-./0+!12/ 34('') 5+6 7(689 - Rudolfo Anaya Digital Archive

free. '. !lAAffJ/ /(uc/l)!fb . ~s btl ~ef~~7=ii"~'. '. .802R4A73v. 1no. 2

de obsequio

/

I

II

ReAF Invades Taos;Symposium Plannedfor March

Millicent Rogers hostsChicano exhibits

Page 8

LOS THREE:Rodriguez: Coloradoartists with New Mexicoconnections

Fiesta de Maiz por Juan Orosco. 1979rotc conesra de MR\1 & ReAr

Page 7

"... (before) long the most valuable of all arts will be the art of deriving a comfortablesubsistence from the smallest area of soil. No community whose every member

possesses this art can ever be the victim of oppression in allY of it forms. "ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 1859

OJo,,o,o,~~

.g Cc "co ~ "U

C :. 010o 0 >.... ~-~ .c.i~ u~- ."" ",:r

"Santa Fe Style" exploits Devil Deer, Rudolfo Anaya's Eras. tablas, modos "el tesoro de la 'cequia," by"13 nacioncita:" Marfa latest creation is published for de sembrar de antes: Moises Rae} of Questa.Valdez of San Luis takes a the first time anywhere in sal van agua. tiempo offers a humorous glimpse tocritical look at this unique Arellano. y producen mas. the annual Spring ritualbioregion. Page 10. Page 12 known as "Io .mea."Page 4. Page 16.

vol. 1 110. 2 marzoiabril 1992

1Devil Deer

gnarled. and the huge animal walked likean old man with arthritis. The face wasdeformed. the mouth dripping with saliva.Only the eyes were clear as it looked atCruz. Go away, it said. go away from thisplace. Not even the medicine of your

grandfathers can help you here.What did the dream mean. Cruz won-

dered and rolled down the truck window. Thethick forest around him was dark. A sound cameand receded from the trees, like the moaning ofwind. like a restless spirit breathing, there justbeyond the Tech Area fence of the laboratories.There was a blue glow in the dark forest. but itwas too early for it to be the glow of dawn.

Cruz listened intently. Someone orsomething was dying in the forest. and breathing

,____________________________ in agony. The breath of life wasgoing out of the mountain; themountain was dying. The eerie,blue glow filled the night. In theold stories. when time was newthe earth had opened and bled irsred. hot blood. But that was thecoming to life of the mountain:now the glow was the emanationof death. The earth was dying, and

the black bear had come to warn him.Cruz slumped against the steering wheel.

His body ached: he stretched. II wasn't good tohunt alone. he thought. then instantly tried toerase the thought. He stepped out to urinate. thenhe turned to pray as the dawn came over the eastrim of the ridge. He held the medicine baa whichcontained his bear. Give me strength. he thouzhr.to take a deer to my family. Let me not be afraid.

It was the first time that he had eventhought ofbeing afraid on the mountain. and hefound the thought disturbing.

He ale the beef sandwich his wife hadpacked for him. and drank coffee from the ther-mos. Then he checked his rifle and beaan towalk. following the old ruts of the road along thefence. looking for deer sign. looking for move-ment in thick forest. When the sun came over thevolcanic peaks of the Jemez. the frost disappeared.There were no clouds to the west. no sign ofstorm.

At night. frost settled like glassdust on the peaks of the Jemez Moun-tains. but when the sun came up the colddissolved. The falling leaves of theaspen were showers of gold coins. Deersniffed the air and moved silently alongthe edges of the meadows in the highcountry. Clean and sharp and well defined,autumn had come to the mountain.

In the pueblo the red riztras hung againstbrown adobe walls. and large ears of com filledkitchen comers. The harvest of the valley hadbeen brought in, and the people rested. A haze ofpinon smoke clung like a veil over the valley.

Late at night the men polished theirrifles and told hunting stories. Neighbors on theway to work met in front of the post office or inthe pueblo center to stop and talk.It was deer season, a ritual sharedsince immemorial time. Friendsmade plans to go together. to staymaybe three or four days, to plansupplies. The women kidded themen: "You better bring me agood one this time. a big buckwho maybe got a lot of does preg-nant in his life. Bring a goodone."

Rudolfo Anaya© 1992 by Rudolfo Anaya

Cruz thought of this as he planned. Thistime he and his friend Joe were going up to aplace they called Black Ridge. They called itBlack Ridge because there the pine trees-werethick and dark. Part of the ridge was fenced in bythe Los Alamos Laboratory. and few hunterswandered near the chain-link fence.

The place was difficult to get to. hard tohunt, and there were rumors that the fence carriedelectricity. Or there were electric sensors and ifthey went off maybe a helicopter would swoop

"The bear was deformed. One paw was twisted likean old tree root, the other was missing. The legswere gnarled, and the huge animal walked like anold man with arthritis."

Cruz heard the sound of laughter asneighbors talked. In the night he made love to hiswife with renewed energy. just as the big buck hewas dreaming about. "That was good." hisyoung wife whispered in the dark. under thecovers. as she too dreamed of the buck herhusband would bring. Deer mear to make jerky,to cook with red chile all winter.

These were the dreams and planningthat made the pueblo happy when deer seasoncame. The men were excited. The old mentalked of hunts long ago. told stories of the deerthey had seen in the high country. sometimesmeeting deer with special powers, or remember-ing an accident that happened long ago. Maybea friend or brother had been shot. There weremany stories to tell. and the old men talked farinto the night.

The young men grew eager. They didn'twant stories. they wanted the first day of deerseason tocome quickly so they could get up thereand bag a buck. Maybe they had already scoutedan area. and they knew some good meadowswhere a herd of does came down to browse in theevening. Or maybe they had hunted there theyear before. and they had seen deer signs.

Everyone knew the deer population wasgrowing scarce. It was harder and harder to geta buck. Too many hunters. maybe. Over the'years there were fewer bucks. You had 10 godeeper into the forest. higher. maybe fmd newplaces. maybe have strong medicine.

down and the Lab guards would arrest you.Nobody hunted near the fence: the ridge laysilent and ominous on the side of the mountain.

All month Cruz and Joe planned. but afew days before the season started Joe was un-loading lumber at work and the pile slipped andcrashed down to break his leg.

"Don't go alone." Joe told Cruz. "Youdon't want to be up there alone. -Go with yourcousin. they're going up to the brown bear area ... "

"There's no deer there." Cruz com-plained. "Too many hunters." He wanted to gohigh. up to Black Ridge where few hunters went.Something was telling him that he was going toget a big buck this year.

So on the night before the season openedhe drove his truck up to Black Ridge. He foundan old road that had been cut when the LosAlamos fence had been put in. and he followed itas high as it went. That night he slept in his truck.not bothering to make a fire or set up camp. Hewas going to get a buck early. he was sure. maybebe back at the pueblo by afternoon.

Cruz awoke from a dream and clutchedthe leather bag tied at his belt. The fetish of stone,a black bear, was in the bag. He had talked to thebear before he fell asleep, and the bear had comein his dreams, standing upright like a man. walk-ing towards Cruz, words in its mouth as if it wasabout to speak.

Cruz stood frozen. The bear was de-formed. One paw was twisted like an old treeroot, the other was missing. The legs were

Cruz had walked a short distance: ashadow in the pine trees made him stop andfreeze. Something was moving off to his right.He listened intently and heard the wheezingsound he had heard earlier. The sound was a slowinhaling: and exhaling of breath. It's a buck, Joethought. and drew up his rifle.

As he stood looking forrhe outlineofthebuck in the trees he felt a vibration of the earthasifthe enrireridgewasmoving. The sound andthe movement frightened him. He knew themountain. he had hunted its peaks since he was

10-

a boy. and he had neverfelt anything like this. Hesaw movement again, and turned to see the hugerack of the deer. dark antlers moving through thetrees.

The buck was inside the fence. aboutfifty yards away. Cruz would have to go in forthe deer. The dark pines were too thick to get aclear shot. Cruz walked quietly along the fence.Al any moment he expected the buck to startleand run; instead the buck seemed to follow him.

When Cruz stopped. the buck stopped.and it blended into the trees so Cruz wasn't sureifit was a deer or if he only was imagining it. Heknew excitement sometimes made the hunter seethings. Tree branches became antlers, and hunt-ers sometimes fired at movement in the brush.That's how accidents happened.

Cruz moved again and the shadow of thebuck moved with him. still partially hidden bythe thick trees. Cruz stopped and lifted his rifle.but the fonn of the deer was gone. The deer wasstalking him. Cruz thought. Well, this happened.A hunter would be following a deer and the buckwould circle around and follow the hunter.There were lots of stories. A buck would appearbetween two hunting parties and the hunterswould fire at each other while the buck slippedaway.

Cruz sat on a log and looked into theforest. There it was. the outline of the buck in theshadows. Cruz opened his leather bag and tookout the small. stone bear. What he saw made himshudder. There was a crack along the length ofthe bear. A crack in hismedicine. He looked upand the blank eyes of thebuck in the trees were star-ing at him.

Cruz fired from thehip. cursing the buck as hedid. The report of the rifleechoed down the ridge.Nearby a black crow cried in surprise and roseinto me air. The wind moaned in the treetops.The chill in the air made Cruz shiver. Why didI do that, he thought. He looked for the buck; itwas still there. It had not moved.

Cruz rose and walked until he came to aplace where someone had ripped a large hole inthe fence. He stepped through the opening,knowing he shouldn't enter the area. but hewasn't going to lose the buck. The big bucks hadbeen thinned out of the mountain. There weren'tmany left. This one had probably escaped byliving inside the fenced area.

I'm going to get me a pampered LosAlamos buck. Cruz thought. Sonofabitch is notgoing to get away from me. The buck moved andCruz followed. He knew that he had come a longway from me truck. If he got the buck he wouldhave to quarter it. and it would take two days toget it back. I'll find a way. he thought. notwanting to give up the buck which led himforward. I can drive the truck up close to thefence.

BUIwhy didn't the buck spook when he

fired ar it? And why did he continue to hear thesound in the forest? And the vibration beneathhis feet? What: kind of devil machines were theyrunning over in the labs thai. made the earthtremble? Accelerators. Plutonium. Atomsmashers. What do Iknow. Cruz thought. Ionlyknow Iwant my brother to return to the pueblowith me. Feed my family. Venison steaks withfried potatoes and onions.

As he followed the buck. Cruz began tofeel better. They had gone up 10 the top of theridge and started back down. The buck washeading back toward the truck. Good. Cruzthought.

Now the buck stopped. and Cruz couldclearly see the thick antlers for the first time.They were thick with velvel and lichen clingingto them. A pine branch clung to the antlers. Cruzthought. or patches of old velvet. But when helooked close he saw it was patches of hair thatgrew on the antlers.

"God almighty." Cruz mumbled. Hehad never seen anything like that. He said aprayer and fired. The buck gave a grunt. Cruzfired again. The buck fell to its knees.

"Fall you sonofabitch! "Cruz cursed andfired again. He knew he had placed three bulletsright in the heart.

The buck toppled on its side and Cruzrushed forward to cut its throat and drain itsblood. When he knelt down to lift the animal'shead he stopped. The deer was deformed. Thehide was tom and bleeding in places. and a green

it back to the pueblo; he had to let the old men seeit.

He gathered his resolve and began drag-ging the buck down the ridge toward the truck.Patches of skin caught in the branches of fallentrees and ripped away. Cruz sweated and cursed.Why did this deer come to haunt me? he thoughtThe bear in the dream had warned him. and hehad not paid attention to the vision. It was not agood sign. but he had to get the deformed deer 10

the old men.II was dark when he drove into the

pueblo. When he came over the hill and saw thelighted windows. his spirits raised. This washome. a safe circle. But in his soul Cruz didn'tfeel well. Going into the fenced area for the deerhad sapped his strength.

He turned down the din road 10 hishome. Dogs came out to bark. people peeredfrom windows. They knew his truck had comein. He parked in front of his home. but he sat inthe truck. His wife came out, and sensing hismood. she said nothing. Joe appeared in thedark. a flashlight in his hand.

"What happened?" Joe asked. Cruzmotioned to the back of the truck. Joe flashed thelight on the buck. It was an ugly sight whichmade him recoil. "Oh God." he whispered. Hewhistled, and other shadows appeared in thedark. neighbors who had seen Cruz's truck drivein. The men looked at the buck and shook theirheads.

"I got him inside the fence." Cruz said."Take Cruz in the house." oneof the men told Joe. They wouldgel rid of the animal."Come inside." Joe said. Hisfriend had been up on the moun-tain all day. and he had killed thisdevil deer. Cruz's voice and va-cant stare told the rest.Cruz followed Joe and his wifeinto the house. He sat at the

kitchen table and his wife poured him a cup ofcoffee. Cruz drank. thankful that the rich tastewashed away the bitterness he felt in his mouth.

Joe said nothing. Outside the men weretaking the deformed buck away. Probably bumit, he thought. How in the hell did something likethat happen. We've never seen a deer like this.the old men would say later. A new story wouldgrow up around Cruz, the man who killed thedevil deer. Even this grandchildren would hearthe story in the future.

And Cruz? What was 10 become ofCruz? He had gone into the forbidden land. intothe mountain area surrounded by the laboratoryfence. There where the forest glowed at nightand the earth vibrated to the hum of atom smash-ers. lasers. and radioactivity.

The medicine men would perform acleansing ceremony; they would pray for Cruz.But did they have enough good medicine to washaway the evil the young man had touched?

"On the other side of the ridge lay Los Alamos, thelaboratories, and nobody knew what in the hell wenton in there."

bile seeped from the holes the bullets had made.The hair on the antlers looked like mangy. humanhair. and the eyes were fWO white stones mottledwith blood. The buck was blind.

Cruz felt his stomach heave. He turnedand vomited. the sandwich and coffee of themorning meal splashed at his feet. He turned andlooked at the buck again. It legs were bent andgnarled. That's why it didn't bound away. Thetail was long. like a donkey tail.

Cruz stood and looked at the deer. and helooked into the dark pine forest. On the other sideof the ridge lay Los Alamos. the laboratories. andnobody knew what in me hell went on there. Butwhatever it was. it was seeping into the earth.seeping into the animals of the forest. To livewithin the fence was deadly. and now there wereholes in the fence.

Cruz felt no celebration in taking the lifeof the buck. He could not raise the buck's headand offer the breath of life to his people. Hecouldn't offer the com meal. He was afraid totouch the buck. but something told him he couldn'tleave the deer on the mountainside. He had to get

-11