For a state that has been home to Geronimo, Wyatt Earp, César Chavez and Wonder Women, you would think Arizona earned some respect. Yet achieving statehood was a 50-year struggle, which finally ended on February 14, 1912. Jana borrows from both her work for True West Magazine and her work for Phoenix Magazine to put […]

Dressed in a Mexican huipil with her face painted in a traditional calavera (skull), Elena Díaz Bjorkquist answers the questions of what Día de los Muertos is, where it came from, its roots, and how it’s celebrated. Día los Muertos is a significant and highly celebrated holiday in Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Many […]

During WWII a select group of young Navajo men enlisted in the Marines with a unique weapon. Using the Navajo language, they devised a secret code that the enemy never deciphered.  For over 40 years a cloak of secrecy hung over the Code Talker’s service until the code was declassified and they were finally honored […]

For centuries, Hopi men grew cotton and wove the fibers into blankets and clothing. In the 1880s, with the arrival of Anglo missionaries and government officials, quilting was introduced to the Hopi people and it quickly became integrated into Hopi culture and ceremony with quilts being used in every Hopi household. Hopis today are 4th […]

For a state that has been home to Geronimo, Wyatt Earp, César Chavez and Wonder Women, you would think Arizona earned some respect. Yet achieving statehood was a 50-year struggle, which finally ended on February 14, 1912. Jana borrows from both her work for True West Magazine and her work for Phoenix Magazine to put […]

Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid and John Wayne: what do these famous characters have in common? They are not who we think they are because of the legends that have grown up around them. From the 1860’s dime novels to the books, movies, and television shows, writers have altered, exaggerated and sometimes lied about these […]