WEBVTT

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from the

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thing

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Reyes Lopez Tijerina a symbol of hope
and courage for a great many new

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mexicans. Indeed, for mexican
americans throughout the southwest. Yeah,

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Tijerina on trial for his life, he was
acquitted of the charges against

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him in November 1968 in a great
victory over injustice. Tijerina, a man

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whose victory offers new hope for the
forgotten people of New Mexico, a

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man who is for them, a symbol of the
pride of their ancient heritage.

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What's the story behind the Farina's
victory? Well, The story really

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begins more than 300 years ago when
the King of Spain granted lands to the

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settlers of the Kingdom of New Mexico.
Some of the lands were granted to

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individuals to men who had served
their king especially well. But the vast

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expanse of the land grants were
communal properties, lands held in common

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by all the columnists, rich and poor
in a given area. These were lands for

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grazing cattle, lands for planting
corn, lands to feed and support a

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village for generations. The land was
held by the descendants of the

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spanish speaking pioneers. And then In
1848, the United States defeated

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Mexico in war and captured for herself
Mexico's northern territory. People

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who had owed their allegiance first to
Spain and then to Mexico found

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themselves governed by yet another
power and they were governed as a

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conquered people. The Treaty of
Guadalupe hidalgo which ended the Mexican

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american war guaranteed the rights of
people living in the ceded territory

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included among these rights was a
guarantee that the spanish and Mexican

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land grants would be honored, But in a
short time, most of the individual

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grantees had lost their property, A
few were unable to prove their

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ownership to the federal commissions
that reviewed the claims. But most of

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the grantees were victims of the high
cost of verifying their land grant

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and of the high land taxes imposed by
anglo american administrators and

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the lands were sold to Anglos for the
taxes alone.

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In the case of the communal lands, the
anglo americans couldn't understand

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a system where no one person could
claim exclusive ownership and so the US

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government confiscated the communal
grants, vast acreages were either

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taken over by the government or sold
cheaply to anglo investors.

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The people in the region of Tierra
Amarilla in Northern New Mexico were

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among those whose lands fell into
anglo hands in the years following the

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mexican american war.

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Today, most of the territory once held
under spanish grants is part of the

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national forest system. No one is
allowed to use this land and so there's

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no land for farming, no place, a
family can graze a cow or raise sheep, so

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most of the people are poor, so poor,
in fact that family incomes are far

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below the national average and many of
them must rely on welfare to

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survive into this scene. In 1963
stepped Reyes, Lopez Tijerina, a leader

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of a political organization now known
as the Alleanza Federal de los

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pueblos Liberace, the federal alliance
of Freetown's Torino was the man of

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the hour. The first concern of
Tijerina and his Alleanza Federal was to

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regain for Tierra Maria the land that
was rightfully theirs. He would not

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attempt to regain the individual
properties, but only the communal lands

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of the ancient grant lands which could
mean a chance for survival for

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hundreds of his people living in the
region. De Harina sought to bring the

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land question into the courts to fight
and win the battle for their

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redemption through legal channels. But
for three years the powers of

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government and most of the people of
New Mexico chose to ignore or

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ridicule his case. Something dramatic
was needed, something which would

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draw attention to the plight of the
people of Tierra Maria

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And so Alleanza members and their
supporters occupied 500 acres of land.

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This territory was the old san Joaquin
land grant, now part of Carson

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national Forest. Here the people set
up a government and called it the

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pueblo Republica de san Joaquin. From
that time events began to move

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rapidly. The Alleanza Federal
announced a meeting for June 3, 1967 and

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state officials decided that they must
take some sort of action. The

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arrest of Tijerina and other Alleanza
members was ordered 11 people were

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taken into custody in retaliation.
We're told that the government of the

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republic of the san Joaquin ordered
the Citizen's arrest of the district

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attorney in Tierra Amarilla. Some 20
men apparently were sent to serve the

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warrant. The result was a so called
raid on the Tierra Amarilla courthouse.

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An event now famous throughout New
Mexico. The courthouse is said to have

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been taken over by the deputies from
san Joaquin and in the confusion,

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several people were wounded. No one
knows who fired the first shots or

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even who was actually involved. But
Tierra Maria had finally gained

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attention the prominence that Tijerina
had sought through less violent

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means through the courts of law mm The
region of Tierra Maria became the

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subject of an intensive manhunt as
officials sought Tijerina who was held

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responsible for the courthouse raid
and his supposed accomplices. The

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people of the area lived in terror as
houses were searched, families

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questioned the men including Tijerina
were arrested and jailed. Thousands

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of new Mexicans rallied behind their
champion and although his name was

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not allowed on the ballot, Ray? S
serena won widespread support as a third

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party candidate for governor of New
Mexico while he was awaiting his trial

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, Mexican americans applauded as this
leader defended himself at this

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trial, assisted only by court
appointed lawyers and they cheered when the

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jury returned a verdict of not guilty,
Tijerina and threw him all mexican

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americans had won a great victory for
La raza. It's only a beginning. The

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Tierra Maria land question is yet to
be settled although it now receives

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national attention and this is a
challenge to the arena continues to

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pursue. He will not drop the issue
until some land is returned to the

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people of Northern New Mexico.

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Now, the story of race. Tijerina is of
significance not only to New

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Mexicans, but two members of La raza
throughout the southwest. For with T

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arenas victory. Mexican american
political activity comes of age. It's

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been a long struggle for in past
years, Mexican americans had no tradition

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of political union and little
opportunity for participation. To be sure,

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New Mexico was something of an
exception. Beginning with the anglo

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american conquest, some new mexican
americans had shared in the political

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activity of that state. If only
because they overwhelmingly outnumbered

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the anglo americans who settled there.
Many of the territorial governors

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of New Mexico were of Mexican descent.
And the first governors of the

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state were mexican americans. New
Mexico was the only state to send a

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Spanish speaking officeholder to
Washington, D. C. before World War II,

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the Initio Dennis Chavez was elected
to the House of Representatives. In

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1931. Four years later, he was
appointed to the US Senate and Chavez was

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returned to his seat in every election
until his death in 1962.

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Now, why were so few mexican americans
elected to office. Why did so few

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people involve themselves in politics?
Well, there are several reasons

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behind La raza's in activity and
politics. First of all spanish and then

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Mexican officials had discouraged
individual participation in government.

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So the people of the borderlands
hadn't developed a tradition of political

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activity. Secondly, after the mexican
american war, waves of anglo

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americans entered the conquered
borderlands. They brought with them a new

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system of government and a lively
tradition of political activity and they

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quickly gained political control of
the borderlands. These anglo

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politicians and their supporters
established patterns of discrimination in

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this way. The conquerors eliminated
most mexican americans from the

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political scene, discrimination in
education served to disenfranchise most

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mexican americans for it, assured that
they would be unable to pass the

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literacy tests required of voters.
Anglo politicians used and exploited

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the disfranchised people of the
borderlands and their inability to vote

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resulted in a basic failure to learn
about the electoral system, about the

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power of the ballot box. Thus they
developed a sense of frustration which

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is still felt today. It still felt
today in spite of the voter

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registration drives of recent years,
which have brought thousands of

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members of la raza to the polls.

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Yeah,