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A Great Lakes Colleges Association initiative supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
bbryan@antiochcollege.edu
 

Carrizo-Comecrudo Indigenous Led Activism for Border Justice in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas

 

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.  

Written by

Kat Christen is the Antioch College Farm Manager. Kat has been a grower and educator for fifteen years focused on small-scale sustainable growing methods. She has developed and taught programs in urban gardens in Dayton, co-founded and operated Smaller Footprint Farm, a CSA and market farm near Yellow Springs, and provided significant leadership to starting and growing the Antioch Farm, which she now manages as an educational resource for the College. She also has a BS in Life Science Education. She is passionate about growing healthy food while preserving ecological integrity, sharing knowledge with others, and engaging in social justice issues.

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