by Maxwell Gay Ajo, Arizona the three-cornered intersection of Indigeneity, Spanish missions and settlers’ whiteness. Haunted by the ghost of the capital-driven culture of mining. Occupied by Border Patrol. A town with a rich history of cultural exchange and a potent feeling of sorrow. This place is coated in a fine film of not quite …
Archives for July 2016
Learning from Ajo, AZ: What a Fieldschool
Taught Me about Desert Life
by Grace Megnet I had to grow as old as a saguaro with arms before I saw one in nature. I knew the iconic plant from the Old El Paso refried beans’ label, but I had to eat those beans for a long time before I learned the cactus’ name. They were simply the “you-know-those-cacti-with-arms,” or the backdrop for James Stewart when he was chasing …