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Mexican American Folklore

Lead Section:

Folklore is defined as the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, passed through the generations by word of mouth. In the Mexican American culture stories like this are highly valued and influence the social construct of their communities. The first key points of the sections include the history of Mexican Americans in the southwestern part of the United States. This article will cover examples of folklore stories, specifically La Llorona since she is the dominant female figure in Mexican American folklore. This article also covers Aztlan and will discuss the history and significance of the fabled Chicano homeland. The last two sections will cover the folklore stories that are still told today, identifying a few examples and explain their values. There is also an analysis of the overall relevance of folklore in today’s world for the Mexican American people. The last section will connect the folklore stories that are used today with the Chicana Feminist movement. This section will cover and discuss authors that have identified the connections and try to explain the importance of these stories in their movement. The Virgin Mary should be covered but I will also find others that have impact on these women.

History of Mexican American Folklore

People of Spanish descent have been living in the southwestern part of the United States since before the territory was annexed into the United States. Mexican Americans have strong ties to the region, because their ancestors settled and lived on the land for generations. With Spain owing the territory for hundreds of years, a strong influence of Spanish culture and traditions arose and can still be seen today. Following the Mexican-American war, “most of this area, almost half of Mexico’s northern territory, was ceded to the United States, and approximately 80,000 Spanish-Mexican-Indian people suddenly became inhabitants of the United States”.  After the war, the United States acquired a huge chunk of land and, as a result all of the Mexican nationals living in the area were now part of the United States. Citizens of the U.S. began flooding into the area to find land to live on. Due to all the Anglos moving into the region, those of Hispanic descent faced oppression of both liberties and culture.

The folklore of a culture provides one with a view of the important aspects of both daily and private life. Rafaela Castro is a Mexican American who grew up in California. She spent two years with the Peace Corps in Brazil before obtaining a master’s degree in folklore from the University of California, Berkeley where she focused on Chicano studies. Castro defines folklore as “the informal knowledge of a culture that circulates within and among families, groups, towns and regions”.  The stories, passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth, provide insight into beliefs, traditions, and outlooks on the world. Folklore can be considered an unofficial history of Chicanos. The tales can educate children on appropriate social behavior or norms of the community. Folklore serves four basic functions; it is meant for amusement, maintaining a cultures rituals and institutions, passing on wisdom, and maintaining conformity and exerting social pressure for social control.  The role of folklore is much broader than most people think. There are a multitude of purposes of the stories including entertainment, life lessons, and acceptable behavior.

Drawing of the La Llorona

La Llorona

The most famous example of a woman in Chicano folklore is La Llorona, the weeping woman. There are a few different variations of La Llorona, but the common consensus is that she is the ghost of a murderous mother who haunts near water like river banks or lake shores. She is always described as having long hair, down below her waist, and is seen wearing a white gown. As the tale goes, her lover left her with their two children. Angry, she drowned her children in an act of revenge or grief. For that reason, she is doomed to walk the earth forever in search of her children. La Llorona “serves as a cultural allegory, instructing people how to live and act within established social mores”.  Her tale is often used as a bedtime story to get children to go to sleep or behave when out in public. However, to others her legend is just another spooky story meant to scare children. Given the popularity of the legend, there are many works done by “folklorists, literary critics, anthropologists, and feminist writers. Children’s books, short stories, novels, and films” are just a few of the ways La Llorona has been inscribed into history.  As Gloria Anzaldua, a scholar of Chicana cultural and feminist theory, talked about in her article “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”,  living on the U.S. side of the border made it hard for Hispanics to relate to their national identity because of the oppression by Anglos. Anglos forced those of Hispanic descent to speak English at schools. Anzaldua stated how she remembered being caught speaking Spanish at recess and got “three licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler.”  Despite the alienation by Anglos, Mexican Americans were proud of their culture. The story of La Llorona was just one way that Chicanas were able to align themselves with their ancestors.  

Mythical homeland of Aztlan

Aztlan

Aztlan is the legendary homeland of the Aztecs. During the 1960’s Chicanos living in the greater American Southwest began to use the concept of Aztlan as a way to show their pride in their national identity. It came to be known as a mythical homeland for Mexican Americans; an imaginary place “based on a revival of Mexicanismo”. Aztlan was a place that was inclusive to all those of Hispanic descent and encouraged them to support one another.

Some refer to Aztlan in terms of land annexation. After the United States conquered the southwestern part of North America thousands of Mexicans suddenly became Americans. They were living on the same land they always had but were now foreigners. According to de la Torre and Gutierrez, two scholars of Chicano studies based in Mexico, due to the “illegal” immigration of the Mexican Americans back and forth across the border, social links and mutual commitments were able to be maintained.  Aztlan is sometimes talked about as the land that the Unites States took from Mexico after the Mexican-American War. De la Torre and Gutierrez imply that for this reason Aztlan was an attempt for Mexican Americans to regain lost history and identity.

The concept was first seen in El plan de Aztlan adopted at the National Chicano Youth Liberation Conference, held in Denver, Colorado in 1969. El Plan was based off of a poem by Alberto Alurista who pushed for it to become the central theme of the conference.  The plan brought together community activists from across the southern United States. It inspired these Chicanos to become more aware and self-determined during their struggle for equality. Aztlan would soon become ingrained in the Chicano movement.

Modern Mexican American Folklore

•Today most of the Mexican folklore, aside from the more popular folklore stories like the mentioned La Llarona, is based in cultural identity. It may be, in fact, that folklore offers one mean of reconciling the individual’s split loyalties insofar as it often deals with very real problems, thus lessening tensions at least.  This split between keeping their Mexican roots or completely assimilating to the American way of life. Examples of this can be as simple as speaking English opposed to Spanish in public, or as serious as identifying as American rather than a Chicano. This inner conflict of choosing between identities usually yields harsh results as the individual usually ends up losing their original culture. In today’s modern society many Mexican nationals traveling from Mexico to the US struggle with these problems of identification. Some folklore   stories told today, for example The Bracero (Mexican Agricultural Worker), reflect this struggle of identity. This story revolves around a young Mexican man who, during WWII, came to the US for farm work under the Bracero program. Throughout the story he finds himself in awkward situations where he must act more American or more Mexican. It also important to note that although a serious subject the stories themselves revolve around humorous behavior.

•Another type of folklore that Mexican American culture presents is the one of a more Robin Hood like nature. Take for example the story of Tiburcio Vasquez, he is regarded as a proud man who resisted social domination and fought to maintain and preserve his culture.  This story is based around his life in California where after being involved in a murder case he lived a life constantly on the run. Although not guilty for his involvement, he knew he wouldn’t be treated justly back home, from there he decided to live a life of thievery and robbery. Like Robin Hood he only stole from the wealthier and never killed anyone in his acts, in fact, “One source refers to his captives as hog tied.”  Although a bandit on the run, he also lived a life of romance with many women as he constantly moved from city to city. Vasquez embodied the life of a true outlaw in the wild west.  Considered a legend of Mexican folklore his stories offer more than just entertainment and crime. They offer resistance to unjust authority and discrimination. Stories like his have influenced attitudes and behaviors of Mexican men and women even today. They understand stories like these bring hope to their communities when dominant social groups try to control them.

•It is also important to note how these stories have evolved overtime. They may keep the same narrative, but the use and interpretation of these stories have changed over the years. A great example of this evolution is the La Leyenda Negra story. Also known as the Black Legend, this folk story explains the origin of the belief Spanish people are inherently bad and cruel people. This idea has evolved with the story itself and is now used to explains the rude way Anglo Americans treat Spanish descent people specifically Mexican Americans.

Connection to the Chicana Movement

• The most influential and significant figure to Mexican Women in general is the La Virgen de Guadalupe. Known as the virgin Mary she represents the ideal women in the Mexican culture. Although she is the preeminent representation of womanhood, she has become an icon for women’s subjugation and oppression.  Since the catholic faith is a driving force in the Mexican American community figures like the Virgin Mary hold very high importance. More important to the Chicana movement is that this is one of the few figures that is female. Being a female, the Virgin Mary can connect with all Mexican American Women, as seen in Ruiz’s work: From Out of the Shadows. Some of the values passed on and reflected by the virgin Mary include, faith, strength, family, and independence. As the Chicana movement moves forward their ability to fall back on these virtues and values of the virgin Mary will help them overcome future barriers.

• Vicki Ruiz is a renowned professor of History and Chicano/Latino studies at the University of California Irvine. She is an award-winning scholar and educator, publishing multiple books on Chicano studies. She has been an icon for women studies and well as the Chicano/Latino communities in California. In her successful book, From Out of the Shadows, she goes over the sacredness of the Virgin Mary to the Mexican Women in her book, From out of the Shadows. Specifically, she entails the way mothers pass on their values to their daughters based on the virgin Mary. She also reports on having the actual Virgin Mary present in the home and its importance to the entire family. Her presence in the home serves as a place of worship as well as a reminder to act accordingly. Ruiz also shows how the Guadalupe acts as a source of independence for women. The Guadalupe being a virgin had a child without the need for a man, showing women can be independent of men. Young women in the Mexican American culture use this idea to grow and establish themselves outside the family. The Chicana feminist’s group use the idea of independence to separate themselves from the wave of the Chicano movement. Both look to the Guadalupe for strength and belief in their cause.