Mexican-American traditions are richly nourished by the folkways of three cultures: Indian, Spanish, and Mexican.
This comprehensive look at the Mexican-American world includes a range of traditional proverbs, riddles, stories and folksongs; folk narrative, from Pancho Villa to urban ghosts, saints to revolutionaries; customs, from household shrines to irrigation rituals to
charreadas
, or Mexican-style rodeos; children's games, home remedies, folk foods, crafts, dress, and more.
Besides its wide range of folk genres,
Mexican-American Folklore
is also broad-ranging in space—it covers the entire American Southwest, and in time, it includes material from several generations back, as well as very recent adaptations of customs to modern life. These stories teach readers the importance of courage, resourcefulness and respect for Mexican-American traditions.