras family of Puerto Peasco.

Ana Mara Alvarado of Tucson shared with me the prayer to Santa Barbara in appendix B.

The santero Charlie Carrillo kindly allowed me to retell the story of how his uncle fell into the Ro Grande and was rescued by San Antonio.

The late Dr. Robert Quinn introduced me to the joys of art history and the beauties of the Mexican baroque style. Should we end up in the same place, I look forward to discussing this book with him.

Father Gregory Adolf of Sierra Vista kindly read the manuscript with an eye to formal Catholic belief and procedure, as well as Church history, and offered much welcome advice. He also gave me the two evangelical tracts, mentioned in chapter 6.

My wife, Loma, accompanied me on many trips and served as critic, editor, and source of ideas throughout. Our daughter, Kelly, read and commented thoughtfully on the manuscript, serving as the lady from Philadelphia by delivering vital injections of common sense.

The folks at Parkinson Wellness Recovery and Dr. Cynthia Reed helped get me into good enough shape to write this book at all. My heartfelt thanks to all of you.

Although most of the photographs in this book are mine, I am indebted to Sra. Myrora Moreno Corona of Puerto Peasco for the excellent pictures of the Virgin of the Rosary that appear in chapter 7 and to Loma Griffith, who took the photograph of pilgrims with San Francisco in chapter 4. The Arizona State Museum graciously allowed me to use Helga Teiwess image of the disrobed San Francisco Javier in chapter 1. David Burkhalter sorted through my thousands of field slides, organizing them and selecting the most significant ones for digitization, a job I could not have done better.

I owe an incalculable debt to the cronistas of Sonora. These men and women are paid a stipend by the state government to collect and publish details of the history, foodways, religious observances, and folklore of their home communities. Without their work, which has been collected and published in topical volumes by the state of Sonora, this study would be poorer indeed.

Finally, the people of Sonora opened their doors and churches to us, sharing their wonderful stories and allowing us to photograph their beloved images. Their generosity is mentioned and their presence felt throughout this, their book. It is dedicated to them.

Even the most casual driver along the roads and highways of the Mexican state of Sonora cannot help noticing the physical presence of Catholic religious piety. Crosses, chapels, and even murals stand by the roadside, and every town and village has at least one church. If you enter one of the churches, you will find pictures and statues of saints and members of the Holy Family, often adorned with handmade clothing and accompanied by ribbons, candles, and other offerings. If you watch the people in the church, you might find them speaking to, touching, or caressing those images. If you visit with those same folks, you may well hear stories concerning the interactions between the images, the personages they represent, and the community of the faithful. This book is about those interactions, and the following three narratives should help introduce it and provide many of its themes.

But first a word about folklore. The title tells us that this book, although it concerns art, was written by a folklorista person who studies the living traditions of communities. (A community is any group of people who share some characteristic that causes them to identify with one another. This may be based on shared ethnicity, occupation, location, or almost anything else.) It may be as small as two or three people, or as large as several thousand. In this study the community consists of Catholics in the state of Sonora.