Se Da Libertad al Venado: Y Otras Leyendas de los Indios de Nuevo Mexico = The Freeing of the Deer

This brief bilingual collection of Pueblo Indian myths is a happy union of New Mexico's diverse cultural traditions. Intended to introduce younger readers to some of the stories that have been passed on orally from generation to generation, the facing-page English-Spanish versions presented here also offer a rare opportunity to sample an older yet still vivid Spanish idiom. The author, a direct descendant of one of the first Spanish families to colonize sixteenth-century New Mexico, taught Spanish for many years at the high school and university level. The stories she recounts here are meant both to teach and to entertain. They describe the creation of the world and the way the Pueblo people began to cultivate corn, and in general bring to life their religious and social customs, accounting for magic, medicine men, and many forms of plant and animal life.