Acoma

Acoma and Katsina tell a beautiful story that begins with an Acoma named Rahona. The story details the life of Rahona and his descendants who faced the Spanish Conquistadors that conquered New Mexico. It is New Mexico history unlike any other. It is not the cliche "New Mexico story". It is a story that brings an understanding to the trials of the time.

This review appeared in the Amarillo Globe News, September 21, 1997. The first novel spanning the first 20 years of the Spanish conquest of New Mexico is based on solid research and features appealing characters expressing genuine emotional reactions to tumultuous change. Beginning with the assault on Acoma, the only pueblo to resist the Spanish, and the near annihilation of its inhabitants, Albuquerque writer Harrigan does not spare the reader's sensibilities. Describing how each captured Acoma male over age 25 is led forth in chains into the plaza at Santo Domingo, there to suffer the amputation of a foot, the author tells of the horror of Spanish retribution in understated prose: "Occasionally the man with the ax would scrape off the accumulated gore." In Capt. Vicente de Vizcarra we have a villain with no redeeming social value. It was he who suggested amputation to the governor, Don Juan de Onate; and he defends the action to his horrified wife, Maria Angelica. "We have only shown justice and redeemed our sacred honor," he says. Rohona, the Acoma warrior given to Vizcarra as his slave, is Vizcarra's antithesis. Courageous without being cruel, honorable as only a just man can be, Rohona falls in love with Maria Angelica despite his hatred of all things Spanish. "He wanted this woman more than anything he had ever wanted. When he had her, he felt as if he were free; he felt as if he were whole again. He was no longer a slave, no longer a cripple." To Maria Angelica, Rohona's love represents the only happiness she has known since her marriage to Vizcarra and her journey to New Mexico land. The love affair between Rohona and Maria Angelica plays out against the hunger and deprivation of both Spaniard and Indian as food grows ever scarcer and relief from Mexico comes irregularly and in insufficient quantity. Again Harrigan evokes vivid images of physical suffering, but it is her gift for creating a sense of growing evil---with the arrival of Fray Isidro Ordonez-that most disturbs the reader. As a villain, Ordonez outdoes the infamous Vizcarra. Scheming, lusting for power, and with a perverse desire for Alejandro, the son of Maria Angelica and Rohona, Fray Ordonez is evil incarnate. Harrigan's talent for creating a character with a self-destructive, obsessive flaw culminates in Maria Angelica's daughter. Her obsession with a forbidden love reflects a growing madness with tragic consequences. A wonderful story, bittersweet, enhanced by the real history in its pages.

From the "Weekly Alibi," 9/24-30, 1997, Albuquerque. -- Christmas 1598: Juan de Onate, the first governor of New Mexico. finds that his nephew and troops have been killed at the pueblo of Aco in an Indian uprising. Onate exacts his cruel revenge on the Acoma people, killing many in battle, enslaving survivors and cutting one foot off each man over 25. Albuquerque author Lana Harrigan embellishes this history -- as seen through Rohona, an Acoma man who serves in the household of a high ranking Spanish officer, and as fate would have it, falls in love with his wife. I would dare to say that Harrigan has serious potential to garner an enormous following, for many of the same reasons that Anne Rice is so loved: for the realism and romance; the mysticism and sensual description, steeped in solid history and sound research. Though they are worlds apart, Harrigan is to New Mexico what Rice is to New Orleans. Already a sequel to the first novel, called Katsina, is ready to be published. And though it is premature, I am clearing plenty of space upon my bookshelf (Jessica English).

Boy, whose button did this author push? I was intrigued by this book's subject and decided to read it until I saw an early on-line review at this web site. Then a woman friend of mine who read the book told me it was a must read for anyone interested in this fascinating time period. Well I did and I loved it. Acoma is as much about survival as it is about Conquest. I found the characters real and engrossing. While I know enough about the history of the time period to appreciate the historical detail, this is really a story about how people deal with and mold the historic fabric of their lives. This novel pulls no punches and that may upset some. But, make no mistake. The Spaniards entered the New World as an army of conquest and they dealt ruthlessly with those they encountered. Acoma offered, for me, a rare glimpse into the personal side of life in those times. Messy, filled with intrigue, cruel and harsh? Yes, but life usually is. My thanks to the author for taking me back so vividly to those times. Will you love this book as I did? Obviously not all did. I guess you'll just have to read the book for yourself and find out.

Acoma is a hot, delicious enrichment of my studies and walks across New Mexico. Blowing a breath of life into the history of my native land, Lana Harrigan provides a captivating depiction of early encounters between church and state, unique cultures, and human beings. The reading is pure enjoyment. I look forward to a screenplay and a sequel.