Legends 
See Leyendas
La Leyenda Negra (The Black Legend)
La Leyenda Negra is the term used for a myth that describes a very negative attitude many believe pervades the historical perspective regarding Hispanics and Mexicans. The Black Legend embodies a belief that Spaniards are basically a cruel, evil, lazy, greedy, treacherous, and fanatical people. It originated in the era of Inquisitorial Spain and has misrepresented the history of Spain since the 1500s. The printed history of the conquest of the New World depicts a violent and corrupt invasion, but there is a belief that the Black Legend has influenced the way this history has been written.
The Black Legend originated in the sixteenth century during the Protestant Reformation, with the beginnings of a rejection of Catholicism and abhorrence of the political and military power of Spain. When Spain and Portugal remained loyal to Catholicism, and expanded their empires by settling in South America, Central America, the Caribbean Islands, and parts of North America, the rest of Europe looked on very disapprovingly. This viewpoint has continued to color everything about Spain since then, including the grim legacy left by Spain in the New World. It has justified the dictatorial treatment of Latin America and Mexico by the United States since the early nineteenth century. Biased attitudes toward Catholic Spain were inherited by Anglo Americans and brought to the New World colonies by Protestant English settlers.
The term Leyenda Negra was assigned to this belief by Julian Juderias, a Spanish intellectual, in 1914. He stated that anti-Spanish propaganda and misconceptions had continued to develop since the sixteenth century, and historical distortions in both Europe and America constituted a Leyenda Negra. It is thought that the Black Legend is actually the basis for the discriminatory treatment of Mexicans by Anglo Americans during the conquest of the frontier in the 1800s, and even for the current treatment of Chicanos in the United States in the twentieth century. The cause for derogatory stereotyping of Mexicans, and other Latin Americans, is difficult to understand, and the negative stereotype seems to have no historical basis, until one understands the history of the Black Legend. Publications by early American travelers to the Southwest and Mexico depict the Spanish Mexicans in not only horrendous terms, but with extreme passion. Thomas Jefferson Farnham, a New England attorney, wrote in the 1840s, “In a word, the Californians are an imbecile, pusillanimous, race of men, and unfit to control the destinies of that beautiful country” (Weber, 295). Stephen Austin, in 1822–1823, after a trip to Mexico City wrote, “To be candid the majority of the people of the whole nation as far as I have seen them want nothing but tails to be more brutes than the apes” (Weber, 298).
During the U.S.-Mexican war of 1846–1848 the uncivil treatment of Mexicans and Californios and the public conviction in the righteousness of the war are cited as examples of how Mexico was disrespected by Americans. Historically powerful stereotypes of inferior Mexicans and Mexican Americans, perpetuated by arrogant Americans such as Austin, led to the accep-tance of Manifest Destiny as America’s right. “The result of such efforts to discredit Mexico and justify war was a widespread belief that the God--forsaken Mexicans were unworthy to keep the valuable resources and land they had inherited from Spain” (Sanchez 1990, 9).
The popular image of a Mexican with a large sombrero sleeping under a cactus very likely originated from these early writings of traveling Americans, with the result that the icon has become imprinted forever upon the collective character of Chicanos and Mexicans. The common reference to “finally the sleeping giant awakens” when conferring on Mexican American social-political issues is made often by educated and acculturated Chicanos, manifesting an internalization of an image imposed from outside the Mexican culture. Although no one actually mentions the Black Legend belief, its legacy permeates a lot of Chicano oral folklore.
References Powell 1971; Sanchez 1990; Weber 1979
Leyendas (Legends)
A leyenda, a legend, is an oral narrative different from a folktale in that it is narrated as if the event described occurred in the recent past and the story is believed by the narrator to be true. There is often a supernatural element to the narrative, such as a person’s disappearance into thin air, yet it will be recited as having occurred in a specified locale. Often the narrator states where the story originated and explains that the events were observed by a grandmother, cousin, father, or friend. The names of persons and places in the narrative will be familiar to the audience. In Chicano oral tradition, stories about La Llorona, the Blue Lady, or Joaquín Murrieta can properly be called legends and almost always tell a story the audience wants to believe. The Chicano community’s cultural belief system is inherent in the narrative, otherwise the legend would not be recited and retold, again and again. There are hundreds of variants of the La Llorona legend, all narrated about known encounters with her, during the past 200 years. Her tragic story is believable, and one can say she is probably the quintessential legendary figure of the Chicano folk belief system.
The urban belief tale, sometimes just called an urban legend, is a subtype of the legend and is called such because it circulates among all classes and ages and reflects modern stresses and anxieties. It is not only found in urban centers but in rural regions as well. In addition to the legend of La Llorona (Weeping Woman), another widespread legend in Chicano folklore is the Vanishing Hitchhiker, although not always known by this name. A California folklore journal first carried an article about it in 1942, and a Chicano version appears in Miller’s narrative collection from Los Angeles with a date of 1939. The story usually involves a driver who picks up a hitchhiker, often late at night and often a young girl, and he drops her off at or near her home. She leaves something in his car, or he lends her a jacket or sweater, and the next day he returns to retrieve it and learns that she was a ghost, and has been dead for several years. Sometimes she is met at a dance, and asks a boy to drive her home, or she might be a nun, but the ghost is rarely a male. Brunvand calls it a classic automobile legend, and its prevalence has increased since cars became affordable to all social classes. Interestingly, the Vanishing Hitchhiker legend is one of the few narratives shared by both Anglo American and Chicano folklore. Mark Glazer discusses a collection of 152 variants from the Rio Grande Folklore Archive at Pan American University in Texas and states that the legend is “part of a culture which believes in miracles, mystery, and romance” (1987, 35).
See also Agreda, María de Jesus Coronel de; La Llorona; Murrieta, Joaquín
References Brunvand 1981; Glazer 1986, 1987b; Miller 1973; Robe 1980
Limpia (Cleansing)
A folk medicine ritual also called a barrida, from the Spanish verb barrer, meaning a “sweeping,” as in housecleaning. Limpiar means to clean and a limpia is similar to a barrida. Both words mean a cleansing, in a medical and in a spiritual sense. Some people use the word limpieza instead of limpia, but the significance is the same. An individual may seek a limpia from a healer if the person is not feeling well with no specific cause or feels that bad luck or misfortune is prevalent in his or her life. A limpieza can expel the hostile forces and also provide spiritual strength so that the person can effectively fight off negative energy. Spiritual healers who are not curanderos perform limpias, although mostly it is curanderos who perform this ritual. The patient may be standing, sitting in a chair, or lying down while the ritual is performed. The healer will sweep the patient with a little broom made of herbs, such as sage, rosemary, and rue, believed to be effective in eliminating evil influences. Herbal water, holy water, or alcohol is sprinkled over the person in the form of a cross, and the healer’s hands are used to sweep along the whole body, pushing away the evil spirits. While this is being done prayers are recited. The prayers may be the Lord’s Prayer or Las Doce Verdades del Mundo (The Twelve Truths of the World). Instead of herbs some curanderos use an object for the sweeping, such as an egg or a lemon, believing that it will absorb the harm or illness affecting the patient. These objects are burned after the ritual, ensuring the recovery of the person. The person is swept on all sides, front and back, and if there is pain in a particular spot, special attention will be given to that area. Trotter states that “the presence of the curandero, the soothing effect of the sweepings (touching), and the low-key monotone chant of the prayers produces in the patient a light trance state that is comforting and reassuring” (Trotter and Chavira 1997, 82).
See also Curanderismo; Las Doce Verdades
References Roeder 1988; Trotter and Chavira 1997
La Llorona (The Weeping Woman)
This is the name of probably the most famous legendary woman found in Greater Mexico. The ancient legend of La Llorona has been traced to pre-Columbian times in Mexico, and there is continuing discussion whether it may also have medieval European origins. Most Chicanos heard of her as children, read about her in literature, or learned of her from friends. La Llorona, meaning “the weeping woman” or “the howling woman,” may be represented as an Indian woman, an ugly old witch, or a beautiful woman in white with long flowing hair. She always appears late at night, and her crying and weeping can be vividly heard as she shrieks, “Ayyy, mis hijos!” (Oh, my children!).
According to the tragic legend, there once was a woman who was abandoned by her husband, or lover, and left with two or three children. Angry and seeking revenge, she kills her children by throwing them into a river, or sometimes by other means. When she realizes what she’s done, she goes insane. She is condemned to spend eternity searching for her lost and dead children. Consequently she is often heard in the night calling her children. She frequents rivers and other bodies of water, and is sometimes seen floating above the water looking, searching for her children. Her legend has been recited for over 300 years, and in contemporary times she is still believed to be wandering the streets in large cities, as well as in the small towns of the Southwest where numerous people report encounters with her. At times she is seen as a beautiful woman, wearing a white dress, roaming back streets and country roads, crying and weeping. Sometimes she becomes visible to the wayward husband who is out late, drinking, and when he approaches her, she turns into an ugly horse-faced hag, scaring him into swearing abstinence forever. Parents use her name to scare little children into obedience: “Hay viene La Llorona . . . portaté bien” (The Llorona is coming, behave yourself). Even adults who’ve heard the story many times and do not want to admit belief still fear a late-night encounter with La Llorona.
There are ancient texts of indigenous mythology narrated by the Aztecs and recorded by the Spaniards that very closely resemble the La Llorona legend. In some tales she is believed to be Cihuacoatl, the patron goddess of women who die in childbirth. It is said that Cihuacoatl carried a little baby cradle on her back, or a dead baby in her arms, as she roamed the country crying through the nights. Those who saw her considered it an ill omen. Sahagún mentions in The Conquest of Mexico that “a woman was often heard [as] she went weeping and crying out. Loudly did she call out at night. She walked about saying: ‘O my beloved sons, now we are about to go!’” (Horcasitas and Butterworth, 208). Horcasitas and Butterworth reprint several texts of these early chronicles. Diego Muñoz Camargo (ca. 1529–1599) also reported that before the Spaniards arrived, “many times and many nights was heard the voice of a woman who cried out in a loud voice, drowning herself with her tears, and with great sobs and sighs, wailing” (Horcasitas and Butterworth, 209).
Contemporary texts of La Llorona collected in Mexico assert that the original Llorona was La Malinche, the mistress of Cortés. Cortés abandoned her to return to Spain, and according to the legend Malinche killed their son with a knife. This could be the source of another characteristic of the La Llorona legend. In many variants the reason for her abandonment by her lover is their class differences. He leaves her for someone of his own class, or she is an Indian woman or a mestiza (mixed-race woman) and he is of pure blood. In other variants, she is a woman of the streets, who doesn’t want her illegitimate children, so she throws them into the river. She is always described as having long hair, down below her waist, and is seen wearing a white gown. Sometimes men see her as a temptress and a siren; she entices them to follow her, and then she frightens them with her horrible looks. They are usually found dead the next day. What appears to be an unjust punishment is that La Llorona is condemned to wander for eternity, crying and repenting, searching for her lost children. All mothers who have lost children identify with her, and feel her pain.
The prodigious amount of published literature about La Llorona, by folklorists, literary critics, anthropologists, and feminist writers, attests to the complexity of the legend. Children’s books, short stories, novels, and films have been created based on this basic story of infanticide and repentance. We find narratives in rural and urban areas of the Southwest, on college campuses, in juvenile halls, in large cities of the Midwest such as Chicago, and among the native populations of Mexico.
Many Chicanos see themselves as orphans of La Llorona, as the lost children of the marriage between the Aztecs and the Spanish Conquerors. She is a beloved female archetype among contemporary Chicanas, who write poems, short stories, and academic research articles about her. As one writer put it, “It is finally time to let go of a single, narrow understanding of the tale and to see La Llorona instead as an always evolving emblem of gender, sexuality, and power—and, too, as another female victim of history’s tender mercies” (Candelaria, 115).
See also Leyendas; La Malinche; La Muerte
References Anaya 1984, 1995; Arora 1981; Barakat 1965; Candelaria 1993; García 1992; Gonzalez Obregon 1947; Horcasitas and Butterworth 1963; Limón 1988b; Paz 1961; Rebolledo and Rivero 1993; Simmons 1974; Vigil 1994; Zinam and Molina 1991
Los Lobos (The Wolves)
The name of a musical group formed in 1973 in East Los Angeles, with the full name of Los Lobos del Este de Los Angeles. The group has been together ever since, with four of the same musicians, all raised in East Los Angeles. Starting out playing Top 40 band music, they eventually decided to play traditional Mexican folk music, using traditional Mexican instruments. They’ve incorporated into their music the instruments, such the bajo sexto (a twelve-string guitar), el guitarrón (a bass guitar), and el quinto (a five-string guitar).
Their repertoire reflects the variety of Mexican and Chicano music, such as Tex-Mex, Música Norteña, rock and roll, blues, salsa, rhythm and blues, and other Latino styles. The group plays norteño music interspersed with rock and roll. They played and recorded the music for La Bamba, Zoot Suit, and other films and have toured worldwide. Rolling Stone Magazine named the group Band of the Year in 1985. They received a Grammy Award for “Anselma” in 1984, a 75-year-old Mexican song.
In 1988 they produced an album, La Pistola y el Corazon (The Pistol and the Heart), of acoustic Mexican folk songs, which is considered a great collection of Mexican folk music.
References Freedman 1987; Guevara 1985; Loza 1985; Monsalvo 1989
Low Rider
The expression “low rider” is used to describe the car, the subculture, and the person who drives a vehicle that has been lowered, rides very low, and has been customized. A car, truck, bicycle, van, or motorcycle that has been lowered—and this can be achieved by various methods—means that it sits very close to the ground and has a sleek streamlined appearance. The driver and/or owner is called a low rider and the act of low riding refers to all the activities associated with driving the car: cruising, caravanning, and hopping. Low riders have commonly been associated with cholos (1990s urban youth) and gangs, but traditionally Chicanos seriously involved in low riding and customizing low-rider cars are not involved in gangs, and low-rider clubs actually present an alternative to gang involvement. Low-rider car clubs communicate a message of cultural pride and unity. Although different, the cholo subculture can be closely linked to the low-rider subculture.
It is not clear when low riding started, but it was already a custom by the 1930s in Los Angeles and Sacramento, although the name “low rider” did not come into usage until the 1960s. After World War II, because of the growth in the economy, many Chicanos could afford to buy cars, old and new, and the practice of customizing cars and cruising became very popular throughout the Southwest and California during the 1950s. The most popular cars to lower are long ones, such as Fords, Buicks, and Chevrolets. Hydraulic lifts are used to lower and raise both the front and rear ends of a car. Before it was discovered that a hydraulic lift could be used with the batteries stored in the trunk of the car, different methods were used to lower the chassis of the car. Early crude methods were to place heavy bricks and cement bags in the trunk, or to cut the spring’s coils, or lower the car’s blocks. To give the car that lowered look the top might be cut back to lower the roof. In recent times, once a car is “lifted” or “all juiced up,” the driver controls the lift with a hand control.
The painting and decorating of the exterior and interior of the car are very important for appearances, personal identity, and also for belonging to a car club and participating in car shows. The interior may be upholstered in crushed velvet, red or black, have wall-to-wall carpeting, a bar, a chandelier, a TV, and a stereo tape deck. The exterior may be painted in two tones, a lacquer mixed with iridescent flakes, or have a pearl finish. Sometimes the undercarriage is chromed and gold-plated. Painting low-rider cars is a specialty only available at certain paint and body shops, so low riders must be aware of such businesses. Besides the painting of the car, other decorative designs or motifs may also be applied, such as pinstriping, fancy lace (a fire design), and murals. Murals of an Aztec or Mayan scene or La Virgen de Guadalupe are popular icons painted on the trunk, hood, or roof of the car. Even though there is similarity in the styles, each car is very different in the final production. There are many techniques employed to arrive at a unique personal style. For instance accessories from different-year models are interchanged, such as side panels from a 1957 model may be cut and welded to a 1952 car, or “’57 Cadillac tail lamps on a ’62 Chevy Impala” (Bright, 196).
Low riders are usually young urban Chicanos, between the ages of eighteen and thirty, and there can be two and three generations of low riders in one family. The cost of fixing and maintaining a low-rider car is fairly high, so the owner typically is a working person. Since finding older cars, say from the 1950s, is becoming difficult, some low riders now customize small trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles as well. The movie Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life) depicts the work that goes into customizing a pickup truck.
Cruising involves driving very slowly up and down city streets, such as Mission Street in San Francisco, Whittier Boulevard in Los Angeles, and King and Story Roads in San Jose, California. The objective of cruising is to socialize, to see and be seen, to give others the opportunity to admire one’s car and to admire the other cars; consequently the driving must be very slow, muy despacito. Driving a great customized car, beautifully painted, is a unique experience for the low rider. Cruising slowly and smoothly, sitting low in the driver’s seat, glancing out at the street, nodding the head slightly when being recognized, all these make up an experience only a Chicano low rider who has invested lots of time and money in his car can appreciate. Cruising is often compared to the custom of promenading around a plaza, referred to as el paseo in many Latin American and Mexican cities. In this sense, the low-rider car becomes a cultural vehicle, as represented by the artist Gilbert Lujan in his series titled “Cultural Vehicles.”
A low-rider 1969 Ford LTD called “Dave’s Dream” is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington D.C., the first and only low-rider car in the museum. From Chimayo, New Mexico, Dennis Martinez, Richard Martinez, and David Jaramillo worked on customizing the car, starting in 1975. It has two hydraulic pumps, with the batteries stored in the truck, that lift and lower the car and can make it rock from side to side and give it an appearance of dancing. Actually “car dancing” is an event held at low-rider car shows.
Within the low-rider subculture there exist several divisions of traditions. For instance, car clubs are an important aspect of the culture and a way to showcase cars in competitions. One of the oldest ongoing car clubs in Los Angeles is named the Dukes. Members of car clubs are referred to as “clubbers,” and they compete for trophies, ride in car caravans, and often participate in fund-raising events. “Cholos” are considered another group, less financially stable with more modern cars, less ornate, and likely more Mexicano in orientation. A third group, the “cha chas,” are Mexican immigrants, who drive the Toyotas and Volkswagens, and are a smaller group.
Low Rider Magazine was founded during the 1970s to provide a forum for low riders and the culture that surrounds low riding. Low Rider has been very instrumental in the widespread growth of low-rider car clubs, and “Low Rider Happenings,” throughout the Southwest. Low riding is looked upon as a very Chicano cultural phenomenon, yet it has spread to other ethnic communities. There are many non-Chicano car clubs, and the Japanese have also adopted it. Low Rider has been publishing a Japanese edition for the past four years and has organized low-rider car shows in Tokyo and Osaka. As a form of artistic expression and folk art, the customizing of low-rider cars by Chicanos is an expression of tradition and cultural pride.
References Bright 1994, 1995; Chabran and Chabran 1996; Gradante 1985; Griffith 1988; Marks 1980; Parsons 1999; Plascencia 1983; Stone 1990; Thomas 1994; Vigil 1991
Luminarias (Bonfires)
Not to be confused with farolitos, luminarias are small bonfires, and the custom of lighting them dates back to the Roman history of Spain. These small fires are built in New Mexico to celebrate La Noche Buena, Christmas Eve, and to light the way for the announcement of the birth of the Christ child. One family may light three luminarias in front of their home, one each for Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, while another may light twelve, one for each of the twelve apostles. It is believed luminarias originate from the huge bonfires built in pre-Christian times to celebrate rituals to the gods and goddesses. Also in ancient times shepherds built fires to keep themselves warm and to scare off the wolves. This tradition continued in New Mexico with the shepherds’ fires to illuminate the way for the coming of Jesus Christ. They are not as well known as farolitos in contemporary American popular culture, and one often finds farolitos mistakenly called luminarias, and magazine articles describe how to make them, especially during the Christmas holidays.
References Anaya 1995a; Brown 1978; Ortega 1973