Image taken in Marlin Texas. I chose to start off with this image to create a curated path for viewers to start off when viewing this work. This street houses many memories of my maternal great-grandparents. Once a thriving street now full of abandoned homes that my family still owns. I have spoken with family that I have never met before. I am trying to uncover and document all the Curanderismo practices done by this side of my family. As I move forward with this ongoing series, I aim to one day visit the town in Mexico my great-grandfather is from. This will help me get closer to the indigenous influences attached to my family’s private practice of Curanderismo.
Image taken in Marlin Texas. Uncle Rudy’s House of the sons of my great grandfather A.B Pacina. He no long is alive but a relative who lives across the street owns the house and the cars Rudy left behind. Uncle Rudy was a mechanic and worked on cars.
Image taken in Marlin Texas. Uncle Rudy’s house.
Image taken in Marlin Texas. Walking up the path where a chapel once stood that my family created. This jumpsuit has not made its way with me to Texas for a walking meditation.
While visually this is similar to walking 3, I chose to include this to embody how I felt standing still in front of this empty lot. My great-grandfather built a chapel intended for the family to have and pass down. Later it became shared with the other Mexican families in the neighborhood. I came across readings that focused on Otomi chapels passed down in Bernal Mexico. Bernal is located 179 miles south of the village my grandfather is from. I am still investigating this connection. I plan to travel to Villa Hildago San Louis Potosi Mexico, and Bernal in hopes to bridge connections. As I stand I wonder more about A.B.’s experience walking back and forth from Villa Hildago to Cameron Texas. Amazed that he brought himself out of poverty and laid roots in a new land and created a place for his family to live. I am curious about this chapel he built and the connection to the indignity that has been buried. The spiritual practices and connection to nature(plant medicine) my family bore is one of my few threads to the past. I dig through the catholic influence in an attempt to uncover what indigenous connections converged.
Important notice I do not claim to be Otomi, I am simply analyzing similarities. I plan to uncover more information once I travel to Mexico. This is my journey so far in what I have learned, and I am still learning.
References: http://ai.stanford.edu/~latombe/mountain/photo/mexico/queretaro-2022/otomi-chapels.htm
Image taken in Waco, Texas. Lady Fatima was an object that came from the chapel A.B. built.
Image taken in Waco, Texas. A relative who showed me the Fatima statue has collected many remnants, and pictures from and of the chapel. Mary and Jesus’ statue came from the chapel. The object has changed over time. The new owner painted this state in order to restore it. My next plan of action is to scan her photos the next time I visit her. I worry about the images getting lost in the mail if she sends them to me.
Taken in Marlin Texas. This house belongs to E.L Pacina on A.B’s sons. E.L. is no longer alive but this is still owned by the family. This home is a family apart, left behind, yet still home to memories.
Taken in Marlin Texas.
Taken in Marlin Texas.
Taken in Marlin Texas. My grandmother’s sister…my sweet Aunt Frances's grave. I kick myself for not asking her questions sooner. If only I started my research earlier, I was in school at the time she passed away. She was not buried here but her ashes gave life to the plants around her tombstone. She gave me a sewing machine when I was younger. I promised her a blue and white polka dot dress. I made this jumpsuit in honor of her finally united for a brief moment.
Taken in Marlin Texas. My great-grandfather’s tombstone.
Taken in Marlin Texas. Senobia my great-grandmother's tombstone. For the longest time, I have been misspelling her name and not knowing. If you look at my past writings I wrote it as Senovia. Going forward I will correct my future writings. Senobia died very young at the age of 50. She used to grind corn from scratch and cook tortillas every morning. That was Vetos's (first grandbaby) strongest memory of her. Veto loved watching Senobia do daily tasks around the house. Senobia thought some of her children and grandchildren how to sew. From temporary, to quilt making, and even making clothes. Senobia also passed down information connected to Curenderismo to her daughters. Through the female descendants, I am able to know what practices stemming from Curenderismo I need to learn.
Taken in Marlin Texas
Taken in Marlin Texas. B&B Market is a place I once visited with my grandfather(Raymundo Deanda). My grandfather loved to come to eat at this store, and I have a memory of eating BBQ here with him. I have had a hard time finding writings on this place but I know it was once a black-owned business. From what my family told me the owner sponsors the first black baseball team in Marlin. I wish I knew more about this place, all I can say is I met the owner and his son. My memory is vague but he took over the business. The owner had a photo of him and his grandfather in from of the gas station my great uncle E.L. owned. I am not sure if there are any descendants left but I wish I could see that photo one more time.
Taken in Marlin Texas. When I came close to the building I was shocked by the condition this was left in. The building next door burned down, and from what I was told this building was affected by it.
Taken in Marlin Texas. E.L.’s gas station one longest buisness to last. One of the first Hispanic-owned businesses in town. White business owners have a betting pool against E.L. gas stations. They bet on his failure, but a joke on them his business outlasted the white owners who wanted him to fail.
Taken in Marlin Texas. E.L.’s new house. I vaguely remember going inside this place when I was younger. I do remember E.L. and the stories my family told about him. He loved to drive fast and even shocked my father with his driving. Another story about E.L. goes back to his childhood. One of E.L.’s uncles who could pass for white during the time of segregation in restaurants took E.L. as a boy into a restaurant. This uncle could only Speak Spanish and hated the anti-Mexican signs. His mindset was “They will not stop me from eating where I want to eat”. He took E.L. who was not passing into a dinner. In reality, this was very dangerous for E.L.’s uncle to do. E.L. was terrified by the stares and was worried he would be harmed. Since he was with his white-passing uncle no one questioned it. The uncle would just point to what he wanted to eat on the menu. He would not speak at all while he was at dinner. That was his way of working around the rules.
Taken in Carmine Texas. My uncle works for a man’s ranch, he feeds the horses, moves the grass, and collects grass for hay roles. He takes care of the land for the owner. This image is not related to Marlin. I just thought it was nice to include. Carmine is a whole other story. My uncle has worked for a lot of farms/ranches out there.