Hermanitos Comanchitos: Indo-Hispano Rituals of Captivity and Redemption

Enrique R. Lamadrid
Miguel A. Gandert , Photographer

One of the great festival traditions shared by Pueblo and Hispano across New Mexico is the celebration Los Comanches. In this series of winter festivals, communities come alive with colorful processions, boisterous ceremonial dance, allegorical nativity plays, and a folk drama on horseback which portrays the 1779 defeat of famed war chief Cuerno Verde. In a mixture of defiance and emulation, these events honor the historic relations of war and peace with the Comanches, the feared and admired warriors and traders of the south plains who once held the fate of all New Mexico in their hands.

Lamadrid and Gandert provide historic, poetic, and photographic documentation of one of the richest legacies of the upper Rio Grande, a cultural crossroads known for its mestizo traditions and transcultural exchanges. A CD anthology of "Comanche" music accompanies a stunning selection of Gandert's photographs.

Winner of the 2004 Chicago Folklore Prize from the American Folklore Society. Winner of a Border Regional Library Association Book Award.

". . .Lamadrid has painstakingly pulled together an outstanding anthology from the oral tradition about the influence of the celebration of the ritual tradition known as Los comanches. . . The photographs are rare and significant in the preservation of this Spanish colonial folk play. . . .This work is highly recommended for those interested in Southwestern folklore."--Colonial Latin American Historical Review

"Hermanitos Comanchitos is an excellent study of cultural hybridity . . . . Lamadrid's accessible interdisciplinary work will appeal to students in folklore studies, to be sure, but also to students and scholars in Native American, Hispanic, and religious studies."--Western Folklore

"Hermanitos Comanchitos is an important book for understanding the sometimes contentious history of New Mexico."--New Mexico Historical Review

"A must for ethnologists of all specialties. . . Highly Recommended."--Choice

"Lamadrid's fine book and Gandert's moving photographs bring rich detail to what has long been an overlooked chapter in New Mexico's rich cultural heritage."--The New Mexican

"Students of Latin American cultures, ethnomusicologists, folklorists, ethnic studies scholars, and anthropologists interested in performance or hybridity will all find this book highly relevant and interesting."--Journal of Folklore Research

"This beautifully written book describes in complete detail the nature of today's proceedings, along with the music and other rituals. A masterpiece of New Mexican folklore."--Roundup Magazine

Enrique R. Lamadrid is a literary folklorist and cultural historian in the University of New Mexico's Department of Spanish and Portuguese. In 2005, he was awarded the Americo Paredes Prize by the American Folklore Society in recognition of his work as a cultural activist.

Miguel A. Gandert is professor of journalism and communication, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

Paso Por Aqui Series on the Nuevomexicano Literary Heritage

7 x 10 280 pages 78 halftones, 3 maps, 70 minute CD