About the Project

In February 2019, Kat Christen and other staff from Antioch College traveled to the Rio Grande Valley to learn more about the Carrizo-Comecrudo Indigenous led movement to resist border wall construction and connect Antioch students to related educational opportunities. Kat Christen collected a series of interviews from members of the Carrizo-Comecrudo Nation and other supporting activists. This project makes available those interviews.

Carrizo-Comecrudo Resistance

Members of the Carrizo-Comecrudo Nation are leading wall construction resistance efforts.

Learn more about the Carrizo-Comecrudo Nation on their webpage and on facebook. (link to: http://www.carrizocomecrudonation.com/index.html and https://www.facebook.com/CarrizoComecrudoTribeOfTexas/  )

Learn more about the front line encampment called Somi’sek Village here. (link to: https://www.facebook.com/somisekvillage/ )

Climate During Interviews

While interviews were being collected in early February, equipment arrived for the impending construction of the portion of a border wall through the National Butterfly Center, several churches, family cemeteries and homes on or south of the levy near San Juan, Texas.  The southern most part of the National Butterfly Center land was seized at this time. The levy, located often miles North of the Rio Grande River, is the planned location for the controversial border wall. The winding Rio Grande River is the official border between Texas and Mexico.

Interviews were collected during the 35-day government shut down related to wall funding and border security in the national spending budget. Many national media stories at this time paint a picture of crisis at the border. These interviews tell a different story.