WEBVTT

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"Sacred Water."

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Spring rain clouds follow
early morning gusts of wind

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and sudden drops in temperature.

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By dawn, the smell of
rain is heavy in the air.

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The sun is masked in cumulus
layers of pearl blue.

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When I was a child,
the people used

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to watched the sky for
changes in the weather.

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I learned to watch for
the fat dark rain clouds.

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And I remember the excitement
and the anticipation

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as the cool wind arrived
smelling of rain.

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We children were seldom
scolded or punished

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for our misbehavior.

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But we were never permitted
to frolic with, or wet,

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or waste fresh water.

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We were given stern warnings
about killing toads or frogs.

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Harm to frogs and toads could
bring disastrous cloud bursts

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and floods, because
the frogs and toads are

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the beloved children
of the rain clouds.

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A huge toad lived in the
bottom of a wooden box, buried

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in the ground to protect
the water shut-off valve.

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As a child, I was fascinated
with the big toad.

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I'd lift off the lid of
the box and look down

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into the dim hole that smelled
of damp gunny sacks wrapped

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around the water pipe.

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Sometimes, all I could see
were the toad's big eyes

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reflecting the sunlight.

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When I got older, I used to ride
my horse into the sand hills

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after a summer rainstorm.

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What an amazing sight.

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Hundreds of little toads
were popping out of the sand

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everywhere.

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Years later, in Tucson, I moved
a flower pot in the garden

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and uncovered four
Sonoran red spotted toads

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in the damp earth.

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Their backs were the
colors of ivory and copper,

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speckled with red.

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They slept head to head, each
with its rear end pointed

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in one of the four directions.

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[LAUGHTER]

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My great grandmother,
Maria Anaya,

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belonged to the water clan.

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She had been born at
Paguate Village, North

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of Laguna Village.

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After she passed on,
the water clan people

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made sure she had a big
pottery jar full of water

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at the head of her grave.

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Every year around Easter,
my father's clan's

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women used to bring
him sweet pudding.

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Otherwise, he might
have turned into a frog.

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No one ever called
my uncle Pauly

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by his legal name, Richard.

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Because when he
was born, someone

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thought he looked
like a pollywog--

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dark, fat, and wiggling.

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[LAUGHTER]

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When I was a child,
the people used

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to say that a person
had passed on.

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They seldom used the word died.

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At the table before a meal, a
small dish was passed around.

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Pinches of food from
each person's plate

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were placed in the dish
to feed the spirits

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of those beloved family
members who had passed on.

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On All Souls Day,
November 2, the people

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take oven bread and red
chili stew to the graves

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to feed the spirits of the dead.

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All these feedings
of the spirits

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were conducted with
such tenderness and love

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that as a child,
I learned there is

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nothing to fear from the dead.

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They love us.

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And they bless us when
they return as rain clouds.

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All around Laguna
and Acoma, there

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are sandstone formations,
which make natural basins

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and pools that hold rainwater.

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These rainwater pools are
cherished by the people even

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now, because long ago
in times of drought,

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the survival of the people
depended on the rainwater

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stored in the sandstone pools.

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The old time Pueblo people
believe that natural springs

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and lakes possess great power.

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Beneath their surfaces
lie the entrances

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to the four worlds
below this one.

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[INAUDIBLE]

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[LAUGHTER]

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