Juan de Oñate Controversy in El Paso: Fantasy Heritage, Hegemony, and Cultural Representation in a West Texas Town

Authors

Frank G. Perez, University of Texas at El Paso

Document Type

Article

Creation Date

11-7-2019

Description

This talk is drawn from his forthcoming book: Deconstructing Eurocentric Tourism and Heritage Narratives in Mexican-American Communities: Juan de Oñate as a West Texas Icon (with Carlos F. Ortega; Routledge).

This presentation will address El Paso community leaders' efforts to honor the region's past via the XII Travelers of Southwest Memorial, a project with no Mexican-American representation in a community that is 82% Hispanic, almost entirely Mexican/Mexican-American. The lecture focuses on a 36-foot-tall statue of Juan de Oñate via a critique grounded in Carey McWilliams' concept of fantasy heritage.

Recommended Citation

Public Heritage Lecture Series, UTRGV Digital Library, The University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley. Accessed via https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/phls/