Food & Foodways
Bread for the Dead
Photographs by Nieves Montaño Pan de muerto is a Mexican sweet bread and a key element in the observance of…
They Fried It, I Tried It
Adiba Nelson samples “cultural soul food” at Tucson Meet Yourself Video essays Adiba Nelson and Eryka Dellenbach One thing about…
Pueblos del Maíz in the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands
How corn connects us to land, history, culture, and community: an informal primer on the occasion of the inaugural Pueblos…
Tierra del Maíz
Ernesto Camou Healy on the history of maize in Sonora, Mexico Interview by Kimi Eisele Many of us associate Sonora…
Ecologies
Walking the Vertical Walk
An Indigenous climber takes on racism and white supremacy in the climbing community. by Ashleigh Thompson One of the first…
What a Basket Can Hold
A Tohono O’odham contemporary basket weaver on facing the climate crisis by Terrol Dew Johnson, as told to Kimi Eisele…
Power of Plants: Staying Well During COVID-19
Spending time with plants, avoiding sugar, eating fermented foods, applying pressure points—these are all tried and true tactics for promoting…
Master Artists
Fine-tuned Listening
Andrea Hoag on the intricacies of Swedish fiddle traditions and practice Interview by Eryka Dellenbach Andrea Hoag is an accomplished player of the Swedish fiddle from Tucson, Arizona by way of Seattle, Washington. Surrounded by Scandinavian community and traditional practices, Andrea learned to fiddle from Swedish Elders who learned from…
Deep Roots: Keeping Up the Traditions of Capoeira
Bryan Castle on names, practices, and community in the Brazilian martial art form of Capoeira Interview by Eryka Dellenbach Bryan Castle has been a practitioner of the Brazilian martial artform of capoeira for 22 years, studying throughout North America and Brazil with teachers such as the late Contramestre Dondi “Enxu”…
‘My Feet Move, I Don’t Stop’
A flamenco artist on how the dance keeps her going as it keeps evolving Interview by Eryka Dellenbach Angelina Ramirez is a flamenco dancer and instructor from Tucson, Arizona. Angelina has been active in the flamenco community for 32 years and calls flamenco “more than just a genre one practices; it…
Thinking like a Folklorist
In Memoriam: James S. Griffith
July 30, 1935-December 18, 2021 James S. Griffith, or “Big Jim,” moved to Tucson at age 20 to study at the University of Arizona, eventually earning a PhD in cultural…
How to Build an Archive(s)
by Jamie A. Lee I came to archives, community archives, and the practices of community archiving through my work as a documentary filmmaker and oral historian. As a queer activist…
What does five more degrees mean to you?
How thinking like a folklorist—and Indigenous studies—helps communities plan for climate change Interview by Kimi Eisele When it comes to engaging communities in the Southwest in planning and adapting for…
Folklife in the Age of Pandemics
by Maribel Alvarez As occupations go, folklorists are not usually in the top ten list of “first responders” most people think of when disasters or other major disruptions to everyday…