Recent Features
Tools and Time: A Conversation with Blacksmith, Zach Lihatsh
Zach Lihatsh is a blacksmith who has trained with teachers from Italy, Germany, Sweden, Estonia, and throughout the United States. A recipient of a 2019 SFA Master-Apprentice Artist Award, Lihatsh is teaching the trade to apprentice, Austin Rose, a former student of his at Pima Community College. BorderLore editor Kimi…
Harvesting Cholla: The Pleasures of Intangible Heritage
by Kimi Eisele For hardy desert dwellers, springtime means foraging for food amidst the cactus spines. Cholla buds are rich in calcium and magnesium and, like nopales, fall low on the glycemic index, which means they can help stabilize blood sugar. In a time of pandemic, finding nourishment from the…
Essays
Audio essay by Ruxandra Guidi | April 2020
Lola’s Quince: A Lesson in Belonging
Essay by Mele Martinez | September 2019
My Sunrise: How I Came of Age the Apache Way
Essay by Brooke Gregg | September 2019
Interviews
Wired to Serve: Making Essential Workers Visible
Occupational folklife reveals the customs, traditions, lingo, and superstitions of the job and often brings visibility to those who labor behind the scenes or in…
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 good health. In this moment…
“It Sounds Like Mexico”: Lessons in Mexican Folk Harp
Adrian Perez, 30, has been playing the Mexican folk harp for 15 years. The instrument traces traditional roots to jarocho music of the southern coast…
Thinking like a Folklorist
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…
Reciprocity in Fieldwork
by Jim Griffith The relationship between folklorist and informant is, by its very nature, reciprocal. To start off, I don’t really like the word “informant” for the person who gives…
How Writing Docudramas Taught Me to Listen
by Milta Ortiz I came to playwriting from poetry, where I focused on writing from personal experience. When I started writing plays, I carried that along, writing from my own…
Remapping LA
by Alison M. De La Cruz On April 17, 2019, ArtChangeUS: Arts in a Changing America convened nearly 400 arts and cultural workers for ReMap LA, a Cultural Equity Summit at…