GARZA RECEIVES FOLKLIFE FELLOWSHIP, EXAMINES PASTORELA HISTORY

PROTECTED CONTENT

If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.

Username

Password

Login

Lost your password?

Username and Password Help

Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.

Email

Submit

← Back

Researching cultural heritage…

Cotulla resident, author and historian Geronima Garza has been awarded the 2022 Texas Community Folklife Fellowship, which provides an opportunity for creation of a podcast exploring some of the region’s cultural history.

The program aims to record testimonials, results of extensive research, documented history and folklore to create a long-lasting information resource in preservation of local heritage.

For her part in the effort, Garza has focused on the tradition of the ‘Pastorela,’ a locally performed drama depicting the journey undertaken by shepherds to meet the newborn Christ in Bethlehem. The play became a Christmas tradition for many communities over the course of generations.

The podcast will become part of the Texas Folklife’s “Stories Deep in the Heart” that illuminate some of the region’s rich traditions and culturally significant events.

Garza believes a tradition of Pastorela production in Cotulla should be preserved before such community events fade from memory.

“Cotulla has a rich Pastorela history dating back to the early days of our community,” the author said in a recent interview. “In February of 1934, Don Tranquilion Miranda’s Pastorela was recorded by John Lomax and archived at the Library of Congress. However, the tradition which is passed down orally has limited written documentation.

“In our communities, Pastorelas continued to the days of the Mexican American Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s,” Garza said. “Pastorelas were held in Encinal, Cotulla and Dilley, that I know of so far. I hope to recover this rich history for future generations.”

Garza will host a free workshop to share what she learned as part of the fellowship in the Texas Folklife program. The workshop will include both history and the technology involved in creating podcasts.

In preparation for the task, Garza is asking community members to step forward and recount their experiences of Pastorelas in the past, and some of those interviews may be used in the final production.

Garza is also interested in examining photos and artifacts of the Pastorela play for description on the podcast.

“It’s rare to find original artifacts, but Don Tranquilino’s handwritten manuscript is still intact,” Garza said. “His son, Juan Miranda of Austin, has safeguarded it for decades.”

The author also noted a comment made by Lomax, who believed Tranquilino’s work helped perpetuate the tradition and its impact on the community for many years.

“This man held the manuscript and supervised the singers for us,” Lomax said. “Don Tranquilino’s writing, what he had memorized, gives us history that would otherwise be lost.”

Garza can be contacted online at   geronimagarza2010@gmail.com or by texting  the word PASTORELA to (832) 353-9025.