[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18014]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        80TH BURNING OF ZOZOBRA

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                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 9, 2004

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, a 50-foot man stuffed with 
shredded documents will go up in flames tonight at Fort Marcy Park in 
Santa Fe. Each year the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe stages the burning of 
Zozobra, kicking off the annual Fiestas de Santa Fe on the following 
Labor Day. Zozobra centers around the ritual burning in effigy of Old 
Man Gloom, or Zozobra, to dispel the hardships and travails of the past 
year. Over 30,000 people are expected to attend the 80th anniversary of 
this celebrated tradition tonight.
  Zozobra is the invention of Santa Fe painter Will Shuster, who had 
the first burning of a 3-foot-high effigy in his back yard back in 
1924. His inspiration for Zozobra came from the Holy Week celebrations 
of the Yaqui Indians of Mexico; an effigy of Judas, filled with 
firecrackers, was led around the village on a donkey and later burned. 
A newspaper editor and friend of Schuster's came up with the name 
Zozobra, which is Spanish for ``the gloomy one.''
  The Fiestas celebration began in 1712 to celebrate an expedition by 
Don Diego de Vargas, who reconquered the territory of New Mexico. 
Zozobra became part of the Fiestas in 1926, and the Kiwanis club began 
sponsoring the burning in 1963 as its major fundraiser.
  The effigy is a giant animated wooden puppet that waves its arms and 
growls ominously at the approach of its fate. A major highlight of the 
pageant is the fire spirit dancer, dressed in a flowing red costume, 
who appears at the top of the stage to drive away the white-sheeted 
``glooms'' from the base of the giant Zozobra. The fire dance was 
created by Jacques Cartier, a former New York ballet dancer and local 
dance teacher, who performed the role for 37 years. His dance student, 
James Lilienthal took over the fire spirit role in 1970 and has 
continued it for 30 years.
  Mr. Shuster constructed the figure of Zozobra until 1964, when he 
gave his detailed model to the Kiwanis Club to continue the tradition. 
Over the years the effigy has grown larger, reaching a height of 51 
feet. Zozobra is a well crafted framework of preplanned and pre-cut 
sticks, covered with chicken wire and yards of muslin. It is stuffed 
with bushels of shredded paper, which traditionally includes obsolete 
police reports, paid off mortgage papers, and even personal divorce 
papers.
  The festival is so popular that children arrive in the park in the 
morning to watch Zozobra's assembly. Spectators, who have paid a 
nominal fee to watch the event, continuously roar, ``Burn him,'' until 
Zozobra is destroyed. Since 1952, the show has raised over $300,000, 
which the Kiwanis has used to provide college scholarships and camp 
fees for physically challenged children.
  Mr. Speaker, Zozobra is an annual event families and friends in the 
community look forward to and a meaningful tradition to northern New 
Mexico. I ask that my colleagues join with me in honoring the 80th 
anniversary of Zozobra.

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