Zuni Stew: A Novel (23 page)

Zuni Folk Tales
, Frank Hamilton Cushing, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1901. First edition.

My Adventures in Zuñi
, Frank Hamilton Cushing, with additions to the original volume by Cushing and E. DeGolyer, plus
An Aboriginal Pilgrimage
by Sylvester Baxter, The Peripatetic Press, Santa Fe, NM, 1941.

The Zuni Enigma
, Nancy Yaw Davis, W. W. Norton & Co.

A Zuni Life
, Virgil Wyaco, University of New Mexico Press, 1998.

Zuni and the American Imagination
, Eliza McFeely, Hill & Wang, 2001.

Zuni Fetishes
, Frank Hamilton Cushing, K C Publications, Forth Printing, 1972.

A Guide to Zuni Fetishes and Carvings
, Kent McManus, Treasure Chest Books.

Salt Lake: The Beautiful and the Dangerous,
Barbara Tedlock, University of New Mexico Press, 1992.

A Matter of Genocide
, Ward Churchill, City Lights Books, San Francisco, 1997.

The Hand Book of Pharmacy & Theraputics
, Eli Lilly Co., 1927.

Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West
, Michael Moore, Museum of New Mexico Press, 1987.

Traditional Zuni Food
, Rita Edaakie, A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center, 1999.

Pueblo Indian Cookbook
, Phyllis Hughes, Museum of New Mexico Press, 1979.

The Peregrine
, J. A. Baker, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., London, 1967.

Zuni Stew
was edited by Sallie Ritter.

Readers Guide

1. After testifying before Congress, Bill is still enraged by the uranium poisoning aided by the Small Business Administration. Did that open your eyes to the birth defects, cancer, loss of livestock and lives among the Pueblos of New Mexico?

2. How did the relationship between Jack and Lori change?

3. Senators Trask and Phillips are behind the plot to move the boundaries at Sacred Lake. Did their mastery of corruption ring true?

4. As an educated man, how does Jack interpret the paranormal? For example, the resurrection of Christ can be seen as mythology. Even though something cannot be explained, can it still be true?

5. Bill is happy with his life on the Zuni reservation even though he lost his first love. Did you feel his
“simpatico”
with the Zunis?

6. Lori is thought of as a naïve rookie by Agent Brooks. When did she figure out that Brooks was crooked, and who had the proof?

7. Yolie holds her head high, the epitome of a feminist
Chicana
. Did she ring true?

8. Tito tells Jack that there is no time in Zuni. Do you understand the differences between their divergent worlds?

9. Will Tito carry on as a
shiwani
?

10
. Josh was mistreated by the government, left with an irreparable injury. Yet he is surprisingly intuitive. Were you impressed with his forethought?

11. Historically the Catholic Church attempted to destroy the indigenous religions. Were you aware of the conflicting worlds, the history of crimes against the Native Americans?

12. The physical beauty of New Mexico becomes a character unto itself. Did the people, the landscape and culture of New Mexico come alive, and were you able to enter that world?

13. Cosmology, the supernatural, and magic are constant themes in the novel. Have you ever been confronted with such events?

14. Symbols, such as a fetish, have a “presence” in Louis Paul’s world. Animals, such as the peregrine falcon, guide and/or protect. Was this convincing?

15. Zunis believe Nature to be the guiding force of all things. For instance, they believe even a pebble has a soul. How does Nature influence your life?

16. Light is a constant theme, especially a mirage, as in the astonishing scene with Jack and Bill in the Piper. Did this phenomenon seem real to you? Have you ever experienced bending light?

17. Is
Zuni Stew
a murder mystery, a romance or what?

18. Give examples of the voice, the details used to emulate 1973, such as Route 66, Haight Ashbury, Watergate.

19. The slaughter of the D’Amico family was ordered by Anthony Knapp, and carried out by Gabriel. Was there resolution?

20. Jack feels his anguish, remorse disappear, to be replaced with calm after eating Zuni stew. If any reader should want to try it, the recipe follows.

Recipe for Zuni Stew

White Corn Hominy:

1 quart dry white corn kernels

2 quarts water

1/2 cup slacked lime (available at builders supply firms)

Dissolve lime in water in large kettle. Add corn and stir well. Boil for 30 minutes or until hulls loosen. Let stand 30 minutes then wash thoroughly in cold water, working with hands until dark tips of kernels are removed. Rinse again until water is clear. (Always used for posoli.)

Stew:

2 cups posoli corn (lime hominy)

6 cups water

1 lb. pigs feet, beef tripe, cubed pork or lamb, or 2 1/2 lbs. pork ribs

1/2 pork rind

4 red chile pods made into unseasoned sauce or 3 tablespoons red chile powder

1 tablespoon chopped onion

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons oregano

Cook posoli corn in water to cover until kernels pop. Add red chile sauce or powder, meat and pork rind. Bring to boil in covered kettle, adding water to cover as needed and simmer until meat is well cooked and corn is tender, at least four hours at low temperature. Day long cooking at lowest simmer temperature improves flavor even more. Cut meat from bones and add chopped onion and seasoning. (Green chiles, roasted and chopped may be substituted for red.) Simmer covered an additional thirty minutes.

Serves four to six.


From
Pueblo Indian Cookbook
, compiled and edited by Phyllis Hughes, Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, NM, 1972.