of noble and wise indigenes bring, it has changed lives, fired imaginations, delighted millions of readers, just as a good fairytale should do. Read as a work of art, it is blameless, though in a time when we are more sensitive to questions of cultural appropriation, a good editor would probably insist on a subtitle change: A Hybrid Way of Knowledge, perhaps. But it does matter, I think, to the Yaqui people of southern Arizona and northern Mexico, who for years have had to fend off Don Juanâs would-be apprentices, some addled, some dangerous, all intrusive; who have suffered by outsidersâ words and deeds for centuries; and who, like all people, deserve accurate representation in the world. And they have it: Through writers and singers such as Felipe Molina, Mini Valenzuela, Miki Maaso, Refugio Savala, and Miguel Mendez, a generously shared, indisputably authentic Yaqui way of knowledge flourishes on the page and is available to readers everywhere. In their words lies the real magic, words that those who wish to be truly at home in the Sonoran Desert should know. n
One of the most moving of all forms of religious expression in our region, in my view, is the cycle of Yaqui observances of Easter Week, which this year ends on April 16. In the Tucson area, two Yaqui communities, Old Pascua and New Pascua, hold ceremonies that are open to the public. For information, see www.pascuayaqui-nsn.gov. In part owing to abuses by outsiders in the past, the Yaqui people forbid note-taking, drawing, photography, sound recording, and the like at any of these observances. If you visit, please dress and behave as if you were attending churchâthough the Gloria ceremony on Holy Saturday has its raucous moments, it is still a solemn occasion, and a transcendent one at that. n
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