Diverse Cultures / One Land

For more than 10,000 years, native peoples have returned to this Medina river area--an ecotone--as a place of life-sustaining resources. An ecotone is a transitional zone between two adjacent but different plant communities, such as a forest and grassland, and is key to understanding why this land has been so bountiful. (Click text or image to read more...)

Ancient Americans who lived locally were hunter/gatherers who stayed in temporary settlements near water and wood; they hunted with bow and arrow using chipped stones with barbs. It is probable that the bulk of their diet consisted of seasonally available plant resources as well as fish and game. The riparian habitats of and surrounding the Medina River provided such life-sustaining nourishment. (Click text or image to read more...)

Ancient Americans

The Marqués de Croix reported to King Carlos of Spain that only through the settlement of families in this volatile new territory of Nueva España would Spain’s hold on the land be ensured. In March of 1731, José Antonio Peres de Casanova arrived in San Antonio as part of an immigration expedition representing sixteen families from the Spanish Canary Islands. (Click text or image to read more...)

Spanish Influence

The Bexar-Bahia area is regarded as the cradle of Texas ranching where major techniques for stock handling, branding and cattl raising, along with cowboy accessories such as chaps, saddles, lariats, and other ranching equipment were developed. Trail drives moved the cattle to market; the cattle industry saw the emergence of important ranching families which resulted in cattle dynasties providing support and control of communities in the area. (Click text or image to read more...)

Cattle Ranchers

Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821, and immigrant began arriving in San Antonio de Bexar. By accepting Mexican citizenship and professing to be Catholic, U.S. immigrant settlers were allowed to possess property. The beginning of this period was marked by Anglo-American loyalty to Mexico, but in time these settlers completely disengaged their allegiances to Mexico and switched to Anglo-American identification, dominance and empathy toward the United States. (Click text or image to read more...)

Settlers

Immigration to the area by southeasterners, along with their slaves, increased greatly in the 1840’s and early 1850’s. It was during this time that the Applewhite and the Presnall families arrived in Texas. With their slaves, they continued the plantation-style farming they had practiced in the past. The cultivation of cotton and other crops, as well as cattle-raising and the keeping of slaves, became integral parts of their ranching and family life on what is now the Land Heritage Institute property. (Click text or image to read more...)

Slaves

During the digging of the dam for the voter-rejected Applewhite Reservoir, one man--Richard Beene--stepped off his earth-moving machine and discovered archeological artifacts dating back many, many millennia. As a result of his find, this place would become known to archeologists as “the Richard Beene Site.” (Click text or image to read more...)

Archeologists

The Tap Pilam Coalhuiltecan Nation constitutes the modern day descendants of protohistoric Indians living in south Texas, who collectively came to be known as Coahuiltecans. Today, these Coahuiltecan descendants are an essential component to Land Heritage Institute. (Click text or image to read more...)

New Indian Influence

Every major cultural group throughout history that has inhabited south Texas has left evidence of their existence on this piece of property. The City of San Antonio has entrusted this land to a diverse coalition of “permanent member organizations”—grassroots organizations working together to develop, maintain and interpret these remarkable 1,200 acres of open space as a living “land museum” to preserve its natural and cultural resources for the benefit of the people of the State of Texas and its visitors. (Click text or image to read more...)

Everyman

Artists’ Statement

The inspiration for the idea behind the work came from the Land Heritage Institute, the organization overseeing 1200 acres of open space on the Medina River that was once slated to become the Applewhite Reservoir. Land Heritage Institute (LHI) leadership is comprised of a representative from each of the following permanent member organizations:

American Indians - Texas at Spanish Colonial Missions

Bexar Audubon Society

City of San Antonio - Department of Parks & Recreation - Medina River Natural Area

Friends of the Medina River

Green Spaces Alliance of South Texas

Native Plant Society of Texas

San Antonio Audubon Society

San Antonio Conservation Society

South San Antonio Chamber of Commerce

Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation

Texas A&M University

Texas Equestrian Trail Riders Association

The Witte Museum

We as artists found it interesting that such diverse groups of people would be connected or linked by one piece of property. As we learned more about the history of the 1200 acres, we discovered that this was not a new phenomenon for this land. According to Texas A&M archeologists, “The LHI site has been identified as one of the most unique anthropological and archeological locations in the United States.” Artifacts found on the land show evidence of human habitation extending back 15,000 years.

Throughout the years peoples have come and gone from this land, leaving traces and influences both on the land and each other. The nine Diverse Cultures / One Land images deal with the influences of the following: original ancient Americans, the Spanish (the Ignacio Perez Family and “the oldest working ranch in Texas”), the settlers (the Applewhite, the Presnall and the Watson families), the slaves, the cattle ranchers, the archeologists, the current Native Americans, the future that man will have on the land, and lastly, the natural land itself that brings us all together.

This project consists of portraits of cultures. This 1200 acres is a microcosm of Texas culture itself, dating back to the beginnings of human life in Texas. According to Dr. Alston Thoms, a Texas A&M archeologist who has spearheaded much of the archeological work on the LHI property, “The whole of ancient history in Texas, really, South-, Central-, North America, or even in the New World, is embedded in the Land Heritage Institute.” What happens to this land in the future will determine whether or not future Texans have the opportunity to learn about that history. We, as artists, wanted to show these histories and heritages, and to allow those who view our images the opportunity to realize they too are linked to the land and the cultures that have come before them.

--Nancy Cavender-Garcia (lead artist), Robert Garcia, Jennifer Martin, Whitney Smith