A Texan Band’s Fight to Retain its Identity
Every solstice and equinox, in the outskirts of San Marcos, Texas, 45 Miakan-Garza band members of the Coahuiltecan tribe gather around a fire. Through song and dance, the tribe re-enacts their creation story, allowing them to connect with their creator.
For thousands of years, this ceremony has taken place at their four traditional fountain springs: tza wan pupako, ajehuac yana, saxōp wan pupako and ajehuac yana.
Now, Dr. Mario Garza, the cultural preservation officer and elder of the Miakan-Garza band, said he and the members of his band live in a reality where their Indigenous identity signifies their illegality.
As the tribal elder and Cultural Preservation Officer, Dr. Mario Garza works to protect the livelihoods of his community.
Although the Coahuiltecan were original Texas inhabitants, the police, government officials, and non-native inhabitants consistently belittled their livelihoods through outlawing elements of their culture, persecuting ceremonial practices, and encroaching on their land.
When the Spaniards first colonized Texas in the 1690s, they gathered Indigenous members within the village centers along Spanish trade routes, forcing tribes like the Coahuiltecan to convert to Catholicism, adhere to their materialistic mindset and sacrifice long-cherished beliefs.
“If the tribes didn’t agree, they were burned alive,” Garza said. “Most accepted Catholicism to spare their lives.”
With their colonization, the Spanish labeled many Coahuiltecan Indians as “Hispanic,” a title which detribalized these individuals. Texans with indigenous identity today may never know their true tribal origin.
Dr. Ruben Arellano, a history consultant to Garza, said Coahuiltecan members inhabited Texas and Northern Mexico for over 13,000 years. Now, the remaining 15 Miakan-Garza families of close blood need government permission to hold overnight ceremonies.
Dr. Mario Garza burns materials from the earth as part of his ritual demonstration.
Police officers often interrupt their ceremonies and interfere with the Miakan-Garza members’ careful regard for their practices. When sweat lodges, another sacred ceremony of the Miakan-Garza band, were illegal, Garza said he witnessed friends sent to prison for participating in the ceremony.
“In the land of religious freedom, my friends were taken away for their beliefs,” Garza said.
Miakan-Garza members adjusted to survive within Western culture. For thousands of years, the band lived together on their plentiful land, but after outsiders imposed so frequently, they became innovative in their approach to maintaining traditional ways.
They rent apartments or houses within close proximity to each other, hoping to parallel the tight-knit community they previously found comfort in. Band member Maria Rocha said reservations are a western idea, an arbitrary segment of land created to isolate the Indigenous; in reality, they establish a “home” wherever they congregate.
Even in Western homes, the Miakan-Garza’s philosophic outlook greatly contrasts with Western society, especially regarding their prioritization of Earth.
All that encompasses this globe — creatures, plants, rocks, air — are elements the Miakan-Garza regard as equals. Hunting, for example, is an act the Miakan-Garza practice purely to sustain themselves, not for sport. Miakan-Garza members teach their children from a young age the importance of respecting Earth and bearing a selfless mentality. When Miakan-Garza children receive gifts, their parents teach them to offer them to the community.
“We are not separate, special sentient beings sitting on top of a rock, but an integral part of Mother Earth,” Rocha said. “The manner in which our community interacts with each other reflects our being one with Her.”
Following the death and burial of an individual, the Miakan-Garza believe the deceased disintegrate into Mother Earth. After filling the graves, relatives and friends lay flowers, and everyone congregates by the burial site for a meal with the deceased family member.
Set beside Dr. Mario Garza’s feet, the burnt items from the ritual lay on the ground.
Unfortunately, universities and research institutions have taken the Indigenous remains for research purposes, interrupting their spiritual cycle. (On Sept. 25, 2020, President Jay Hartzell of the University of Texas vowed for the university to request “a recommendation from its Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Review Committee that would enable us to offer the remains promptly for a burial.”)
“It’s not a legal issue for us.” Garza said. “It’s a spiritual one.”
Over the years, government officials and other outsiders’ treatment of the Miakan-Garza band points to a theme: individuals will exploit the dignity, resources and livelihoods of indiginous groups if it entails self-gain.
To consistently be overlooked, exploited, belittled and objectified is a monotonous cycle, yet the Miakan-Garza continue experiencing this reality. Rocha said they work to maintain traditional aspects of their culture, yet they must adhere to certain Western ways for survival.
“We teach our children to adapt in order to survive in Western culture,” Rocha said. “But we also teach them to embrace our Indigenous ways so we have a foundation and an anchor to Mother Earth when we’re fighting battles, injustices and discrimination. You hold on to that identity to remember who you are.”
Photos by Adam Shellooe