Tumacacori Mission

My project for Border Beat this week was to compile a "Sound Slides" presentation on the Tumacacori Mission.

I was really touched by my visit to the historical site. From what I had heard from other people, I thought the site wasn't going to be very interesting. They had told me that there wasn't much to look at because it isn't a working mission.

They were incredibly wrong. When I stepped on to the site, I felt a sense of connection to history, more so than anything I have felt from San Xavier. There is an eerie sense of peace and calm that surrounds you as you step in to the actual mission. It is run-down and empty. The walls are exposed, the paint is faded and chipped off the walls. To me, it makes the site even more interesting.



I wandered around the grounds for about an hour because I arrived late in the day and the park closes at 5 p.m. The entire time, I couldn't help but wonder what it must have been like to attend services in that place hundreds of years ago. It must have been really cool!

There is a lot to do out at the mission. There is a museum that walks tourists through the history of the mission and the time period in which the mission was constructed. There is a video that visitors can watch that delves further in to the history of the mission. There are also guided tours available. I am definitely going back out there.

Juan Soldado

I was surfing the internet tonight, attempting to find a topic for my blog this week since I had planned on doing something about Tumacacori but have yet to make it out there. I tried looking at videos on YouTube but found nothing except excerpts of people ranting about terrorism and the like.

From there, I switched to Google. I figured I could at least find an article or something that would be relatable in some way to my blog. Here, I stumbled upon a video clip about Juan Soldado. While it is not very timely, I found it extremely interesting and feel that I should share a little about it tonight.

The video clip was from a PBS show entitled "Full Focus". In 2005, a book was published about a Mexican soldier named Juan Castillo Morales. In 1938, he was accused of raping and murdering a little girl in the town of Tijuana, Mexico. He apparently confessed to the crime, was tried and convicted. His sentence was "la ley fuga" or death by firing squad. He was taken to a cemetery, given the chance to flee and was shot in the back by any resident who chose to attend (the execution was open to the public). He was buried in the Puerta Blanca Cemetery in Tijuana.

Shortly after his execution, word began to spread that Juan was innocent and was framed by an officer who was superior to him. People began reporting miracles occurring at his gravesite while others reported seeing blood seeping up from his grave. Many people, mostly of the Catholic faith, began to worship Juan, renaming him "Juan Soldado", which means Solider Juan in Spanish.

Today, Juan Soldado is known as the patron saint of Illegal Immigrants. People have reported praying to him in their most desperate of times while crossing the border and claim that he guided them to where ever they were headed. However, the Catholic Church does not officially name Juan Soldado as a saint and has no plans to so in the future due to his background. They consider him a "folk saint" or "popular saint"

Check out the video, it's really interesting!
Juan Soldado on PBS


Here is a clip of the same video that I found on YouTube. It is taken from "Stories de la Frontera" and is directed by Laura Castaneda:

The White Dove of the Desert

Standing tall just 9 miles outside of the Tucson city limits is the San Xavier del Bac mission. It has always been a favorite place of mine to visit, mostly because I am obsessed with fry bread and there is always an abundant amount of people out there selling it, but also because it is such a beautiful and peaceful place to visit. I started going there as a young child, when my mom and I would come to Tucson to visit my godmother. I was always entranced by the beautiful artwork and almost eerie feeling that the church gave me when I visited it. I am also a history buff, so anything that can take me back in time is something I am generally interested in.

The site was chosen by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, a Jesuit missionary (a sect of the Catholic church) who happened upon the site in 1692. He built the foundation of the first church two miles from the site of today's mission. San Xavier was built over a period of 14 years, between 1783 and 1797, and was named after Kino's patron saint St. Francis Xavier, according to the mission's Web site.

This establishment is important to many people throughout the Southwest. It is one of the earliest Catholic missionaries to be built in Arizona and is still a fully operational church. It is run by the Franciscan sect of the Catholic church. The mission also houses a fully operational K-8 Catholic school. It is a very intregal part of the Catholic community.

However, Catholics are not the only people are have deep ties with the mission. The Tohono O'odham people also have deep roots with San Xavier. They have lived on the land where the mission was built since the time of Father Kino and probably long before. According to the Web site, it is also believed that they played an intregal role in the construction of the mission.

What makes the mission different from most Catholic churches is that it integrates both Catholic and O'odham idealology in to it's daily operations. The two cultures, which are sometimes known for their dark pasts with each other, live peacefully together at one of the most beautiful sights in the United States.

For more information about the Mission, visit their site: San Xavier

Interested in what it looks like? View this video from youtube.com

Border Security

After the outline in my last blog, most of you are probably expecting to read something riveting that I learned about religion on the Mexican border this week. That was my plan. However, I experienced the "border" first-hand this weekend and I feel the need to talk about it.

There has been a lot in the news lately about the controversy of setting up checkpoints in Tucson to attempt to catch more illegal immigrants. In theory, it seems like a great idea because it would allow Border Patrol agents to inspect cars coming in and out of the areas where illegal activity is rampant. However, in reality, I am not sure it could actually work.

There is a method to my madness. This weekend, I traveled to San Diego to visit a friend. Like many money-less college students, I drove because while gas prices are high, it is cheaper to drive than it is to hop on a plane for 45 minutes. Three hours in to my trip I encountered my first Border Patrol checkpoint inside the United States when I tried to cross the Arizona/California state line. After sitting in traffic for five minutes, the patrolman took one look in my car and waived me through the line. I attribute this to the fact that I am a white girl, driving a car that is decked out in University of Arizona parifinalia. Around me, other cars were being waived through with no questions asked as well and it got me wondering what they are really looking for. What are the requirements?

Two hours later and about 90 miles from San Diego, I encountered yet another checkpoint. This one was makeshift, unlike the last one that I had gone through. Several Border Patrolmen were out and about. As I was waiting in line to be "checked", a Border Patrol car sped by me with it's lights on. I am sure it was going to save the day. Again, I was waived through. The car in the lane next to me was sent over to a second checkpoint. As I drove by, I noticed that the driver looked slightly hispanic.

So after this whole ordeal, I got to wondering how effective these checkpoints really are. Are the people who are searched really searched because they are suspected of doing something wrong or because they simply "look" suspicious. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office in a July 2005 report, "Border Patrol does not routinely evaluate the effectiveness of checkpoint operations, or their costs." Interesting...

For more information from the report visit: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05435.pdf

Next week: A tour of "The White Dove of the Desert" and why it is important to 3 cultures in Tucson.

That's all for now!
Allison