WhoamI?

Family AdventuresOf Cholo, Vato,

And Pano

George Rivera and Tony Ortega

¿QuiénSoy

Yo?Aventuras Familiares

De Cholo, VatoY Pano

This book is dedicated to the veterinarians and staff

at the Huron Animal Hospital in Denver, Colorado,

who care for Cholo and Vato as if they were their own dogs.

— George Rivera

In memory of my grandmother Trinidad Ortega who taught me

"Who am I" with our many summer trips to Pecos, New Mexico.

— Tony Ortega

Story by George Rivera, Ph.D. Illustrations by Tony Ortega

1

School had ended, and my grandmother wasusing the summer to get ready for winter. Shewas sewing a quilt out of many differentpieces. Sometimes she would let me sew too.Cholo and Vato were always with me when Ihad that special time with my grandmother.

I was always very curious and wanted to knowmore about everything. So one day, I askedher, “Abuelita, do you know where we camefrom? Who are our people? Who am I?”Immediately, she replied, “See these patchesthat I am sewing? Each one is different butall the pieces go together, like people of alldifferent colors fit together.” So my abuelitabegan her story.

La escuela había terminado y mi abuelapasaba el verano preparándose para elinvierno. Cosía una cobija de muchas piezasdiferentes. A veces me dejaba coser a mítambién. Cholo y Vato siempre estabanconmigo durante esos ratos especiales con miabuela.

Yo era siempre muy curioso y quería sabermás sobre todas las cosas. Entonces, un día lepregunté, “¿Abuelita, tú sabes de dóndesomos? ¿Quién es nuestra gente? ¿Quiénsoy yo?” De inmediato ella respondió, “¿Vesestos parches que estoy cosiendo? Cada uno esdiferente, pero juntos forman una sola unidad,así como toda la gente de distintos coloresencaja perfectamente.” Y así mi abuelitaempezó a contarme su historia.

2

“Remember when you and your cousins gottogether at your Uncle Louie’s house?”

I answered, “You mean when we all played in thepatio — me, Henerieta, Emily Jean, Pancha, andLittle Louie?”

“And don’t forget Cholo and Vato! Yes, thosetimes. Do you know why some of you speakSpanish and have Spanish names? Spanish camefrom Spain. A long time ago the Spaniards came toNew Mexico, Colorado and many other places.They married some of our Mexican and Indianfamilies who already lived here. We are thosepeople.”

“¿Recuerdas cuando tú y tus primos se reunían encasa de tu tío Luis?”

Yo respondí, “¿Te refieres a cuando todosjugábamos en el patio - yo, Henrieta, Emily Jean,Pancha y Luisito?”

“¡Y no olvides a Cholo y a Vato! Sí, esas veces.¿Sabes por qué algunos de ustedes hablan españoly tienen nombres españoles? El español es deEspaña. Hace mucho tiempo los españolesllegaron a Nuevo México, a Colorado y a muchosotros lugares. Se casaron con mujeres de lasfamilias mexicanas e indígenas que ya vivían aquí.Nosotros somos de esa gente.”

3

“You learn who you are from your family,”Buelita said. “Can you remember any othertimes when you learned about yourself fromyour family?”

“One time I was with Cholo and Vato visitingmy Aunt Mary in Pecos. I helped her build a firein the oven that she had outside. She called it an‘horno.’ The wood that I picked for her got thebricks inside the oven very hot. The bread thatshe baked in that oven was the best bread I evertasted.”

“We built the horno ourselves out of mud andstraw,” she said. “We still use it because that isthe way of our people.”

“ De su familia uno aprende quién es,” dijoBuelita. “¿Recuerdas alguna otra vez que tufamilia te enseñó algo de ti mismo?”

“Una vez yo estaba de visita con Cholo y Vato encasa de mi Tía María en Pecos. Le ayudé aencender el fuego en el horno que tenía afuera.La leña que recogí para ella puso los ladrillosdentro del horno bien calientes. El pan que ellacoció en ese horno fue el mejor que he probado.”

“Nosotros mismos construimos el horno conbarro y paja,” me dijo. “Todavía lo usamosporque es costumbre de nuestra gente.”

4

“Grandma, you used to make tortillas on yourwood stove. We ate the tortillas with beans,squash, and potatoes. Sometimes you wouldgive Cholo and Vato pieces of a tortilla.”

“Food is part of who you are,” said myBuelita. “Different people eat different foods.”

“Abuela, tú hacías tortillas en tu estufa deleña. Comíamos las tortillas con frijoles,calabaza y papas. A veces les dabas pedacitosde tortilla a Cholo y Vato.”

“La comida es una parte de quién eres,” dijomi Buelita. “Gente diferente come cosasdiferentes.”

5

I started remembering all the fun I had when Ivisited my aunts and uncles in New Mexico.Since we did not have chickens in our backyard in the city, I used to love feeding themevery morning. When the sun went down, theyalways came back to the chicken coop whereCholo and Vato were waiting for them.

Empecé a recordar lo mucho que me divertíacuando visitaba a mis tíos en Nuevo México.Como no teníamos gallinas en nuestro patio enla ciudad, me encantaba darles de comer cadamañana. Cuando se ponía el sol siempreregresaban al gallinero, donde Cholo y Vatolas esperaban.

6

“The land also is part of who you are. It givesyou what you need to eat and play.”

I thought about that and remembered when Iused to pick chokecherries. I did not eat them.They did not taste very good. Even Cholo andVato would not eat them. I picked thembecause my aunt would make jelly out of them.They tasted great with our homemade breadfrom the horno.

“La tierra también es parte de quién eres. Te dalo que necesitas para comer y jugar.”

Me puse a pensar en eso y me acordé decuando recogía capulín. Yo no los comía. Notenían buen sabor. Ni siquiera Cholo ni Vatolos comían. Los recogía porque mi tía los usabapara hacer jalea. Sabían bien rico con el pancasero recién sacado del horno.

7

I thought about the days that I went fishingwith my Uncle Louie. Cholo and Vato wouldbark each time I got a nibble on my fishing line.We caught so many trout one day that UncleLouie had to give some away.

Recordaba los días en que iba a pescar con miTío Luis. Cholo y Vato se ponían a ladrar cadavez que yo sentía una mordida en mi sedal. Undía pescamos tantas truchas que Tío Luis tuvoque regalar algunas.

8

The Pecos River was also good forswimming. There were shallow parts wherewe could swim safely. Pancho and Jerrywould always come with me. Cholo andVato were great swimmers too!

El Río Pecos también era bueno para nadar.Había partes no muy profundas dondepodíamos nadar sin peligro. Pancho y Jerrysiempre iban conmigo. ¡Cholo y Vatotambién eran buenos nadadores!

9

“Do you know how we kept that Valleyalive?” asked Buelita. “We built ditches thatbrought the water for everyone from the river.That was the way that we watered the beans,alfalfa, and corn. No one owned the water. Itbelonged to all the people who needed it.”

“Oh, I remember! One time Cholo, Vato, andI helped Uncle Louie clean the ditch so that thewater could flow better.”

“¿Sabes cómo mantuvimos vivo ese valle?” mepreguntó Buelita. “Construimos acequias quellevaban agua del río a toda la gente. De esamanera regamos los frijoles, la alfalfa y elmaíz. Nadie era dueño del agua. Pertenecía atoda la gente que la necesitaba.”

“¡Ah, ya recuerdo! Una vez Cholo, Vato y yole ayudamos al Tío Luis a limpiar la acequiapara que el agua corriera mejor.”

10

I loved visiting my uncles and aunts. Theiryard was full of all kinds of strange animals.One time we found two horned toads. Choloand Vato were afraid of them and stayed faraway, but I got very close. They never bit me.

Me encantaba visitar a mis tíos. Su patioestaba lleno de toda clase de animales raros.Una vez encontramos dos camaleones.Cholo y Vato les tenían miedo y no se lesacercaron, pero yo me acerqué bastante.Nunca me mordieron.

11

Before I left NewMexico, my uncle would takeme to Chimayo. There was a church there thatwas called a “santuario”. It had some specialdirt that many people said could make miracleshappen. My uncle said that it helped an oldman with crutches walk again. I always putsome in a jar to take back home with me.

Antes de irme de Nuevo México, mi tío mellevaba a Chimayó. Allí había una iglesia quellamaban santuario. Mucha gente decía que latierra de ahí era milagrosa. Mi tío me dijo quea un viejo en muletas le ayudó a caminar otravez. Yo puse un poco de esa tierra en un tarropara llevarme a casa.

12

“So see,” my Buelita said, “You are part of thehistory of a special land where Indians,Mexicans, and Spaniards lived. These were yourancestors. They were your family. That is whoyou are.”

That summer I learned so many things aboutmyself. I am sure that Cholo and Vato learnedsome new things too.

“Pues, ya ves,” dijo mi Buelita. “Tú eres parte dela historia de una tierra especial donde vivieronindígenas, mexicanos y españoles. Ellos son tusantepasados. Son tu familia. Eso es quien eres.”

Ese verano aprendí mucho de mi historia. Estoyseguro de que Cholo y Vato aprendieron algunascosas nuevas también.

13

Dr. George Rivera is a professor in theDepartment of Art & Art History at theUniversity of Colorado at Boulder. He haspublished articles and essays in journals,books, and catalogues in the United States,Mexico and Spain. He has had exhibitionsin Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru,Russia, Spain, and throughout the UnitedStates. He is a Senior Fulbright Specialistscholar and was a recipient of theGovernor’s Award for Excellence in theArts in Colorado in 2002.

Dr. Rivera has collaborated with TonyOrtega on three other books, whichinvolve the characters Pano and his twotrusted dogs, Cholo and Vato. In real life,Cholo and Vato are the names of Rivera’stwo Shih Tzus. The objective of all of hisstories is to convey an appreciation forMexican/Chicano culture and history.

Tony Ortega holds a MFA in drawing and paintingfrom the University of Colorado at Boulder and iscurrently an assistant professor for Regis University.He received the Governor’s Award for Excellence inthe Arts in 1999 and the Mayor’s Award forExcellence in the Arts in 1998. Tony Ortega’s lifelongproject is to contribute to a better understanding ofcultural diversity by addressing the culture, history andexperiences of Chicanos through his art. His artworkhas been exhibited extensively in Denver and through-out the United States, Mexico, and internationally.In real life, Pano is Tony’s son, Ciprano. For moreinformation please visit his web site atwww.artcomm.org/adortega.

Partial funding for this project was obtained from a generous award from theOffice of Community Relations at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Partial funding of this project generously awarded through the Office ofthe Associate to the Provost for Diversity at Regis University.

To order additional copies of Who am I?, please contact:University of Colorado at BoulderOffice of Community Relations

303-492-7084 or www.colorado.edu/cu4k12/

Spanish translation by Maria Fernanda Bravo; design and production by Michael Campbell

Text copyright 2005 by George Rivera

Illustrations copyright 2005 Tony Ortega