The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 75, July 1971 - April, 1972 Page: 125

Book Notes

Book Notes
Tales from the Mohaves. By Herman Grey. (Norman: University of Okla-
homa Press, 1970o. Pp. xv+96. Map, bibliography. $4.95.)
The Mohaves belong to the Yuman linguistic family and share many
cultural characteristics with other members of that family, the Yumas,
Maricopas, and Cocopahs. When the whites arrived the Mohaves lived in
the valley of the Colorado River in the vicinity of what is now Lake Mo-
have. Primarily farmers, they also hunted small game and fished the waters
of the Colorado. They were feared warriors and were sometimes confused
by whites with the Apaches. Their religion and even their daily life fea-
tured a concern with dreaming unusual among Indians. Grey, a Mohave
himself, describes dreams as the "foundation of Mohave life" and they
figure prominently in the eight stories he tells. Designed for Mohave chil-
dren, the myths he has written down also can be read with profit by the
scholar. They tell the story of the origins of the Mohaves, their migration
from the Yucatin Peninsula to the valley of the Colorado, and episodes in
the life of their culture heroes, Red Hand and Swift Lance. History this
is not, but we can learn something of what once was the way of life of one
group of the first Americans.
State University of New York, Fredonia WILLIAM T. HAGAN
Shawls, Crinolines, Filigree: The Dress and Adornment of the Women of
New Mexico, 1739 to zgoo. By Carmen Espinosa. (El Paso: Texas
Western Press, 1970o. Pp. xiv+61. Illustrations, bibliography. $7.95.)
A beautiful book in format as well as content, Carmen Espinosa's work
is delightfully readable. The author's Spanish ancestry and education make
it doubly authentic.
With accompanying illustrations in both color and black and white, the
book gives a short history of Spanish dress, discusses the historical back-
ground of the early New Mexico costumes, and sets forth some of the rea-
sons for their survival to the present day. Many dresses were willed, along
with jewelry and accessories, to families who still treasure them. A number
are more than a hundred years old.
At Fiesta, both in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, descendants of numerous
old Spanish families model the shawls, mantillas, and gowns for fashion
shows of the past, as enjoyable as the exhibits of today's mod styles. This
reviewer many years ago had the pleasure of modeling one of the lovely
dresses from this collection.
Carmen Espinosa has given us the romance of a past era. Shawls, Crino-
lines, Filigree is recommended, a small treasure to be owned, read, and
appreciated.

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