Border Dystopias: Indians, Anarchists, and Revolution in the Californias Michael Kearney Memorial Lecture

Border Dystopias: Indians, Anarchists, and Revolution in the Californias Michael Kearney Memorial Lecture

 

MODERATOR: NAGENGAST, Carole (UNM)

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: ALVAREZ, Roberto (UCSD)

COMMENTATORS: ZAVELLA, Patricia (UCSC),

HEYMAN, Josiah (UTEP)

 

ALVAREZ, Roberto (UCSD) Border Dystopias: Indians, Anarchists, and Revolution

in the Californias. This presentation addresses untold stories of “histories without

people,” not “people without history.” Based on interviews conducted in the

1970’s with Rosa Arballo Salgado, a native PaiPai woman from Baja California, I

trace and re-examine the early 1900’s in the Californias. This was the incipient

period of the Mexican Revolution. Armed Interventions and raids into Baja

California by the liberal party of Ricardo Flores Magon, led to clashes with

Federal Forces through the northern territory. This included socialist workers of

the world, American “Wobblies” and adventure seekers who were directed by

Magon from Los Angeles. The invasion of Baja California and “capture” of both

Mexicali and Tijuana, led the liberal forces towards the then capital Ensenada.

Written histories and ethnographic work describe the clashes and violence in

now forgotten mining towns and the Sierra Juarez. This was the range of native

Yuman speaking groups caught in the insurrection. Rosa’s story provides a native

perspective and illustrates the long-term, generational effects of revolution and

insurrection that continue to this day. Her story underlines the central role of

women in the struggle. Specific anthropological themes I address include

resilience and perseverance, native voice and insider research. Utopian visions

of the border contrast with the dystopian outcomes and add a new narrative to

Mexico-U.S. Border studies.

 

Session took place in Cincinnati, OH at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in March 2023.