Maribel Alvarez is a folklorist, a research social scientist at the UA Southwest Center, and the executive director of the Southwest Folklife Alliance. She’s been studying the highly visible icon, the Sleeping Mexican or “Pancho,” seen often as a negative stereotype of laziness. Here she talks about Pancho and his friend, the saguaro cactus, as representations of the Southwest.
The Saguaro Minute is a short radio podcast about all things saguaro, beloved icon of the Sonoran Desert. Host Kimi Eisele interviews culture bearers, scholars, artists, scientists, and others about our many relationships with the saguaro cactus.