"Our lady of the garbage dump": Nichitos as public and private sacred space.

Abstract

This research is based on the examination of artifacts, specifically a series of artifacts known in Spanish as nichitos (little niches), found, among other places, in the Catholic Spanish speaking areas of Tucson, Arizona. Similar objects or constructions are also found in the Catholic Italian speaking communities of New York State and Missouri, and in the Catholic French Canadian communities of Quebec and Ontario, as well as in French speaking Louisiana. Nichito-like artifacts found in other cities, regions, and countries are included for the sake of comparison. The study of these artifacts is approached from an anthropological perspective, including ethnography, supplemented by folklore studies and informed by the multi-disciplinary context of religious studies. The research progresses through several phases. A classification of nichitos and nichito-like artifacts allows for definitions and contextualization of the artifacts themselves. Terms in Tucson Spanish are used for clarification and to establish a lexical norm for classification, as this community appears to have the most specialized collection of terms. An analysis of the context of the nichitos identifies the iconographical components of the artifacts. Religious and social aspects of nichito use are examined in the barrios of the Tucson area, leading to questions concerning religiosidad populare (popular religion) and the links or conflicts between domesticity and official religion.