¡Colores!; 902; A Southwest Christmas; A Southwest Christmas, Interview with Roberto Mondragón 2

There's no question in my mind that the traditions that are unique to New Mexico bring, I'll start again, do you want to say Southwest? Yes, Southwest. There's no question but that the traditions of Christmas throughout the Southwest do bring people together. People of different ethnic backgrounds of different religions, maybe people who don't normally participate in this, because of the beauty of it, they come together. I need to say at this point that it's very important that we know that there are people who come to the Southwest and learn about what's here, including those things religious, those things cultural and artful and beautiful, and come and enjoy that as part of their life,

then there are those people who come to try to take advantage of that in some way, usually monetarily. So there's two types of people that come to New Mexico, just like there's two kinds of brothers and dookins and mothers and so forth, and I think that it's important for people to come to the Southwest and look at it as something that is very much a part, become a part of it, enjoy it, and then take some of it back and share it much more so than to try to come and make money and get rich off of it. But let's make a promise to point out all these things we talk about, all these, like, for instance, besides, what would you say, we're all, let's take this, talk about religious. And let's, and it's profound importance of people's lives beyond the surface that we see

with the previous, I mean, it's real importance in terms of all these culture. You want to concentrate on the religious aspect of it? I want to concentrate on what these things are, and really, and that's our core of what these are. I don't want to miss that point, I want to talk about that because it'll be really easy to talk about free pictures, but I want to talk about what these really, really come up. I look at, at culture, as something that encompasses a lot of different aspects in Spanish, we say aspectos de la cultura, our aspectos culturalis. And the different things that I consider to be a part of culture include, of course, the language, and through the language, then we sing, and we talk, and we say all of the words that are in the different place, then besides the language, as the religion,

and the values, when we look at the values, those are expressed many different ways with the different Christmas traditions, good versus evil, respect for each other, for parents, for elderly, for our own selves. Those are the kinds of things that come as part of that culture, or part of that part of the culture. And then as you go through to folklore, to traditions, through customs, all of them really intermingle, even with art, even with the different parts of what we consider to be art, art, folklore, music, blended in together with the religion, all this blended in together with the religious part of our culture, then puts it into a way to where it shows that that's where it really originates, you know, is with the religion.

It all originates with Christmas, or with other traditions that have blended in with Christmas from other cultures, including the origins of religion before Christianity, which were the Jewish, and then after coming into the New World, then the kind of religions that were indigenous to the people both in Mexico and what is now the Southwest. All of this coming together then shows that there is a basis for all of this besides just the beauty and the prettiness that there is in seeing it and in hearing and in taking pictures. But to a lot of people it's very important and very deep and a very important part of their lifestyle. So, if we're going to talk about the last statements for a show like this, what would it be important to say to people who, again, sort of turn it that way around, but it's

not going to be about these okay. It's not going to be about the traditions, and are just amazed by the beauty of it. I mean, I almost want to caution my students and I know this is all new to the stuff, and we see new narratives, you probably know as you see, the wonderful braids, you see the possessions you see, the Americans and gowns and stuff, but this is all stuff that has a thousand-year-old mixture of colors. You know what I'm saying? That kind of stuff. This is not just done from pure entertainment value. This is what I'm going to go for. And that is something that I'm really afraid that this show is going to be. It's just too pretty. I think there's got to be some substance in there. And I want to appreciate it. There's got to be something in it that's got something to do with it. So, thank you. In closing, one of the most important things that we must keep in mind is that although this is very colorful, very beautiful, with a lot of lights and seeming fanfare that takes place during this time of the year, it's important for us to remember that it is something

very serious in its basis, that it comes from the depth of religious beliefs. Not just necessarily of one religion, but a combination of many of them. And certainly, as people come together to enjoy, that they should keep this in mind. Keep in mind that it has a religious basis, that it's very beautiful, that's here to enjoy. But it's also here to take with you, not just in the pictures, but also in your heart. As we look at the seriousness of the world in the past and the present and try to make it better in the future. Thank you very much.