Vigil calls himself a cuentista--Spanish for storyteller--and he says that's his primary and favorite occupation, one that earned him a Colorado Council on the Arts Heritage Award. But in recent years, he's also turned to writing as a way of spreading and preserving Southwestern culture and traditions around the region. He's now at work on his fourth book, a collection of stories from Mexico, just as his third, a kind of Hispanic culture how-to, is hitting bookstore shelves. Vigil says the new book, Una Linda Raza: Cultural and Artistic Traditions of the Hispanic Southwest, is aimed at just about everyone, from older people nostalgic for simpler times to anyone interested in preserving traditions of any kind. And though he's done extensive library research and conducted field interviews with numerous elders of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, his most reliable source comes from his own life and those of his family members.
"In my last book," he says, "I did an intellectual exercise of cataloguing all my childhood memories. As I found they reflected a very profound and extensive list of folklore activities, I realized my own family was a true repository of cultural history. Now I use them as a confirming source for other information. My regular practice is to call up my mom and ask her, 'How'd you do it when you were a kid?'"
In return for her folk knowledge, Vigil's mom gets to enjoy his books. "She told me it was the greatest gift I could give her," he says. "She told me, 'You brought my childhood back to me.'"
Vigil doesn't think the old Hispanic traditions have been lost so much as they have had to take a back seat to the speeding technology and fast-lane lifestyles of modern times. Most people are just too busy to talk about old customs--but not all. "One of my great comforting discoveries is the way Hispanic artists have dedicated themselves to participate in a kind of folk-art renaissance--there are tin-makers, santeros, weavers, muralists and a number of storytellers, all still doing their thing," he says, adding that he's pleased to find himself among the ranks of such artisans.
That's how Una Linda Raza came about. Designed to answer simple questions about how to properly observe anything from the Day of the Dead to a wedding march, the book is a family primer begging for participation. Vigil tells about the origins and practice of such traditions and then offers hands-on activity guides on how to do them yourself. "My books are not dry history documents," he maintains. "People can learn a story or find out how to make a santo. I like my books to serve as role models; I hope people will see it and say, 'Hey, I'd like to make a book like this for my own culture.'"
But he's not fussy about it. No reason to be. "Different cultural practices exist within every family," he says. "Every family has its own version. I try to tell people not to be intimidated by the rules or feel like they have to say, 'Am I doing the right version?' I try to give people the idea that they can do this, too."
--Froyd
Angel Vigil performs at 10:30 a.m. April 24 at the Rocky Mountain Children's Book Festival, Currigan Exhibition Hall, 1324 Champa St., free, 839-8320.
