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Tigua Indians

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Tigua Indians

Tigua Indians

The Saga of the Tigua Indians is an amazing one. By all reasoning they should have been wiped out long ago. There quiet defiance to change, however, has carried them through. From the height of civilization to near extinction the Tigua have remained. They endure imprisonment by the Spanish, oppression and manipulation by everyone that followed. This is the story of a people thought to extinct, that are once again learning to survive.
Early histories of the Tigua Indians are conflicting and largely untrue. Since 1680 it had been believed that the Tiguas were traitors to the Pueblo Nation, and had chose sides with the Spanish during the Pueblo Revolt. Upon the Spanish retreat south it was believed that the Tiguas chose to flea with the Spanish Military. The truth of their migration south is somewhat different. The Tigua are direct descendants of the Pueblo Indians of Isleta, New Mexico. There name Tigua, or Tiwa, refers to the dialect that they speak. Long before they founded Isleta, however, they were the inhabitants of a much more spectacular home; the fabled city of Gran Quivira, the golden city that drew the interest of Coronado. By 800 A.D. the city covered seventeen acres. T its height it had twenty housing projects built in the form of towering apartments, when most of Europe was nothing but primitive tribes. Terraces, garden apartments, churches, workshops and kitchens separated these projects. The masons were so skilled that the stones required no cement, and the carpenters cut wood in a way that the beams required no nails. When the Spanish finally found this city of legends they ere so impressed that they called it Pueblo de los Humanas, or the City of Human Beings. Then they went about destroying the city and the people forcing them into exile. This marked the beginning of centuries of abuse. From relocation to theft the Tiguas were to become the plaything of Europeans and Americans alike.
In 1680 the majority of the Pueblo Indians in New Mexico staged a revolt against the Spanish. On the whole the Tigua did not join the revolt. Some believe this is an indication that the Tigua were loyal to the cross and to Spain. This is not entirely accurate. As the southernmost pueblo, location probably had more to do with the fate of the Tigua then anything. The news of this revolt led by an Indian named Pope had not yet reached Isleta. By the time it had the Tigua were overrun by retreating Spaniards. Being the southernmost city it was the natural regrouping ground for Otermin and his troops. With such a large presence of Spanish soldiers it would have been foolish for the Indians of Isleta to resist them. After failed attempts to recapture lands lost to the north, Governor Otermin finally decided to give up and proceeded south to greater safety of the Mission of Guadalupe at Juarez. The Spanish were accompanied by a group of Indians from mixed tribes, including a few Tigua. One in Juarez three camps for the Indians were established. Alvaro de Zualata was the first priest of the Sacramento camp was located on the present day site of the Mission Church at Ysleta, Texas. Ysleta, Texas, or Ysleta del Sur is the current location of the remaining Tigua Indians. Two other camps were also formed; St. Pedro de Alcantarra and Seneca del Sur. The present Church of Ysleta has an interesting record from this time stating that in addition to these camps set up by the Spanish, “a few Tigua try to found Ysleta del Sur in a nearby place.
In 1681 Otermin was determined to recapture the lost territories in New Mexico. He mounted an expedition to the north and was successful in surprising the Pueblo of Isleta under the cover of darkness. He was able to capture nearly all of the inhabitants. The Spanish continued to move north. The Pueblo forces were successful again, however, in repulsing the Spanish. Thus forcing the Spanish back south toward El Paso. As many as 100 Isleta Pueblo escaped from the Spanish on their journey southward. It is believed that these along with a few others that escaped the initial attack fled to Arizona to seek refuge with the Hopi Indians, a tribe they had always been friendly with. The remaining Tigua were shackled and used as a human shield on the treacherous trek south to El Paso. This is evidenced by Otermin’s own words in his report the Extractos: “…protection would thus be afforded [the Spanish] along the retreat [while] danger of the Indians returning to apostasy would thereby be relieved.” The Spanish returned in February 1682 with 385 Tiguas, all which was left after the dreaded Journada de Muerto, a trackless waste of sixty miles void of water and shelter. Because of the increased number of Indian captives the settlements were reorganized. The Tiguas were moved from Santismo Sacramento to a nearby site to form the Pueblo of Corpus Christi de la Ysleta del Sur Pueblo where they have remained to this day. The Tigua were immediately forced into labor building a new mission. This indentured servitude went on for some time.
In 1751 King Charles V of Spain made a formal land grant to the Tiguas that gave them title to a thirty-six square mile area. . This surrounded their mission with a “Four League Grant”(one league in each direction from the church). This came after being ignored when the other Pueblo Indians received Four League Grants in 1689. After lengthy court battles the Mexican government reaffirmed the Tigua right to this land in 1834. Unfortunately for the Tiguas, Ysleta del Sur was the only pueblo not reaffirmed by the U.S government in 1864, because Texas had joined the Confederacy. This is at least the reason given by the United States as to why the Tigua were ignored when the other Pueblos were recognized. This argument, however, is flawed in that the Federal government never recognized the secession of the Confederate States. This means that the Tigua should have been extended the same protection as the other Pueblos.
In order to understand how the eventually loss of tribal lands played out it is important to now take a few steps back in. The original grants from Spain were intended to provide protected land that would be free from non-Indian settlement. The Pueblos were to set up there own system of authority. So in effect the grants set up each pueblo as an independent, sovereign nation. King Charles gave each governor a cane that would be an outward symbol of his authority in addition to the written documents. These canes were modeled after the ones used in Mexico, and Spain. Forty years later with the issuing of Recopelacion de las leyes de los Reynos de las Indios the grants, their rivers and other water sources were protected from being sold or taken away. In 1811 further laws were passed to ensure the protection of Indian lands from sale.
In 1821 Mexico won its independence from Spain. The new government reaffirmed the Spanish laws that had protected the Tigua land grants. During the next fourteen years the grants were reaffirmed four times. This protection continued when Texas won its independence from Mexico. The Constitution of the Republic of Texas recognized and honored all Spanish and Mexican land grants. Even thought the State Legislature adopted English common law in 1840 the grants were accepted, thereby protecting their sovereignty. The Treaty of Hidalgo was signed in 1848 after Texas had been admitted into the Union and the Mexican-American War ended. Along with granting the U.S. all lands east of the Rio Grande, upper California and New Mexico, it also provided recognition and the protection to all individuals owning private property acquired under the Spanish and Mexican laws, including the Indian land grants. John Calhoun, Indian Agent for the Territory of New Mexico(at this time included El Paso), reported that the Pueblos of Socorro and Ysleta del Sur had been granted land that covered over seventy-two square miles.
The Relinquishment Act of the Texas Legislature gave the Tigua an additional two leagues of land to replace those lost by the shifting of the Rio Grande in 1832. In the Fifth Legislature Special Laws, Texas confirmed the original Spanish land grant. They then authorized the issuance of a patent title. This gave the Tigua patent to their own lands. Finally feeling secure the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo began to flourish. Crops were bountiful thanks to the rotational farming methods of the Tigua that allowed cultivated land to remain unused for one year between plantings. Irrigation was dug for dry periods and land was left untouched in reserve for future expansion due to growth in numbers. As new settlers moved into the area they began to desire the well-cultivated land of the Tigua. The land, however, was currently protected by law. The land was even more coveted by the people who knew of the forthcoming transcontinental railroad. Ysleta lay directly in the path to connect El Paso to this all-important line. The land was virtually invaluable to the Railroad companies, and whoever held the deed to said land stood to make an immense profit. This leads to the story of the blue-blood “rings” of El Paso, namely the “Fountain Ring”. While no official business agreement exists for the men about to be discussed the overwhelming evidence supports the theory that these men worked together to collectively acquire the rights to this invaluable land.
1861 saw the beginning of the Civil War and Texas seceded from the Union to join the Confederacy. Three years later while Texas was still in the Confederacy, and unwitting President Lincoln made an error that would eventually cost the Tigua nearly their entire land grant. In March President Lincoln issued what have become known as the “Lincoln Canes” to the New Mexico Pueblo Governors, following the example set by King Charles V. He followed this symbol with patents. Thus making the Pueblos the only Indians to hold title to their own land. Since Texas was part of the Confederacy the Tiguas and Ysleta del Sur were left out of this gesture. The exclusion left the Tigua in the Jurisdiction of the state rather than federal government.
Senator Albert Fountain returned to El Paso in 1866 to make a new start. He was recuperating from wounds he had received fighting Indians as a captain in a volunteer cavalry. This was after he had been discharged by the U.S. Army in 1864. During Reconstruction, El Paso became a haven for carpetbagger lawyers. Attorneys were needed since judges appointed by Reconstructionists seldom allowed ex-Confederates to practice law in their courts. There were a great number of cases, especially involving ownership in land. W.W. Mills, a strong political power in El Paso, had been urging the government to confiscate the property of those who had supported the Confederate cause.
Albert H. French was elected county judge in 1866. William Bacon was elected district judge, and James Zabriskie was chosen district attorney. Fountain’s law practice began as a result of contacts he made at Ben Dowell’s salon. Ben Dowell, a friend of Mills, would also become Important to the scheme to defraud the Tigua and the government for personal gain. Dowell was married to Juana Marquez, a full-blooded Tigua whose family included tribal Caciques, or Chiefs. They did not speak English. Nor did they read or write. It was in Dowell’s bar that Fountain met the commissioners in charge of dispersing rebel property and was “assigned to the staff to investigate titles for ranches, mills, business, private residences, and other properties of former Confederates in the El Paso district. Fountain appreciate the work no doubt, as by this point his family was nearly penniless. One of the properties confiscated was the Overland Mail. The courts repossessed it and held it in trust. Fountain was named the trustee, and promptly moved both his family and the families of Gaylord Clark and J.P. Hague on to the properties.
Fountain had quickly befriended W.W. Mills upon his arrival to El Paso. Mills was at the time the most influential man in the dominant political faction, the Radical Republican Party. Mills arranged for Fountain to become the assistant assessor and deputy collector of the internal revenue the district surveyor. Joining Mills and Fountain were Luis Cardis; Albert French, county judge; James Zabriskie, district attorney; William Bacon, district judge; Frank Williams; Charles Conely; Ben Dowell; Gaylord Clarke; J.M. Lujan; and parish priest of San Elizario, Reverend Antonio Borajo. These men constituted the “Mills Ring”. This group split, however, in 1868 over disputes about the rich salt deposits near Guadalupe peak. The earlier ring of Mills, Zabriskie, and French known as the “custom house ring” did not last long, but managed to grant favors to local merchants and secure political power long enough to acquire some lucrative properties.
Fountain would not allow loyalty to Mills to blind him from the future opportunities in El Paso. He soon became friends with William M. Pierson, a man who wielded more judicial power than Mills. Pierson in fact was violently opposed to Mills. Fountain seeing that the balance of power was shifting aligned himself with Pierson shortly before Mills was removed from office and lost his vast power over the area. Fountain ran against Mills in a Legislative election even though he had told Mills in a letter that he would not. Fountain won the election and even though Mills contested the outcome, Fountain became the state Senator.
By 1870 Fountain had already been Senate Majority Leader and was now President of the Senate and Chairman of the Indian Affairs and Frontier Protection Committee. His friend Gaylord Clarke was now a judge thanks to Fountains influence. Clarke traveled to Austin to visit Bishop Gregg in order to seek a Protestant missionary for El Paso. Specifically they wanted one Reverend Joseph Wilkin Tays. He was the chaplain for the Senate and was currently disgraced for having preformed a mixed-marriage ceremony. Gregg agreed and Tays made his way to El Paso. He was a valued member of the community from the start. He ran a school and conducted services on Sundays. His source for income, however, was real estate and surveying as county surveyor, a position that Fountain made sure he received. In 1871 when Fountain returned to Austin he pushed “An Act to Incorporate the Town of Ysleta in El Paso County” through the Legislature. The boundaries of the act included lands belonging to the Tigua, as recognized in 1854. The act did not leave any opening for an election to determine if Ysleta wanted to be incorporated. Even if it had the Tigua would not have been allowed to vote. Indians were..



... denied voting rights by law on the basis that they were wards of the government. This was true despite the fact that the Tiguas had been Mexican citizens and should therefore in accordance with the Treaty of Hidalgo been made citizens of the United States. The act gave Ysleta the power to regulate “tippling houses, dram ships, and groceries.” It also explained how land could be granted or sold by the town, “ to any person or persons who may desire to become citizens of Ysleta.” Indians, as you may have guessed, could not become citizens, and so even though the law was an illegal law since the patent that was granted by the Fifth Legislature could not be sold, the Tiguas could no hold land titles. Tays prepared a map, which combined the Ysleta Grant with other properties. The map is dated 1872 and the act to incorporate seems to be drawn on the same parameters. Tays’s original map is still on file with the El Paso County Clerk. It reveals a substantial amount of land as public land, when in fact it belonged to the Tigua. This map is radically different form one made in 1825. This is the first map of the Tigua lands. The first rule to surveying land is to follow the surveyor before you. Tays’s boundaries cut out the vast majority of the land traditionally allocated to the Tigua. Additionally Tays’s survey allocated lands to J.P Hague, who had been a clerk of the states senate from 1867-1871 when he became the first district attorney to El Paso. This was during Fountain’s tenure in the Senate. Part of the Hague property also has the name of J.A. Buckler a notorious real estate developer. After three years much of the Tigua land had disappeared by way of 304 conveyances to individuals who wished to be citizens of Ysleta. Vast amounts of this land were later conveyed to friends of Fountain, including Ben Dowell. This took place despite the fact that a lawsuit reaffirmed the original Spanish grants made to the Indian tribes confirmed that the state had no authority in regards to the sale of Indian lands, and that the incorporation act was illegal.
Ben Dowell was assigned by the incorporators to be one of the five commissioners to set up an election for officers of the city council. Dowell himself was elected Mayor. During the second meeting Fountain was elected city attorney. This prompted questions of appropriateness by three members of the aldermen. Within a month the tree naysayers were silenced, and resigned from office. An election was held to replace the aldermen. Among those elected was none other than Joseph Tays. The “Fountain Ring” had become the most powerful in the country. The Supreme Court soon stepped in and declared the Act to incorporate unconstitutional. I May of 1874 Fountain pushed through another bill, “An Act to Repeal an Act to Incorporate the Town of Ysleta in El Paso County”. The law was a formal apology, but tact onto the bill was a provision that the law would take effect 60 days after enactment. In this time another 350 conveyances took place. The laws were declared unconstitutional and repealed, but the damage was already done. The Tigua had lost their land. To address claims that these acquisitions were just normal business it is necessary to point out again that an Indian can not sell land that is being held in trust by the state. The only land that an Indian could sell he land that he himself had purchased. Therefore, all the transfers of property made of land that belonged within the original grant were illegal. They were made by individuals who had no right to sell them. Furthermore, the people who purchased the land made and illegal purchase. Considering the fact that most of the names that appear on the titles are land dealers, the suggestion of fraud is overwhelming. Land dealers surely would have known the law.
This does not completely clear up the question of whether or Fountain’s ‘ring’ was involved in a conspiracy. Upon looking at further evidence, however, it is all but impossible to deny. S.H. Newman, a newspaperman, had made these observations of El Paso in 1876. He was impressed by the vision the townspeople had of “a Great Day coming when the railroad would arrive and untold riches would reward the faithful…” At this time Ben Dowell, Joseph Tays, and Colonel Zabriskie had already accumulated considerable acres of land in anticipation of the coming railroad. Newman later wrote, “I can remember how the same Colonel Zabriskie pointed out the exact spot where the railroad would cross the Rio Grande, and I smiled and accused him of drawing upon his imagination. Years afterward when the Southern Pacific Railroad Company built its bridge above the city I smiled again and in imagination took of my hat to Colonel Zabriskie. It was the exact spot he had pointed out. Zabriskie knew that site had been chosen long before the railroad ever arrived. It seems reasonable that Zabriskie would have shared this information with powerful friends even if only enlist them in helping him purchase the land. A single man would have had a hard time buying all of the land necessary. In order to bargain for a desired price with the railroads, one would need to own enough land that the railroads could not simply build around his land. In order to tie up that much land, Zabriskie would need help. Who better to turn to than powerful politicians? The other question that might arise is how did Zabriskie obtain this knowledge? That answer is easily suggested. Railroad companies depended upon the cooperation of both federal and state governments. Route proposals had to be ratified through government action. If the routes crossed government land or land being held in trust by the government, such as reservations, it would require Legislative approval. Fountain, being Chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee and President of the Senate, would have been consulted on proposed routes on Indian land. We do not know that Fountain passed any information on to Zabriskie, but he certainly had the opportunity. Seeing as how Fountain is a man who enjoyed a rapid ascent from poverty to power and wealth through underhanded dealings with the El Paso elite, it is safe to assume that he wouldn’t pass this opportunity up. Fountain was power hungry and had quickly manipulated individuals in El Paso’s elite from early on. It was clearly through both of the acts he pushed through the Senate that he was intent on continuing to do so as long as he could profit from it. Those who were in on the scandal and bought the lands became extremely wealthy over the years and the Tigua fell deeper and deeper into poverty. Eventually it was claimed by anthropologists and others that they had disappeared.
The Tigua went largely unnoticed for most of the 20th century. It wasn’t until 1965, when El Paso started proceedings to recover back taxes from the individuals where the Tigua had ‘once’ lived, that they drew the attention of attorney Tom Diamond. Tax foreclosures threatened to destroy the last remnants of the Tigua. Diamond became interested in them and began their fight for survival. In the summer of 1966 anthropologist Nick Houser spent three months studying the Tigua. In October of that same year the Tigua refused to pay taxes. Diamond filed suit on behalf of the Tigua against the city. He claimed that the original grant had been recognized by Texas, and therefore the land belonged to them as a sovereign nation and could not be taxed. At this time the Tigua were the only Indian group not recognized by the U.S. government. This all began to change on November 23rd of 1966, when the Texas State Historical Survey Committee passed a resolution recognizing the tribe based on Nick Houser’s reports. In April of 1967 their call for recognition was again answered after much work by Tom Diamond. The Sixtieth Texas Senate Legislature recognized the Tiguas’ existence as a tribe in House Bill 888. One year later in 1968 the Congressional Record sated: “Considering how many other tribes and bands of Indians in this country have been recognized by the United States, it is virtually impossible to explain how the Tigua have been missed up to this time…” In July of 1967 the Tiguas received their first allocated funds totaling $35,000. In August the same year The House Indian Affairs Subcommittee approved a bill to designate the Tigua Indians of El Paso as an official Indian tribe. In February of 1968 after much prodding by Diamond and after a visit to Ysleta revealed the poverty of the Tiguas there stipend was increased to $146,424 a year.
In April of 1968, one year after Texas had recognized the Tigua, President did the same with Public Law 90-287. It read:
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the Indians now living in El Paso County, Texas who are descendants of the Tiwa Indians of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo settling in Texas as Ysleta in 1682 shall from and after the ratification of this Act, be known and designated as the Tiwa Indians of Ysleta, Texas, ad shall continue to enjoy all of the rights, privileges, and immunities enjoyed by them as citizens of the State of Texas and of the United States before the enactment of this Act and shall continue to be subject to all the obligations and duties of such citizens under the laws of the State of Texas and the United States. .
Section 2. - Responsibility, if any for the Tiwa Indians of Ysleta del Sur hereby transferred to the State of Texas. Nothing in this Act shall make such tribe or its members eligible for any services preformed by the United States for Indians because of their status as Indians nor subject the United States to any responsibility, liability, claim, or demand of any nature to or by such tribe or its members arising out of their status as Indians and none of the Statutes of the United States which effect Indians because if their status as Indians shall applicable to the Tiwa Indians of Ysleta de Sur. Nothing herein shall preclude the application to the people of Tiwa Indians of programs undertaken pursuant to the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (78 Stat. 508), as heretofore or hereafter amended.”
Basically the federal government recognized the Tigua, but took no responsibility for them. They instead relinquished their welfare to the state, who now had to take of them. To this day unfortunately there are those who do not believe that the Tigua are an Indian tribe. They right them off as poor Mexicans who have manipulated the system. The fight for the Tigua is far from over.
Since there recognition, the Tiguas fight to maintain their culture and acquire their tribal lands has been an uphill battle. Red tape and bureaucracy have bogged down advancement. The Tiguas filed claim in 1983 to reclaim in accordance with the Indian Claims Limitation Act of 1982. They wanted a return of lands still being held by the state and financial compensation for their other losses. In 1987 the law changed allowing the sale of state land to raise money for the Permanent School Fund. The land that is most speculative is the Indian land. Protests made by Diamond on behalf of the Tigua were acknowledged then discarded. They tried to protest again in 1991 to Stroud Kelly, the head attorney at the General Land Office. Diamond says that Kelly told him that several closings were about to take place. Later, however, denied any knowledge of transactions that were taking place in El Paso County. Diamond wrote a letter to Garry Mauro, The Texas Land commissioner, on March 3rd 1991 informing him “that the tribe will hold the state accountable for any conveyances by the state within the claim area to third parties.” Mauro replied that since the Tigua had a pending suit he did not wish to discuss except that he would defend title to state lands. The Tigua continued to build their case cave paintings and other historical evidence. The Tigua claim was outlined by Diamond in December of 1992. It included twenty sections of land at Fort Bliss, twenty sections on the Hueco Mountains, forty thousand acres in Hudspeth County, as well as large tracts in Culberson, Jeff Davis, Brewster, and Presidio counties. The Hueco Tanks were of the most concern, as they are ancient burial grounds. “We do have valid deeds to the land,” said former Tigua governor Miguel Apedraza, “We don’t really want it back. What we want is to be compensated for it.”
In 1992 the Tiguas decided to consider putting in casinos this would prove to be another legal battle. The casino came into being with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which permitted Class II gambling—anything under a slot machine, such as bingo and cards. The Act gave the commission authority to open those kinds of games in any state. The Tigua found someone to run the casino, submitted an agreement and was approved by Indian Gaming Commission. Then they sued the State of Texas to be allowed to upgrade to Class III. Those include roulette, baccarat, craps, blackjack, and slot machines. They filed in Pecos, because it was the least busy and they wanted speedy reply. The judge found in favor of the tribe stating that these games were allowed in Texas. The government had denied a Class III contract on the basis that they were illegal in Texas. Diamond and the Tigua pointed out that there were slot machines at almost every truck stop in the state and in some shopping malls. The state appealed the ruling, but for all intensive purposes it was upheld. The Tigua are careful to keep the operation on trust grounds.
Life for the Tiguas is beginning to take an upturn. They have come out from extinction and are beginning to flourish. The quality of health and the level of education have begun to rise. The tribe is currently building many welfare programs, educational programs, establishing health benefits, plus laying aside money to distribute to the entire tribe. The money is currently collecting interest in a trust until the Bureau of Indian Affairs gives approval to a distribution plan. The lawsuits to reclaim the land have been put on hold. The Tigua are getting what they want through the casino. They are by choice quietly buying land that is legally theirs anyway. Though they are the rightful owners, the Tigua do not wish to make a big scene. They prefer to achieve economic independence on their own, hopefully reducing the chances of being taken advantage of again. Only six full-blooded Tigua remain, and they still plow and keep their traditional lands. They continue to teach children and grandchildren how to be Tigua.

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