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Chicano conference programs and speeches, April 1973-May 1974
1974-04-13 Opening Remarks Page 4
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Julian Samora who did a study of East Chicago, a sociological study in 1967, came to the same conclusion. The Chicano in the Midwest was a foreigner, was an immigrant; he came to the host country and he was not assimilating fast enough. That was the reason for all his problems. We are still with this idea we have to begin to break in; we have to begin to question; we have to begin to interpret our situation in relation to the Chicano in the Southwest in relation to the Chicano here in the Midwest. I am going to look at Iowa history, just very briefly about the Chicano in Iowa in order to begin to deal with this question of us being immigrants like any other foreigner in this section of the country. One of the most interesting points I found when looking at Iowa history and the Chicano is that very few people realize that Spain owned Iowa from 1770 to 1803. This was Span, Spanish area, this was part of the Spanish imperialistic empire. Now, very few historians of Iowa history, Missouri history, Minnesota history, Nebraska history, Kansas history have tried to look if the Spanish left anything during this period of time. I am not at all excited about the Spanish being here. See the Spanish as conquistadores, oppressors just like the anglo in this part of the world. But el mestiazaje occurred in Iowa and the same time it was occurring down there in the Southwest. In Western Iowa in 1790's, a Spaniard named Manuel Lisa was one of the fur trappers in Northwest Iowa. Manuel Lisa married a Sioux Indian woman. Symbolically, we can say el mestizaje began with Manuel Lisa in Iowa. Symbolically, we can say that el mestizaje was happening here just like in the Southwest. How many more Manuel Lisa's were up here? I do not know. There were Spaniards in St. Louis, Missouri, and mestizaje no doubt, existed. There might have been Spaniards intermarrying with Indian tribes all around this area, but it has never been researched. The only Spanish land grants taht were given in Iowa were given to French-Canadians. For those of you who are from Iowa will recognize Dubuque. Julian Dubuque was a Spanish citizen. Dubuque founded the first settlement in Iowa that the gringo always says in Iowa, let's go back to Dubuque for our history. Dubuque was a Spanish citizen, he was a French-Canadian; but he became a Spanish citizen and his mines that he founded in Dubuque. The lead mines that he used Indian labor to work were called las minas espanolas. The other land grants that were given in Iowa were given in Southeast Iowa where Fort Madison is at now. Those land grants
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Julian Samora who did a study of East Chicago, a sociological study in 1967, came to the same conclusion. The Chicano in the Midwest was a foreigner, was an immigrant; he came to the host country and he was not assimilating fast enough. That was the reason for all his problems. We are still with this idea we have to begin to break in; we have to begin to question; we have to begin to interpret our situation in relation to the Chicano in the Southwest in relation to the Chicano here in the Midwest. I am going to look at Iowa history, just very briefly about the Chicano in Iowa in order to begin to deal with this question of us being immigrants like any other foreigner in this section of the country. One of the most interesting points I found when looking at Iowa history and the Chicano is that very few people realize that Spain owned Iowa from 1770 to 1803. This was Span, Spanish area, this was part of the Spanish imperialistic empire. Now, very few historians of Iowa history, Missouri history, Minnesota history, Nebraska history, Kansas history have tried to look if the Spanish left anything during this period of time. I am not at all excited about the Spanish being here. See the Spanish as conquistadores, oppressors just like the anglo in this part of the world. But el mestiazaje occurred in Iowa and the same time it was occurring down there in the Southwest. In Western Iowa in 1790's, a Spaniard named Manuel Lisa was one of the fur trappers in Northwest Iowa. Manuel Lisa married a Sioux Indian woman. Symbolically, we can say el mestizaje began with Manuel Lisa in Iowa. Symbolically, we can say that el mestizaje was happening here just like in the Southwest. How many more Manuel Lisa's were up here? I do not know. There were Spaniards in St. Louis, Missouri, and mestizaje no doubt, existed. There might have been Spaniards intermarrying with Indian tribes all around this area, but it has never been researched. The only Spanish land grants taht were given in Iowa were given to French-Canadians. For those of you who are from Iowa will recognize Dubuque. Julian Dubuque was a Spanish citizen. Dubuque founded the first settlement in Iowa that the gringo always says in Iowa, let's go back to Dubuque for our history. Dubuque was a Spanish citizen, he was a French-Canadian; but he became a Spanish citizen and his mines that he founded in Dubuque. The lead mines that he used Indian labor to work were called las minas espanolas. The other land grants that were given in Iowa were given in Southeast Iowa where Fort Madison is at now. Those land grants
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