Jade and Iron

John Walker is a professor of Spanish studies at Queen’s University.

Latin America is a useful but incomplete term with which to describe the
so-called New World “discovered” by the Spanish and Portuguese
conquistadors of the late 15th century. The colonized indigenous
civilizations have survived, albeit fitfully, to influence life even
today. Jade and Iron is an attempt to collect a sample of the folktales
of these two main cultures. Jade symbolizes the stone precious to the
Indians,

and iron the weapons and tools used by the conquerors.

The collection, which includes a brief introduction by the editor, is
divided into two parts. Part 1 comprises seven Indian legends from
Brazil, Aztec Mexico, the Venezuelan Pemon tribe, the Cova Indians of
western Mexico, the Chimane Indians of Bolivia, and the Mapuche of
Chile. In general, the Native tales explain how the world and nature
came to be. The seven Iberian tales that make up Part 2 are more about
the people and their dealings with nature, animals, and each other. A
rainbow-colored horse and an enchantress who escapes imprisonment by
means of a flying boat are among the figures that populate these tales,
which are set in colonial Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Chile, and
Venezuela.

The stories are well translated by Hugh Hazelton and beautifully
illustrated by Luis Garay. Highly recommended.