The Reigning Southwest

The Reigning Southwest

What makes the southwest the "southwest"? The Wikipedia online encyclopedia stated that,

The Southwestern United States or simply the Southwest is a region of the United States that is drier in weather than the adjoining Southern United States and Western United States; the population is less dense and, with moderate Mexican and American Indian components, more ethnically varied than neighboring areas. Outside the cities, the region is a land of open spaces, much of which is desert...

This is a good description of the southwest. The southwest does in fact have a dry climate, the population is not very dense, and the southwest is a multi cultural place. In Arturo Islas' book, The Rain God, the southwest is described on just about every page, such as"...he longed to return to the desert of his childhood, not to the family but to the place" (Islas 5). This quote was taken when Miguel Chico was in agonizing pain after his surgery. Miguel is wanting to get out of the situation he is now and go back to something he is familiar with, something that won't kill him like the desert.

What makes the southwest the "southwest" ? Wallace Stegner put forth this quote about books about the southwest. He wrote that books about the southwest are "not about place but about motion, not about fulfillment but about desire." I believe that Stegner's statement simplifies the real complexity of the southwest. The diversity of cultures and unique scenery is what makes the southwest so unique.

I was born and raised in Santa Fe, NM the geographical heart of the southwestern United States. In my 21 year tenure living in the southwest I see myself as an expert on all things southwest. A major influence that makes the southwest so unique is its diversity of cultures. The southwest draws its culture from three major influences, The Native Americans/Indians, The Spanish/Hispanics, and the Anglo/Whites. I myself have been influenced a great deal by the southwestern culture. It is most noticeable when I speak. On more than one occasion I have been accused by my family from the eastern United States, that I "speak English like an Indian", referring to the way I pronounce words such as Clinton. The way I say Clinton is more like "clinen" I don't really pronounciate the T. I never really noticed it because it's the way of the diverse local culture. Arturo Islas' book, The Rain God, gives several examples of diversity,

On the weekends the four of them (El Compa, Sara, Miguel Angel and Juanita) went to nightclubs across the border, danced all night, and acted like the rich gringos who lived on the hill. At the end of every month the money they spent so lavishly was gone, and they were contempt to go to each others houses and play casino after the evening supper of beans and tortillas (Islas 59).

This passage shows the cultures of both the Whites and Hispanics of the time. The four friends partied across the border in Juarez where they could act like rich white people when they had money. They were so caught up in their "American" lifestyle that nothing else seemed to matter to them, until the end of the month when they were out of money and forced to stay at home and resume their normal routine. They integrated the culture of the whites into their own by not following a set traditional guideline for culture.

Another example of influence of the diversity of cultures in the southwest is the fact that no one in the southwest is in a hurry. In Leslie Marmon Silko's book, Ceremony the laxness of the culture is clearly evident. "He had been waiting for more people to show up before he began his speech, but Rocky and Tayo and old man Jeff were the only people out in the wind that afternoon" (Silko 64). The army recruiter had been waiting for people to come but nothing was happening. There was no hurry. The southwest has been given the name of the