- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Contents
- Maps
- Introduction The Descendants
- Prologue Nepantla
- Part I The Texas-Mexico Borderlands
- 1 The Miracle Tree
- 2 The Rebel
- 3 The Venerable
- 4 The Activist and the Ordinance
- 5 The Bonder and the Dealer
- 6 The Agents
- 7 The Wall
- 8 The Chokepoint
- 9 The Woman in the Woods
- 10 The Healing
- Part II The New York–Canada Borderlands
- 11 The Sort of Homecoming
- 12 The Trade
- 13 The War
- 14 The Saint
- 15 The Activist and the Obelisk
- 16 The Movement
- 17 The Mother Tongue
- 18 The Bridge
- 19 The River
- 20 The Words That Come Before All Else
- Epilogue The United States of In-between
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
The Miracle Tree
The Miracle Tree
- Chapter:
- (p.7) 1 The Miracle Tree
- Source:
- All the Agents and Saints
- Author(s):
Stephanie Elizondo Griest
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
At the suggestion of artist Santa Barraza, the author travels to Concepcion, Texas, to see a “miracle tree.” According to owner Estella Palacios Garcia, it is a Monte de Los Olivos from Jerusalem. Not only does it talk, it has a heartbeat and can heal the ailing. Thousands of pilgrims come from miles around to take solace in the tree, she says. This encounter turns into a meditation on spiritual mestizaje when Ms. Garcia also reveals that she has not been able to drink from her water well in 14 years. Neighboring gas wells have made her water supply so toxic, not even her miracle tree can purify it. This leads the author into an investigation of the environmental degradation of the borderlands.
Keywords: Santa Barraza, Tejano folklore, South Texas, Chicana/o identity, Miracle Tree, La Virgen de Guadalupe, Milagros, Catholicism, Spiritual mestizaje, Latina/o culture
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- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Contents
- Maps
- Introduction The Descendants
- Prologue Nepantla
- Part I The Texas-Mexico Borderlands
- 1 The Miracle Tree
- 2 The Rebel
- 3 The Venerable
- 4 The Activist and the Ordinance
- 5 The Bonder and the Dealer
- 6 The Agents
- 7 The Wall
- 8 The Chokepoint
- 9 The Woman in the Woods
- 10 The Healing
- Part II The New York–Canada Borderlands
- 11 The Sort of Homecoming
- 12 The Trade
- 13 The War
- 14 The Saint
- 15 The Activist and the Obelisk
- 16 The Movement
- 17 The Mother Tongue
- 18 The Bridge
- 19 The River
- 20 The Words That Come Before All Else
- Epilogue The United States of In-between
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
