santeron.

1931 R. L. Barker Caballeros xiii. 333 As the colonists became more securely rooted on the prados and mesas of Nuevo México certain men developed greater proficiency as carvers and painters. They were called santeros, the saint-makers, who signed and dated their work on the backs of the santos de retablos.

1944 Horizon Jan. 23 At about the same period [sc. 18th and 19th centuries] the santero of New Mexico produced for religious needs starkly primitive paintings and sculpture (retablos and bultos).

1951 Western Folklore Apr. 153 The following material about santeros was collected in the San Luis Valley, where there still remains a definite santero tradition... Southern Colorado is..the one remaining place where something may still be learned of the santero and his art.

1950 Southwestern Jrnl. Anthropol. 6 64 The worship of African deities, as it is practised in Cuba today, is known as santeria. The deities and the men and women who work with them are known by the Spanish words santos, santeros, and santeras, or by the Yoruba words orisha, babalorisha, and iyalorisha.

1953 Language 29 157 Lucumí is a term here used to refer to a language spoken in Cuba by practitioners of the religion known as Santería. In Cuba both the santeros and the language are often called Lucumí.

1972 W. R. Bascom Shango in New World 20 Refugee santeros and santeras have..spread to many other parts of the New World.

1977 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 4 Aug. 27/3 He did many odd jobs for his neighbors,..served as a santero, or priest, in two religious cults.