One of the first stop was to the Mission San Xaiver Del Bac on Tonoho O'odham land. Lorenzo explained to me how in bringing his students there he talked with the about the power of certain places and why that site was considered special by the inhabitants. At one time a river ran through the site. The hill on the side of the mission commands a central view of the valley Tucson is located. The ability to grow food and defend against encroachments of enemies would make any place seem a little special.
Lorenzo spoke about the power of that site. How the sites of indigenous spirituality have been overlayed with a facade of western spirituality. It is that type of subversion that centuries later makes understanding the issues facing the MAS students and teachers in Tucson so difficult.
All in all, Tucson is like most other places. Some people get along and some people don't. There are power brokers and those that want to be power brokers. Motivations stay the same - only the names and faces change. The difference here is that a new way of thinking about indigeneity is trying to come into existence and like any cultural evolution it exceeds the individuals responsible for it's creation.
So this valley becomes an intellectuall sacred place. The four teachings (the four tezcatlipocas) is the material synthesis of Xicano thought to this point in history. The MAS program pedagogy represents the next step of 40 plus years of Xicano Studies praxis in North America. The implementation of that pedagogy is what takes it to the next level and ultimately what makes it so dangerous and threatening to the US nativists who oppose. An epistemology that removes the measuring stick of western civilization and creates a path to developing what Amilicar Cabral calls a "return to history."
Tucson Freedom Summer
June 3, 2012
