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Watch now: 'Big Jim' Griffith shares tales of Tucson and beyond
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Editor's Pick Web Only Top Story

Watch now: 'Big Jim' Griffith shares tales of Tucson and beyond

  • Arizona Daily Star
  • Dec 20, 2021
  • Dec 20, 2021 Updated Aug 11, 2022

In 2015, the late James S. "Big Jim" Griffith shared stories, artifacts, and songs of the Southwest in the Star's "Our Storied Desert Land" video series.

Here is a look back at some highlights featuring the famed Tucson folklorist: 

Watch now: Big Jim and the organ pipe cactus

Watch now: Big Jim's hand carved mesquite tortilla press

Watch now: Big Jim answers 'How hot is it?'

Watch now: Big Jim: Harvesting saguaro fruit

Watch now: Big Jim talks 'helium monsters'

Watch now: Big Jim and a tale of buried treasure

Watch now: Storyteller extraordinaire Big Jim tells a tale about crossing the border

Watch now: Big Jim on chiltepines and how to crush them

Watch now: Big Jim: Yaqui Easter rosaries

Watch now: Big Jim sings 'Tying Knots in the Devil's Tail'

Related to this collection

Tucson blues guitarist honors Big Jim Griffith with show

Tucson blues guitarist honors Big Jim Griffith with show

Roman Barten-Sherman spent more than a year working with the late Big Jim Griffith during the pandemic, digitizing the Tucson folklorist's collection of field recordings. 

'Big Jim' Griffith, folklorist, Tucson icon, dies at 86

'Big Jim' Griffith, folklorist, Tucson icon, dies at 86

James S. "Big Jim" Griffith lived such a big life defining Tucson's senses of place and self that it's hard to imagine this special place without him, as many admirers have been saying since his death Saturday at age 86.

Traditions as told by Tucson treasure "Big Jim" Griffith

Traditions as told by Tucson treasure "Big Jim" Griffith

Cultural anthropologist James S. "Big Jim" Griffith, 86, died Dec. 18. Here are some of his stories. One begins: "According to their owners, these stories should be told only during the cold weather, when the snakes are asleep ..."

Photos: Tucson folklorist "Big Jim" Griffith

Photos: Tucson folklorist "Big Jim" Griffith

For several decades, "Big Jim" Griffith has devoted his life to documenting and championing the culture connections and heritage of Southern A…

Watch now: A look through the decades of Tucson Meet Yourself

Watch now: A look through the decades of Tucson Meet Yourself

The annual Tucson folklife festival returns to Tucson to celebrate the diverse communities and people living in and around the Old Pueblo.

Watch now: Yes, Tucson, there is a Santa Claus

Watch now: Yes, Tucson, there is a Santa Claus

Gather 'round as editorial cartoonist David Fitzsimmons recites a reimagined version of “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” in this holida…

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