The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 104, July 2000 - April, 2001 Page: 627
673 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Book Revzews
"is perhaps unpardonable" (p. 6)-but, after all, her field is literature and the
series to which this volume belongs is about the Nuevo Mexicano literary her-
itage. But history is not slighted. The general editors of the series state that "no
more exceptional an individual . .. is to be found in the history of the cultural
production by New Mexico's hijos nativos" (p. vii). The labor of Chivez (1910-
1996) spanned seven decades and covered an amazingly vast gamut, which is
explored by the ten well-chosen contributors to this book.
In the first section on Chivez the historian, Luis Leal discusses his historical
and semifictional writings about the La Conquistadora image. Marc Simmons
describes the genesis of such foundational historical works on the Hispanic her-
itage of New Mexico as the genealogical Origzns of New Mexico Families (1954; rev.
ed., 1992), the massive report on the Missions of New Mexico, 1776 (1956, coedit-
ed with Eleanor Adams), and the marvelously annotated Archives of the Archdiocese
of Santa Fe, I678-900oo (1957). Mario Garcia skillfully explains how Chavez
focused on his people's religious history as a way of validating and indeed rever-
ing their Catholic Hispanic heritage in the face of the dominant Anglo/North
European paradigm whether Protestant or Catholic. Garcia states that Chavez
most effectively contested that negative paradigm in two of his latest (although
less recognized) works, But Tzme and Chance (1981) and Tres Macho, He Sazd
(1985). In those books Chavez portrayed in more respectful and "complicated
terms" (p. 31) the historical agency of Fathers Martinez and Gallegos and other
Catholic Hispanos during the nineteenth century in the unique regional reality
of New Mexico.
In the middle and largest section, McCracken, Thomas J. Steele, Manuel
Martin Rodriguez, and Clark Colahan (this last author echoing Garcia's princi-
pal argument) explore Chavez's accomplishments in fiction, poetry, art, and
church restoration. Through these works Chavez portrayed the noble Hispanic
soul of My Penitente Land, as he entitled one of his most famous writings (1974).
McCracken's essay includes many black-and-white illustrations of Chavez's art.
McCracken's own introductory essay and the final section present biographi-
cal information. Jack Clark Robinson, O.F.M., describes Chaivez's historical jour-
ney as a Franciscan (and almost two decades separated from the Order). Murray
Bodo, O.F.M., chronicles his Franciscan spirituality. Thomas Chivez, his histori-
an-nephew, provides personal reminiscences.
Some of the authors describe the traits which make Chivez's work so valuable:
his "compelling impulse to narrate" his people's heritage (p. 53), his meticu-
lousness (p. 27), his "intellectual rigor, scholarly commitment, and artistic
prowess" (p. 1), and his "unflagging honesty" (p. 13). On the other hand, sever-
al note that he was too biased in favor of the Spanish culture, while they recog-
nize the historical context which helps to explain this. What this volume makes
clear is that any serious historical investigation on New Mexico, in particular
Hispanic New Mexico and most especially its religious dimension, has to pass
through the works Fray Angelico crafted.Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio
627
2001
Robert E. Wright, O.M.I.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 104, July 2000 - April, 2001, periodical, 2001; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101221/m1/705/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.