Indigenous Histories
Presidio’s Indigenous history and the Lipan Apache culture taught at local schools.
Arian Velazquez-Ornelas and Ms. Madrid, 6th grade history teacher, coordinated student engagement at PISD leading up to the March 23 celebration of the protection project at Cementerio del Barrio de los Lipanes.
Arian gave presentations to middle school and high school students about Presidio’s Native American history and the Lipan Apache culture. She talked about the migration of Native American peoples from the north, Presidio’s agricultural roots, and the reason this area is known as "La Junta." She helped students make connections to their ancestry by pointing out the Ornelas and Aguilar names associated with the named graves at the cemetery and the importance of keeping traditions alive by telling oral stories: “Imagine that your phones went away today, how are you going to share your stories?”
She ended her presentations by inviting students to the cemetery’s blessing ceremony and made herself available for questions at a table displaying historical books from her personal collection.
Christina Hernandez and Dr. Nakaya Flotte—from Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas and People of La Junta for Preservation—helped envision this programming. Thank you to Elvira Hermosillo for helping organize these events, guest speaker Arian Velazquez-Ornelas and school administrators—Belinda Dolino, Alonso Hernandez, Taro Gutierrez, and Irvin Olivas, along with superintendent Carmen Rubner—for giving us the opportunity to connect with so many students.