A friend of mine sent an email today letting me know our PBS station is airing a documentary tonight on writer Rudolfo Anaya. It’s called From Curandera to Chupacabra: The Stories of Rudolfo Anaya. You can watch the documentary via the link; it’s only 26 minutes long.
My favorite Anaya book is Bless Me, Ultima. His latest book, Curse of the Chupacabra, is for young adults. I’ve been wanting to get it to read out loud to the girls.
Chupacabra, by the way, means “goat sucker.” I’ve heard it described as a chicken-like creature with a long beak that sucks the blood from goats and other large animals. I think of it as El Cucuy meets cattle mutilations.
Anyhow, I’m going to watch the documentary. I took a creative writing class from Anaya when I was in college. He was an influence in my writing life. Plus, my friend’s husband worked on the film and their son has a supporting role.
You should watch it, too. Then read some Anaya books. But keep an eye out for the chupacabra. Really.
ybonesy,
I’ve always been curious about chupacabras. They might exist. Maybe they’re supernatural beings. I saw a “skinwalker” one night out on the Rez. Strangest/scariest thing I’ve ever seen. I sped up the car and got to my little apartment and locked the door. When I told my Navajo friends the next day what I saw, they freaked out!
A friend in Silver City has an interesting take on these phenomenon. When you are immersed in a culture, you begin to “absorb” the culture without being aware of it. This makes you subject to their belief system.
Interesting and fun stuff.
Later,
MM
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Wow, how can I not know anything about skinwalkers? I had to look it up on this link. If I were a mystery novel fan (in which case I’d be a Tony Hillerman fan), I might know more. Or, if would have ever visited you while you worked on the reservation, perhaps I would have known.
Gee, between La Llorona, El Cucuy, the chupacabra, and skinwalkers, it’s amazing I can live here. Who else are we missing?
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I’m more familiar with skinwalkers so it’s really cool to learn about the chupacabra. I searched for From Curandera to Chupacabra: The Stories of Rudolfo Anaya on PBS here but no go. I will watch it from the link you provided.
In the meantime, Liz typed the name into our TV and stumbled on a movie tonight on Sci-Fi called – Chupacabra: Dark Seas. Can you believe that? I am watching it as I type. It stars Giancarlo Esposito, John Rhys-Davies, Chelan Simmons.
mm, you actually saw a skinwalker? That gives me goosebumps. Interesting footnote about being immersed in a culture and absorbing it. I’m sitting with that one.
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ok, the chupacabra just made an appearance in the movie – that is one ugly looking thing, let me tell you. what are the chances I would run into this movie tonight? I’ve never heard of chupacabra before and here it is, TV and computer screens.
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Chupacabra: Dark Seas just ended. Now Quincy, M.E. is starring in an episode of the Twilight Zone. Night.
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QM, YB,
I saw “something” and when I described it to my Navajo friends, they freaked out and said it was a skinwalker.
I’ve driven hundreds of thousands of miles, many of them at night. I used to put 40,000 miles per year on my car when living out on the Rez. I’ve seen all sorts of things at night; mountain lion, badgers, dogs, coyotes, deer, cattle, horses, people, elk, rabbits, birds, etc., but I had never seen anything quite like what I saw that night.
I was just driving along, heading back to Borrego Pass School from Crownpoint where I was teaching a night class at Dine’ College. I was doing about 50 mph just passing the area of where one of my students lived (it was one of my mental waypoints). This student had told me about his neighbor who was a skinwalker and I brushed it off. I said that’s crazy! He insisted no, he’s a skinwalker!
Anyway 3 years later I am driving along in this area when suddenly a black shapeless blob passed in front of my car. Totally black. So black that the headlights did not reflect anything. The headlights fell into a black void of nothingness.
It was weird. I’ve never seen anything like that ever in all my years of driving at night. I’ve seen black dogs and cats, and they reflect light. This thing did not. It was a black shapeless form with no defined legs or tail, and it moved across the highway from south to north (right to left).
I drove on kind of stunned for a couple of seconds, then put the accelerator down and sped up to about 60 mph. It gave me the creeps.
The science teacher/skeptic in me says it was a black dog, but I like to think of it as a skinwalker since my Navajo friends all said it was.
MM
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As you were getting sucked into the Chupacabra movie, QM, I got sucked into a feature on birds (and then I fell asleep). Wow, what a coincidence. Here you never even knew about the thing and now you’ve seen one!
MM, I think you did see a skinwalker. Is the skinwalker like Llorona? I mean, do adults use the story at all as a way to help kids stay away from places they shouldn’t go?
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My understanding of a skinwalker is that it is a shape-shifter. It is a powerful witch who can take on the shape of any creature. If it needs strength and speed, it might take on the shape of a wolf. It it needs to hide, it could take the shape of a mountain lion…or something stealth-like. It uses the skins of these animals as clothing.
I think it is something more than Llorona. (BTW the Venezuelans have their version of Llorona as well.) From what I gathered, skinwalkers are a form of witchcraft that invokes terror in Navajos of all ages.
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Two comments: first, have you seen George Lopez’ latest HBO special where he talks about the Llorona as Chicano children’s bedtime story? It’s hilarious.
Second, with all that night driving in deserted highways, do you ever wonder if you’ve been alien-abducted? My acupunturist is a big believer in alien abductions, and he said they tend to happen on dark, lonely highways.
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I remember hearing Llorona on a hot summer night hanging out under the street light with the neighborhood gaggle of kids.
I’ve only seen a couple things that were UFO-like. My dad was really into that stuff. This summer I hope to ride my bike to the Gasbuggy site http://www.atomictourist.com/gasbug.htm near Dulce (you know about the secret UFO base right? ;-)). I wish my dad was around to go with me.
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[…] -Related to post Because Goat-Sucking Creatures Do Exist. […]
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Roma,
One of the CDs in The Big Read series is an introduction to “Bless Me, Ultima.” I didn’t know **anything** about the book or its author before I listened to the CD this morning. I just got it at the library because I’m listening to all 21 titles the Minneapolis Library carries.
In the first few lines of the CD they said the setting of the book is a Latino community in New Mexico. I thought, “Oh! I wonder if Roma knows about this guy.” The longer I listened to the CD, the more the whole story sounds like you, and how you describe your roots in New Mexico.
Reading this post, I see you studied with Rudolfo Anaya. I can’t believe it. Good for you. 🙂
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How cool, Teri! I’ll be interested to hear if you liked the book. I have a copy and should re-read it. It was his first novel and in many respects, his best. I think it was, anyway.
He’s a humble man. He looks like a younger version of my father. I studied with him in the 80s. I see him now and again, but I had heard recently that he’s battled with different serious ailments. I haven’t seen him in years.
I took an advanced class with him–a graduate level, although I wasn’t a graduate student in Writing or Literature. But I was able to take it, and it was a small group, maybe a dozen people. It was taught in the workshop style, where we worked on a short story (we did two or three, as I recall) and brought in revisions each week. Students read and commented on the stories, as did he.
He was always encouraging of my work. I wrote two fictional stories, one based on my father’s cousin who was a priest and died of AIDS, and another based on my mom and her poker habit. He genuinely seemed to like them both and encouraged me to continue writing and pursue these two stories.
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Rudolfo speaks several times on the CD. He sounds, as you say, humble. And very kind. His voice isn’t very strong, so I’m not surprised to hear he’s been ill. Do you still have the two stories you wrote in his class? I’d love to read them, if you’re willing to share.
Isn’t it a small world? Who knew two decades later I’d listen to the CD featuring your former teacher?
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I do have those stories, Teri. When you come, I’ll let you read them. I have to say, they’re not all that good. I’ve wanted to re-write them since, but I haven’t. The one about my mom and her poker habit is especially convoluted, as there were so many characters. All her poker playing friends had these old names, and truly complicated lives (with second husbands or men who weren’t really husbands and kids on drugs, and so on). I think Anaya’s advice to me on that one was to simplify, focus on this relationship between the main character (based on my mom) and her husband.
It IS a small world. Hey, there’s going to be a local author fair at my favorite bookstore on Sunday. I’ll have to see if Anaya will be there. It would be fun to see him again.
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