From the time you first encounter a native rock painting on a rugged hillside or enjoy a passionate mariachi ballad, this region's culture begins to work its charms.
It's modern, yet eternal - an assemblage of cultural treasures that give Southern Arizona its unique sense of place.
This wonderful blend of Native American, Spanish, Western Pioneer and Mexican reveals distinct styles that authentically reflect the traditions of a dramatic and perse region.
Tucson's past is lively and complex, said James Big Jim Griffith, former director of the University of Arizona's Southwest Folklore Center. Griffith founded the Tucson Meet Yourself folk festival 38 years ago as a way to celebrate the living traditional arts of the Arizona-Sonora region.
If you were to peel away from Tucson our desert and mountain scenery, our sunsets, our resorts and even our museums, there still would be plenty left to please and fascinate, Griffith said.
Ground of the Ancients
It begins along the banks of the Santa Cruz River, where the Hohokam lived and farmed for thousands of years. After these native peoples mysteriously disappeared, the Tohono O'odham, also farmers, created a new cultural layer.
European influence came when missionaries, notably the Jesuit Italian priest Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino, brought religion to the area and established several missions beginning in the 1600s.
The Spanish army eventually built the Presidio San AgustÌn del Tucson, a walled fortress to protect settlers from Indian raids. Barrio neighborhoods grew up around the fort, along with stagecoach stops for ranchers, prospectors and other pioneers.
Nowhere is this connection of new and old worlds symbolized more perfectly than in San Xavier del Bac, 12 miles south of Tucson. One of the finest examples of Spanish mission architecture in the world, it hasn't really changed much since it was part of the Spanish Empire, Griffith said. It is really a sort of time machine, for inside it are all the statues and murals that were there when it was dedicated in 1797. It is also a living church, serving the same native people for whom it was built over 200 years ago.
Preserving Tradition
One who knows this dramatic notch of culture well is Jeffrey Willis, senior partner at Snell & Wilmer, a law firm actively involved in preserving the mission. Willis also is a board member of the Patronato San Xavier, the not-forprofit society dedicated to maintaining and restoring this national historic site.
Tucson developed in a very different way from the rest of the country because it was the last piece of the lower 48 states to become part of the United States. The region is reflective of the melding of so many cultures whose origins are separate, he said. That's what makes Southern Arizona so unique. We're part of a seamless web in which all facets of our quality of life are dependent on the others.
Roots Interconnected
Heritage and culture are primary components of community building and fuel our imagination and creativity, said Arizona Commission on the Arts Executive Director Robert Booker. Culture and the traditional arts teach skills which are fundamental to society and, in turn, are valued by business.
The New York Times (36 Hours in Tucson 2009), Forbes (Best Retirement Places 2011) and American Style (Top 25 Big Cities 2011) are among the publications underscoring the connection between rich culture and strong community.
Fiestas Grande
Which brings us to the people, the living repository of the stories and traditions that abound in Tucson. More than just passing along or preserving symbols of the past, people add spice to their traditions through a circuit of cultural festivals and intensely colorful sacred celebrations that convey the cultural stories and ways. A few examples:
- Mining, ranching and railroad histories built the west. Legends capture imagination of all who want to pay homage to cowboys and frontier days. One festival that harks back to Wild West heritage is the Cochise Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering, celebrating Western folklore and cowboys each year. Another is La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo and Parade, a top-ranked rodeo that honors the ranching spirit.
- Native American celebrations offer rare and treasured glimpses of the region's indigenous cultures. The Yo'emem, also known as Pascua Yaqui, incorporate religious traditions of Spain into sacred Lenten ceremonies that merge missionary teaching and native ritual. There's the traditional Easter ceremony performed by the Pascola deer dancers, adorned with headdress and using native instruments. There's also the Waila festival of the Tohono O'odham, a celebration of the chicken scratch social dance that combines polka and norteÒo music with traditions learned from German immigrants who helped build the railroad. Both celebrations blend public performance with the folk crafts reflective of deep Native American traditions.
- La Frontera Tucson International Mariachi Conference Fiesta de Garibaldi is a showcase for the instruments, clothes, voices and movement that are all part of a studied tradition. From the celebration of the foods and danza folklÛrica traditions to the Mariachi gatherings and spontaneous performances, this is an annual celebration of music born of many influences.
As one cuts through the fabric of architecture, landscapes, traditions and peoples, many threads of culture emerge - charming, mysterious and beautiful. Everything in Southern Arizona, it seems, has a heritage and a story to tell.