Historias: Stories of El Paso - Virtual Exhibition
Historias: Stories of El Paso - Virtual Exhibition

Historias: Stories of El Paso - Virtual Exhibition

Historias: Stories of El Paso A virtual exhibition curated by our community Courtesy of: Rubi Orozco Santos Title: Nixtamal in the Borderland Historia type: Photograph & Poem In 2019 with support from the City of El Paso and Museum and Cultural Affairs Department's Artist Incubator Program, I released a bilingual book of poetry inspired by the history of nixtamalization and interviews with practitioners of this ancient indigenous culinary innovation in the El Paso area. One woman I met personally brings her corn from Mexico every year for her family's Christmas tamales; another one shares her cooking knowledge with people in her neighborhood; some had their hand mills for decades, others had recently gotten theirs on the internet; more than one had husbands who made them custom tables on which to permanently mount the molino (hand mill). Like many El Pasoans, these women navigate increasing border militarization even as they carve out spaces to maintain and share nourishing traditions. In this respect, their lives are the continuation of those of indigenous peoples who maintained the tradition of nixtamalization even as they endured state violence in the late 1490s and beyond. This is the final poem in the collection: Teocintle In the beginning, there was Corn. And the Corn said: Know me. Evolve with me. Choose my starchiest seeds for planting. Build tools for grinding. Built structures for these tools. Sing the song of my existence.

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: Rubi Orozco Santos

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

March is Women's History Month. This book has roots in a long proud history.

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

Little Caples Building

Little Caples Building in downtown El Paso, Texas. Located at ...

City Hall circa 1915, El Paso, Texas

Intersection of Myrtle & San Antonio Streets between 1910-1920. ...

Street Scene-Automobile Row

This section of North Kansas Street was known as "Automobile ...

Abdou Building

Henry Trost designed this seven-story reinforced concrete ...

Church and County Courthouse in 1890s

This picture, dating back to the 1890s, shows the County ...

Bird's Eye View of El Paso from Mesa Garden

The picture captures El Paso between 1890 and 1900. It was taken ...

The Popular Dry Good Company

The Popular department store chain, founded by Adolph Schwartz, ...

Lawmen On Horseback

Lawmen on horseback in downtown El Paso, Texas.

Street Car Downtown

A street car travels between the Grand Hotel and the El Paso ...

Local Bar In El Paso, Texas

A local bar in El Paso, Texas between 1910 - 1920.

Otis A. Aultman

Otis A. Aultman playing cards with friends, he is to the far ...

Downtown El Paso

Image of downtown El Paso between 1910-1920. City Hall to the ...

El Paso Preachers

This group of Protestant ministers includes Dr. Poe of the ...

Chamber of Commerce Anniversary Luncheon

These are the past and present directors of the El Paso Chamber ...

Southwest University Park

Southwest University Park is a stadium in El Paso, Texas. It is ...

White House Department Store

The popularity of the White House exceeded the size of its ...

Southwest University Park

Southwest University Park is a stadium in El Paso, Texas. It is ...

East San Antonio Avenue

This sign marks the corner of East San Antonio Avenue and South ...

Architecture

A once beautiful building in downtown El Paso, TX.

Lamppost

Downtown El Paso is dotted with revival styles from the turn of ...

N. Mesa Street Downtown El Paso, Texas

Image of N. Mesa Street with sign and lamp post in downtown El ...

Kress Sign

This sign marks the location of Kress & Co. Department store at ...

Betty Moor MacGuire Hall - El Paso Texas

Photograph of the Betty Moor MacGuire Hall. The picture features ...

home.search_collection