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Series 1: Interview recordings, April 24-June 2, 2018 (continued) | |||||||||||||
Item ID: AFC 2020/005: 007 | Carlos Rojas interview, May 6, 2018 | ||||||||||||
1 mp3 interview (0:17:40) | |||||||||||||
Interview location: Carolina, Carlos' home. Carlos describes the damage
to his property and the suffering from stress due to Hurricane Maria. He
explains the distinction between people who participate in cockfights
for a living and those who simply do it to entertain themselves. He goes
over the damage the hurricane inflicted to his birdcages and breeding
grounds. He explains some of the changes he has made to his pen for
raising fighting roosters. Carlos briefly addresses and gives his
opinion on the interactions between Puerto Ricans and FEMA. Additional
notes: Carlos Rojas lives in the municipality of Carolina working as a
paint salesman. He breeds and raises cockfighting roosters as a
hobby. Spanish transcript of Carlos Rojas interview |
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Item ID: AFC 2020/005: 008 | José A. Román interview, May 16, 2018 | ||||||||||||
1 mp3 interview (0:18:18) | |||||||||||||
Interview location: José's home in the neighborhood of Martorell,
Yabucoa. José, also known as Toco, recounts how he and his brother
started breeding and raising roosters, following in the footsteps of
their father. Toco talks about the extent of his interest in the sport.
He lists some of the places throughout the island where he likes to
attend cockfights. He mentions having taught local kids about
cockfighting and selling them young chickens and roosters for them to
entertain themselves with. Toco says as long as Puerto Rico doesn't
become the fifty-first state, there will always be cockfighting in
Puerto Rico. Additional notes: José Román, more commonly known by his
nickname Toco, works as a handyman in Yabucoa. He also breeds fighting
roosters along the street he lives in. Spanish transcript of José A. Román interview |
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Item ID: AFC 2020/005: 009 | David Sostre Rivera interview, May 26, 2018 | ||||||||||||
1 mp3 interview (0:23:58) | |||||||||||||
Interview location: In the backyard of David's home in the neighborhood
of Martorell, Yabucoa. Throughout the interview, one can hear David's
roosters loudly crowing. David describes the destruction he witnessed in
his neighborhood and people cleaning up the streets afterwards. David
talks about a childhood friend he shared his cockfighting hobby with. He
explains how they helped each other out during Hurricane Maria’s
aftermath and how they take care of each other's birds when they are
away from home. He goes over the damage to his breeding set-up, or
rancho, which consists of a wire and zinc plating structure where young
birds are kept and mated. He explains how he learned about cockfighting
as a child by attending cockfighting arenas and assisting in the
preparation that takes place before cockfights. He discusses government
attempts to make cockfighting illegal in Puerto Rico. Additional notes:
David Sostre Rivera lives in Yabucoa. He breeds and raises cockfighting
birds in his property as a hobby. Spanish transcript of David Sostre Rivera interview |
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Item ID: AFC 2020/005: 010 | José E. Santiago Vásquez and José E. Santiago interview, part 1, June 2, 2018 | ||||||||||||
1 mp3 interview (0:06:38) | |||||||||||||
This interview takes place while both Kike elder and the younger Kike
give me a tour of their property. Most of the interview is filled with
the noise of shrieking birds. They start off explaining the purpose of
keeping certain birds in cages as opposed to roaming free. They give an
overview of why they raise the types of birds they keep. They go over
breeding, the culinary uses of guinea fowls, and "padrotes," or roosters
kept alive through old age for breeding. Additional notes: José E.
Santiago lives by the hills in Martorell, Yabucoa with his son, also
named José (Santiago Vásquez). They go by the same nickname as well,
Kike, although the elder calls the younger "Kikito." Son and father live
in the same property, which consists of two small houses and whatever
they can salvage from the steep surrounding land. They raise birds
amongst other occupations. They make money off of breeding cockfighting
birds, and occasionally gambling on fights. Spanish transcript of José E. Santiago Vásquez and José E. Santiago interview, part 1 |
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Item ID: AFC 2020/005: 011 | José E. Santiago Vásquez and José E. Santiago interview, part 2, June 2, 2018 | ||||||||||||
1 mp3 interview (0:31:37) | |||||||||||||
After a brief interruption, father and son showcase their two pigs, kept
for christmas dinner. They explain young roosters are kept in cages due
to their uncontrollable aggressiveness. At one point the elder kike
takes a young rooster out of a cage, opens another cage containing a
separate rooster, and, holding one rooster in his arms, thrusts it
towards the caged rooster. Both roosters' plumage flares and they swipe
at each other with their spurs and beaks. This demonstration is meant to
show the turn to aggression when two young roosters come near each
other. Later on, the two of them walk through where they keep their
adult fighting roosters. They explain and give demonstrations of the
training techniques and tools they use on roosters. They also show and
explain how roosters were trained before the advent of some of these
tools. The two also discuss how the metrics of cockfights, the length
and frequency of fights, affects how their roosters are trained and
kept. The two discuss the importance of an effective fighting rooster in
breeding for superior cockfighting birds, as well as a chicken’s role in
the transference of genes. Elder kike shows how they label their
chickens with a tag to keep track of them. Father and son say interest
and expertise in cockfighting came to them from their childhood
experiences. They describe cockfighting as part of Puerto Rico's
idiosyncrasies. They also discuss how both the rich and poor gamble in
cockfighting at their corresponding price ranges. The interviewer
recounts going to a cockfighting arena in Yabucoa. The discussion turns
to the state of Puerto Rico's cockfighting venues. They discuss taxation
and the cockfighting federation. Younger kike describes the destruction
Hurricane Maria brought to their property. Younger kike shows and talks
about their horse. He also discusses the importance of having faith when
recovering from disasters like the hurricane. Additional notes: José E.
Santiago lives by the hills in Martorell, Yabucoa with his son, also
named José (Santiago Vásquez). They go by the same nickname as well,
Kike, although the elder calls the younger "Kikito." Son and father live
in the same property, which consists of two small houses and whatever
they can salvage from the steep surrounding land. They raise birds
amongst other occupations. They make money off of breeding cockfighting
birds, and occasionally gambling on fights. Spanish transcript of José E. Santiago Vásquez and José E. Santiago interview, part 2 |
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Series 2: Still images, April 30-June 2, 2018 | |||||||||||||
121 jpg files | |||||||||||||
Item-level inventory attached in Appendix. Photographs include images of interviewees, community members' homes and work/craft making spaces, hurricane damage, as well as rooster farms and animals. From donor: "I used my cellphone (Camera on LG Android Phone (VS835). The photos were mostly of poor quality in both their resolution and how well they were taken. Nevertheless, I think they are quite usable, especially those of cockfighting 'faenas' and of the ruins of the Batey de los Hermanos Ayala." | |||||||||||||
Appendix: Inventories | |||||||||||||
Still image inventory | |||||||||||||
Inventory of still images taken by Paz with file-level information, including locations, dates, and descriptions. |