WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:03.520 Dear listener, there are some four letter words that are 2 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:05.560 going to drop here, so be prepared. 3 00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:08.800 You can see hot Iss from where we're standing. You 4 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:11.440 can see the buildings across the river. You can see 5 00:00:11.480 --> 00:00:16.000 the fence right there that divides the two countries. So 6 00:00:16.200 --> 00:00:18.000 Hottis is right in view. 7 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:22.200 It's the cusp of summer as the sun sets over 8 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:26.960 La Frontera. I joined doctor Yolanda Leva, a history professor 9 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:30.680 at the University of Texas at ol Paso. And there's 10 00:00:30.720 --> 00:00:34.720 also Da Vidromo, a historian who specializes on the US 11 00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:36.000 Mexico borderlines. 12 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:39.599 Just from this street alone, I mean, you could just 13 00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:43.440 go building by building and it tells you the most 14 00:00:43.479 --> 00:00:46.839 important chapters of Mexican American history. 15 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:50.080 We are within walking distance of the Paso the North 16 00:00:50.120 --> 00:00:52.760 the bridge, one of the border bridges that connects al 17 00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:56.280 Paso to Si La Jus. The Rio Grande River, the 18 00:00:56.360 --> 00:01:00.680 natural division between the United States and Mexico, snakes below 19 00:01:00.720 --> 00:01:03.680 the bridge. The three of us are standing in front 20 00:01:03.720 --> 00:01:07.840 of a red brick apartment building in Segunovarrio, a historic 21 00:01:07.880 --> 00:01:12.200 neighborhood in downtown al Paso. In the late eighteen hundreds, 22 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:16.479 thousands of Mexican immigrants passed through or lived in Segunovarrio. 23 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:20.400 It's also known as the Ellis Island of the border. 24 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:23.600 Not the other Alice Island. What you original, alis Islo. 25 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:27.920 The colorful streets of this neighborhood are full with layers 26 00:01:27.959 --> 00:01:31.399 of history. Once it was home to El Tostado or 27 00:01:31.640 --> 00:01:32.360 Don Tosti. 28 00:01:32.840 --> 00:01:37.080 He was the first Mexican American musician to sell more 29 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:40.160 than a million records, and he was a patrico. 30 00:01:41.160 --> 00:01:44.880 A few blocks down lift Avelaro Delgado, a Chicano writer 31 00:01:45.080 --> 00:01:50.480 and community organizer. But there's someone else who lived inside 32 00:01:50.520 --> 00:01:53.520 the red brick apartment building we're standing in front of, 33 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:58.960 whose legacy and history has not always been widely celebrated. 34 00:02:00.360 --> 00:02:06.640 In this exact apartment once lived Teresa Urrea, a Mexican revolutionary, 35 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:10.640 a kurandera or healer, and a feminist. 36 00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:14.040 She was everything. She was a curandera, she was a 37 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:17.600 newspaper editor. I mean so many people were drawn to 38 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:21.000 her charisma that literally hundreds of people would set up 39 00:02:21.040 --> 00:02:22.919 tents in front of our home there. 40 00:02:23.720 --> 00:02:27.640 In eighteen ninety six, Teresa Aurea moved to Alpasso. People 41 00:02:27.720 --> 00:02:30.079 loved her, They worshiped her like a. 42 00:02:30.040 --> 00:02:34.680 Saint Teresita became a symbol of a forgotten history that 43 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:38.560 was utterly fascinating. I mean, she was like the Selina 44 00:02:38.600 --> 00:02:39.400 of her time. 45 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:47.240 From Fudro media. It's Latino Usa. I'm Maria ino Coosa. 46 00:02:47.720 --> 00:02:51.400 Today we bring back to life the forgotten story of 47 00:02:51.680 --> 00:03:03.280 Teresa Urrea, the Mexican Joan of arc Back in two 48 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:06.880 thousand and six, the city of Lbaso approved a plan 49 00:03:07.040 --> 00:03:12.120 to demolish Segundo Barrio, the same neighborhood where Teresaurea healed 50 00:03:12.320 --> 00:03:16.880 hundreds of people in the eighteen hundreds. Teresaurea was a 51 00:03:16.919 --> 00:03:21.720 curandera who used herbs and traditional indigenous healing methods, but 52 00:03:21.880 --> 00:03:25.720 there are also various accounts of Teresa having a special 53 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:30.640 power she could heal through her touch. In the late 54 00:03:30.720 --> 00:03:35.200 nineteenth century, Teresa was a star. Aside from people believing 55 00:03:35.320 --> 00:03:38.760 she was a saint, her vision of love and equality 56 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:43.960 inspired rebellions in Mexico against the dictatorship of Portfedio Das. 57 00:03:45.920 --> 00:03:49.320 But with time, her miraculous life got erased from history 58 00:03:49.320 --> 00:03:55.720 books and museums. To understand the story of Teresa Urea 59 00:03:55.960 --> 00:04:00.840 is to understand what gets remembered and what gets forgotten. 60 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:07.160 Two historians Davidromo and Jolanda Leva were part of a 61 00:04:07.320 --> 00:04:12.680 resistance movement to the city's demolition plan. They created Museo Urbano, 62 00:04:13.040 --> 00:04:16.640 a space to celebrate the legacy of Segundovarrio. The museum 63 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:20.640 included an exhibition in the very same apartment where Teresa 64 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:26.479 once lived. Today Teresa Urrea, who at nineteen years old 65 00:04:26.640 --> 00:04:30.040 was once called the most dangerous girl in Mexico by 66 00:04:30.080 --> 00:04:35.960 the dictator Porfitio Es. Our producer Maries Kincan is going 67 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:36.799 to take it from here. 68 00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:42.880 Teresaure was born in eighteen seventy three in the last 69 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:47.640 Green state of Sinaloa, Mexico. Her mother, Kayetana Chaves, was 70 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:50.719 an indigenous woman. She worked in the ranch of Don 71 00:04:50.760 --> 00:04:54.919 Too mass Urrea, a tall, light skinned rich asandalo with 72 00:04:55.040 --> 00:05:00.960 Spanish lineage, notorious for his wondering ey. Tetana was just 73 00:05:01.080 --> 00:05:04.680 fourteen years old when she gave birth to Tenessita, the 74 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:07.960 daughter of Tomas Urrea. 75 00:05:08.640 --> 00:05:11.000 So, if we're looking at it from the perspective of 76 00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:15.120 society back then, fourteen is a pretty common age to 77 00:05:15.160 --> 00:05:17.880 get married and to start having children. 78 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:22.440 This is Yolanda again Achicana, historian at the University of 79 00:05:22.480 --> 00:05:26.520 Texas at al Paso, she specializes in border history. 80 00:05:26.880 --> 00:05:30.480 What is not different is that power relationship that he's 81 00:05:30.520 --> 00:05:35.720 her employer, so we don't know like did she want 82 00:05:35.760 --> 00:05:40.240 to have sex with him or or was it forced. 83 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:43.880 So if we look at that power dynamic, then I 84 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:45.760 think it's very questionable. 85 00:05:46.720 --> 00:05:50.240 In an interview, Teresa said she was an illegitimate child. 86 00:05:50.760 --> 00:05:54.279 She was one of nineteen children Don tomas Uria had 87 00:05:54.400 --> 00:05:58.640 outside of his marriage. As a child, Teresita must have 88 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:02.640 stood out as a misty. She's described as having light skin, 89 00:06:02.960 --> 00:06:08.559 large brown eyes, and long black hair. In eighteen eighty, 90 00:06:08.640 --> 00:06:12.640 when Teresa was seven years old, Portfirio Diaz's first term 91 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:17.080 as president of Mexico was ending a military general. He 92 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:20.120 came into office by staging a coup and reigned over 93 00:06:20.279 --> 00:06:24.640 Mexico for more than thirty years. The general would shape 94 00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:29.400 the course of Teresa's life. Portfirio Diaz's time in office 95 00:06:29.440 --> 00:06:32.279 is known as the Portfiriato. He ruled with an iron 96 00:06:32.400 --> 00:06:35.839 fist and secured his presidency by installing his supporters and 97 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:41.680 positions of power. His opponents were sometimes assassinated. 98 00:06:40.920 --> 00:06:45.360 And he basically controlled the whole shebang. You know, all 99 00:06:45.400 --> 00:06:50.440 of Mexico, through corruption, through just having the just, keeping 100 00:06:50.680 --> 00:06:54.679 good relations with the oligarchy in every different state. 101 00:06:55.400 --> 00:06:59.160 This is Da Vidromo again, the history professor who specializes 102 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:02.839 on the borderland. He wrote about Teresa Ourra in Ringside 103 00:07:02.880 --> 00:07:05.880 Seat to a Revolution, his book about al Paso and 104 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:13.000 Sula Huardes's connection to the Mexican Revolution. In Sinaloa, Teresa's father, Tomasura, 105 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:15.640 is forced to leave the state because he didn't support 106 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:19.640 the Diaz backed candidate for governor. Don Tomasura decided to 107 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:23.280 move to another family owned ranch further north in Kawoa, 108 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:26.520 a city in the neighboring state of Sonora some two 109 00:07:26.640 --> 00:07:31.880 hundred miles away. Kayetana and Teresa, who was seven years 110 00:07:31.880 --> 00:07:34.400 old at the time, were among the hundreds of people 111 00:07:34.440 --> 00:07:38.200 who joined tomas Urrea in his exile from Sinaloa. For 112 00:07:38.320 --> 00:07:41.280 all of her childhood and into her teenage years, Teresa 113 00:07:41.280 --> 00:07:43.880 grew up with her mother in separate quarters from the ranch. 114 00:07:44.400 --> 00:07:47.560 She grew up in poverty, surrounded by indigenous people like 115 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:47.960 her mother. 116 00:07:48.640 --> 00:07:53.520 Recitore is growing up in this time of great changes 117 00:07:53.560 --> 00:07:57.600 in Mexico, great economic changes, and the rich are getting 118 00:07:57.720 --> 00:08:01.640 richer and the poor are getting poorer, and there's a 119 00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:04.800 little middle class, but it doesn't have much power. 120 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:08.840 Teresita didn't go to school until she was nine years old, 121 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:14.400 but she didn't want to study. The more and more 122 00:08:14.440 --> 00:08:18.120 I read about Teresa, the more obsessed I became. There 123 00:08:18.200 --> 00:08:22.480 was something marvelous or otherworldly about her. The details that 124 00:08:22.520 --> 00:08:27.440 seeped in through newspapers, interviews and archives were fascinating. Take 125 00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:30.480 this quote, for example, taken from an interview in the 126 00:08:30.520 --> 00:08:34.520 San Francisco Examiner in nineteen hundred, where she described how 127 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:35.360 she learned to read. 128 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:38.240 Later, I felt I wanted to learn how to read, 129 00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:41.360 and I learned my alphabet from a very very old lady. 130 00:08:42.160 --> 00:08:45.680 My writing came to me of itself. I wanted to write, 131 00:08:45.679 --> 00:08:48.280 and I wrote. But how I learned I don't know, 132 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:51.560 for I was not taught on the floor of my 133 00:08:51.640 --> 00:08:54.320 mother's house. I first wrote with my little finger in 134 00:08:54.360 --> 00:08:54.840 the dust. 135 00:08:55.920 --> 00:08:59.720 The quotuo hear of Teresa taken from English newspaper articles. 136 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:03.720 Teresa didn't speak English, so they are translations and they 137 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:09.160 are voiced by one of our producers, Victoria Estra. When 138 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:14.560 Teresa was fifteen years old, her mother, Kajitana, disappeared. It's 139 00:09:14.640 --> 00:09:18.959 not clear why. Like many details in Teresa's life, there 140 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:21.720 are things we just don't know that have been lost 141 00:09:21.800 --> 00:09:27.120 in the historical record. After her mother disappeared, Don Tomas 142 00:09:27.240 --> 00:09:30.080 Urrea ordered Teresa to move into the ranch with him. 143 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:35.800 Teresa's life completely changed. The dirt floors she grew up 144 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:39.320 with were replaced by the white adove walls of her 145 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:44.719 father's large acienda. Don to maas Urias's mistress, a teenager 146 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:49.280 nearly the same age as Teresita, lived in the acienda too. 147 00:09:51.920 --> 00:09:55.319 At her father's ranch, Teresa became an apprentice to Wuila, 148 00:09:55.640 --> 00:09:59.400 a Yaki Kurandera who worked for her father. The Yakis 149 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:04.439 are in undiadigenous group in Sonora. Through Wila, Teresa learned 150 00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:07.959 how to heal by using plants, part of an indigenous 151 00:10:08.040 --> 00:10:13.080 traditional medicine practice known as kurand Rismo that predates the 152 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:18.880 sixteenth century. Gurandismo refers to a system of healing practice 153 00:10:18.880 --> 00:10:23.520 in Mexico, Latin America, and in places with large Mexican 154 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:31.800 communities like the US Mexico borderlands. Prior to the Spanish 155 00:10:31.800 --> 00:10:35.760 colonization of Mexico, there were indigenous healers across the region. 156 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:42.400 If you look at traditional medicine among indigenous people before 157 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:47.640 the Europeans came, everybody was very specialized. Some people knew 158 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:52.160 about plants, some people knew how to work with bones, 159 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:57.120 some people knew how to do massages, just like we 160 00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:02.400 would think of a medical specialization today. It's believed gorandros 161 00:11:02.400 --> 00:11:05.440 have a special don or gift that allows them to 162 00:11:05.520 --> 00:11:10.040 cure others, and unlike Western medicine, gourandismo is not limited 163 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:15.440 to the physical body. It concerns itself with the psychological, spiritual, social, 164 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:18.480 and health needs of a person. That mind and body 165 00:11:18.520 --> 00:11:24.280 are connected. With Spanish colonization in the sixteenth century, indigenous 166 00:11:24.280 --> 00:11:28.880 healing methods merge with European practices. The word gourandeo comes 167 00:11:28.880 --> 00:11:31.880 from the Spanish word kurat, which means to heal. 168 00:11:32.920 --> 00:11:38.840 So then when the Spanish come and begin to control society, 169 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:45.000 they too want to undermine the idea that indigenous people 170 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:51.079 have knowledge or can contribute, so they don't want people 171 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:55.599 to think, oh, look at this highly specialized medical system. 172 00:11:55.880 --> 00:11:59.599 Gurandismo was looked down upon by Spanish physicians and was 173 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:04.760 even considered criminal. During the Mexican Inquisition, Gurandrismo was a 174 00:12:04.800 --> 00:12:10.320 prosecutable crime. Characteristics of kuranda Rismo include ritual Catholic prayer, 175 00:12:10.520 --> 00:12:12.800 the use of plants and herbs, and the belief in 176 00:12:12.880 --> 00:12:18.120 God or Creator. To become a Kurandea takes years of training. 177 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:21.280 It's not something anyone can just pick up. It's a 178 00:12:21.280 --> 00:12:23.920 commitment that is taken very seriously. 179 00:12:24.520 --> 00:12:28.080 So it's just like I wouldn't take a biology class 180 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:32.960 and say I'm a doctor now. People shouldn't call themselves 181 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:37.120 at curandeta if they have not really thoroughly trained, and 182 00:12:37.160 --> 00:12:41.800 they have a teacher who has trained them. 183 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:45.000 Back in al Paso, I'm in the house of Greece Munos. 184 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:47.400 My name is Gris Munos. 185 00:12:46.800 --> 00:12:53.120 A self described moher medicina or a curandera. She burns carwone, mesquite, goppal, 186 00:12:53.480 --> 00:12:58.000 lavender and tobacco. The smoke fills a room and hovers 187 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:03.199 around us, swirling in esses. Grise feels connected to Teresa. 188 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:05.400 She has a picture of her and her altar. 189 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:07.839 I'm very connected to Teresita. 190 00:13:08.520 --> 00:13:11.679 She's been watching me a long time, and Terita is 191 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:12.240 still around. 192 00:13:12.760 --> 00:13:13.840 She hasn't gone anywhere. 193 00:13:15.160 --> 00:13:18.679 Greece is also close friends with one of Teresa's living relatives, 194 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:23.839 the Chicano writer Luis Albertore. Like Teresa Greece, was the 195 00:13:23.880 --> 00:13:28.800 apprentice of Akurandeta for years. Grease works with the spirit. 196 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:33.800 I'm not a midwife, I'm not a I'm not a wescera. 197 00:13:34.880 --> 00:13:39.800 Women tend to find me when they've gotten themselves a 198 00:13:39.800 --> 00:13:40.319 bit lost. 199 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:42.800 Maybe they just. 200 00:13:42.760 --> 00:13:47.200 Went through a major change, Maybe they need to accept something, 201 00:13:48.040 --> 00:13:53.079 a death of some type. That's really where I come in. 202 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:58.880 I can't speak for all curanderos, but essentially, especially the 203 00:13:58.880 --> 00:14:02.000 ones that work with the like I do. We're just 204 00:14:02.040 --> 00:14:04.640 here to help you reconnect. 205 00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:12.920 In the borderlands, Gandarismo is still very prevalent. The borderlands 206 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:16.520 used to be part of Mexico until the mid nineteenth century, 207 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:20.760 twenty five years before Theisa was born, but during the 208 00:14:20.800 --> 00:14:26.320 Mexican American War of the late eighteen forties, Mexico lost Arizona, California, 209 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:32.120 New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah to the US. 210 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:37.000 Under her apprenticeship with Wila, Esa learned the names and 211 00:14:37.040 --> 00:14:40.360 properties of more than two hundred herbs. She followed Wila 212 00:14:40.400 --> 00:14:42.920 around while her teacher did things like helping women give 213 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:48.400 birth or treating wounds and illnesses. Then something happened to 214 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:53.680 Teresa when she was sixteen years old. There's varying accounts 215 00:14:53.680 --> 00:14:57.480 on the next set of events. Some accounts say Teresa 216 00:14:57.520 --> 00:15:02.400 had an epileptic seizure. Reports say an engineering student tried 217 00:15:02.440 --> 00:15:06.080 to rape her and it gave Teresa a shock induced seizure. 218 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:12.320 In either case, after losing consciousness, Teresa fell into a coma. 219 00:15:12.880 --> 00:15:13.760 They think she's dead. 220 00:15:16.040 --> 00:15:19.200 ESA's father put his ear against her chest to listen 221 00:15:19.280 --> 00:15:24.400 for a heartbeat, but he couldn't hear anything. He ordered 222 00:15:24.400 --> 00:15:28.400 a coffin to be built. They prepared that Esa for 223 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:32.440 a wake, dressed her in a white dress. They placed 224 00:15:32.440 --> 00:15:36.119 her body on a table and surrounded her body with candles. 225 00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:43.800 So they make her a casket and in Elvelorio, she 226 00:15:43.880 --> 00:15:44.640 wakes up. 227 00:15:46.600 --> 00:15:51.120 And everyone is like holy shit. After waking up, that 228 00:15:51.280 --> 00:15:53.880 Esa predicted that in three days they were going to 229 00:15:53.920 --> 00:15:55.600 need the coffin for someone else. 230 00:15:56.880 --> 00:15:58.960 And then Wila died. 231 00:16:01.400 --> 00:16:04.840 Three days later, Teresa's teacher was found in her room. 232 00:16:05.480 --> 00:16:09.320 It looked like she passed away peacefully. The cause of 233 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:13.080 her death wasn't clear, but people speculated she died from 234 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:15.200 old age or exhaustion. 235 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:19.120 And they buried Wila in the casket they had made. 236 00:16:18.880 --> 00:16:20.160 For Terracita. 237 00:16:23.080 --> 00:16:27.080 Coming up on Latino Usa. Teresa Rea wakes up from 238 00:16:27.120 --> 00:16:32.200 her coma with a newfound power. She can miraculously heal 239 00:16:32.360 --> 00:17:21.240 people through touch. Stay with us, Hey, we're back. When 240 00:17:21.280 --> 00:17:24.199 we left off, Teresa Rea had woken up from a 241 00:17:24.280 --> 00:17:27.880 coma and had predicted the death of her mentor, Weela 242 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:33.640 a Yaqui Grandea. Now Deesa realizes she has a new 243 00:17:34.040 --> 00:17:38.320 miraculous power. Producer Marieskinka is going to pick up the 244 00:17:38.320 --> 00:17:39.120 story from here. 245 00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:45.960 After waking up from her coma, Teresa was a normal 246 00:17:47.320 --> 00:17:50.480 she fell into a trance that lasted three months and 247 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:55.520 eighteen days. In an article from the San Francisco Examiner, 248 00:17:55.960 --> 00:18:00.320 Teresaure said she didn't remember anything that happened during those 249 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:01.520 three months. 250 00:18:02.320 --> 00:18:05.320 They tell me those who saw me, that I could 251 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:08.760 move about, that they had to feed me, that I 252 00:18:08.840 --> 00:18:11.480 talked strange things about God and religion. 253 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:17.080 During this trance, Teresa said she had a vision the 254 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:20.359 archangel Gabriel appeared to her as a young man. He 255 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:24.160 delivered her a letter. It urged everyone to repent from 256 00:18:24.200 --> 00:18:27.040 their sins, believe in Jesus, and they would be cured. 257 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:32.240 When she finally returned to full consciousness, Teresa had a gift. 258 00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:36.800 She could heal people through touch. One of the people 259 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:40.000 she cured in Kavora was Marianna, a woman in her 260 00:18:40.040 --> 00:18:44.560 twenties that couldn't walk. After Teresa cured her, Marianna was 261 00:18:44.600 --> 00:18:47.600 able to walk again, and she became her devout, loyal 262 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:52.640 friend and assistant. Teresa described a change happening within her 263 00:18:52.680 --> 00:18:53.800 when she healed people. 264 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:56.960 I could still if I touched people or rub them 265 00:18:57.119 --> 00:18:59.880 make them well. I felt in me only the wish 266 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:02.679 to do good in the world. I spoke much to 267 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:05.760 the people about God, not about the church or to 268 00:19:05.800 --> 00:19:09.159 tell them to go to church, but about God. I 269 00:19:09.320 --> 00:19:12.320 told them what I believe, that God is the spirit 270 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:14.960 of love, that we who we are in the world, 271 00:19:15.400 --> 00:19:19.800 must love one another and live in peace, otherwise we 272 00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:23.240 offend God. 273 00:19:24.320 --> 00:19:29.560 Word quickly spread about the miraculous healer. Hundreds of people 274 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:33.680 started visiting her father's ranch in Kawarah. They traveled long 275 00:19:33.760 --> 00:19:37.600 distances and were often poor and indigenous people of the region, 276 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:43.440 the Yaqui and Mayo Indians. That Isa refused to charge 277 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:44.800 for her services. 278 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:47.560 I have no wish to be paid. I do not 279 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:50.679 care for find things or find houses or money. I 280 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:52.160 will refuse no one to help. 281 00:19:54.800 --> 00:19:58.480 Aside from her healing powers, there were other supernatural phenomena 282 00:19:58.720 --> 00:19:59.800 associated with her. 283 00:20:00.560 --> 00:20:04.640 Her family members believed that she was able to predict 284 00:20:04.760 --> 00:20:08.040 even when people were about to arrive that she had 285 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:10.680 no knowledge of. She would say this such and such 286 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:13.199 a person that is going to come tomorrow, and they 287 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:17.760 would She could predict rain, She could predict deaths in 288 00:20:17.800 --> 00:20:18.360 the family. 289 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:24.439 She had other strange qualities, and people would say that 290 00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:28.280 she admitted an aroma of roses, like so many people 291 00:20:28.359 --> 00:20:32.480 would say that, like she just smelt like roses. There 292 00:20:32.520 --> 00:20:36.359 are also accounts of her quote unquote astro projecting. 293 00:20:36.560 --> 00:20:39.159 Like she could travel out of her body and she 294 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:42.119 could describe places she had never been. And it's not 295 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:44.840 like she had the internet right where we could fake it. 296 00:20:45.960 --> 00:20:48.840 People began to call her a saint and worshiped her 297 00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:52.040 like one. They called her Santa Theresa, la Santa de 298 00:20:52.760 --> 00:20:57.880 Santa de Risita. She was only sixteen years old. They 299 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:01.600 created prayer cards with her image. In one prayer card, 300 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:05.199 she stoically stands. She's dressed in a black dress that 301 00:21:05.240 --> 00:21:09.560 covers her arms. A long black cross hangs from her neck. 302 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:13.920 Her black hair is wrapped in a braided bun angels 303 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:18.400 surround her. Two turubs hold a crown they are placing 304 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:21.680 over her head. Her gaze is looking at the distance. 305 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:26.760 They built wooden statues of her to venerate her like 306 00:21:26.840 --> 00:21:30.560 a saint. Teresa said she was not a saint. That 307 00:21:30.680 --> 00:21:34.080 you don't need the mediation of the church or priest 308 00:21:34.320 --> 00:21:38.560 to cure, an idea that she repeated more than once. 309 00:21:39.320 --> 00:21:42.800 In doing so, she challenged the authority of the Catholic Church, 310 00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:48.160 one of the most powerful institutions in Mexico even today. 311 00:21:49.080 --> 00:21:51.640 I felt that God willed that I should heal them, 312 00:21:52.080 --> 00:21:55.119 and when they asked me, I did so. No, I 313 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:57.960 do not think prayer is necessary, nor does one have 314 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:00.960 to believe in me to be cured. If I can cure, 315 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:01.640 I can. 316 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:08.919 Priests announced her as a heretic and impostor and evil worker. 317 00:22:09.600 --> 00:22:13.080 The clergy threatened to excommunicate everyone that seeked her help. 318 00:22:14.080 --> 00:22:16.719 Here's Grise again, the Kuranda from al Paso. 319 00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:20.360 They saw her like a living saint. So you can 320 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:27.600 imagine what heresy to call a teenage girl Asantha, right, 321 00:22:28.520 --> 00:22:33.720 a living teen girl Asanta. So she became a problem. 322 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:37.080 In those times, the only people that could talk to 323 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:40.120 God were priests. 324 00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:42.160 From a young age. That is, I was breaking all 325 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:44.600 sorts of traditional norms and rules. 326 00:22:45.040 --> 00:22:50.880 She was completely considered heretical and completely forward for her 327 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:52.800 time in every way. 328 00:22:53.880 --> 00:22:57.880 At the same time, the power of dictator Porfido Dias 329 00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:02.240 only kept growing. Under the Porto, thousands of Yakis were 330 00:23:02.280 --> 00:23:06.080 taken from their lands and expelled as slaves to Yucatan. 331 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:08.760 Here's la viv romo again. 332 00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:15.840 So Porfilioias in Sonora carried out this very destructive warfare 333 00:23:15.840 --> 00:23:21.160 against the indigenous Yaki population and would send the Yakis 334 00:23:21.280 --> 00:23:27.119 to southern Mexico to virtual death camps and slave camps. 335 00:23:29.080 --> 00:23:32.439 Teresa was often visited by the Yaquis in Kawora, and 336 00:23:32.520 --> 00:23:37.240 she was sympathetic to their uprisings. She often defended them 337 00:23:37.320 --> 00:23:39.840 and said they had the god given right to fight 338 00:23:39.880 --> 00:23:43.480 for their land and freedom, and later interviews with The 339 00:23:43.480 --> 00:23:47.400 New York Journal, she described watching Yaki children not even 340 00:23:47.480 --> 00:23:52.040 three years old being lynched. She called the Yakis the 341 00:23:52.119 --> 00:23:57.080 bravest and most persecuted people in the world. This at 342 00:23:57.080 --> 00:23:59.960 a time when opposing the Diaz regime was deadly. 343 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:05.800 So told the Yakis to fight for their lands, and 344 00:24:05.840 --> 00:24:08.760 of course this brought the enmity of Corfiolias. 345 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:15.159 While Teresa never took arms, she inspired rebellions. This was 346 00:24:15.200 --> 00:24:18.560 the case in one small town called Tomochik, located in 347 00:24:18.560 --> 00:24:21.880 the Sierra Madre of Chihuahua, about two hundred miles away 348 00:24:21.880 --> 00:24:26.399 from Alpaso. After hearing about Teresa's power, Kruz Travis, the 349 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:29.919 leader of Tomochic, and other villagers traveled to Kabora to 350 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:34.600 meet with Teresa. They witnessed hundreds of people camped out 351 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:38.000 at her father's ranch. They had heard of Teresa's healing 352 00:24:38.119 --> 00:24:41.720 powers and visited her to be cured. They were moved 353 00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:46.520 by her vision of love. Kruz Travis, the Tomosik leader, 354 00:24:46.600 --> 00:24:52.240 and Teresa became friends and started exchanging letters. When the 355 00:24:52.320 --> 00:24:57.440 villagers returned to Tomochik, they decided to only worship living saints. 356 00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:00.720 They replaced the statue of a dead Sig with the 357 00:25:00.760 --> 00:25:05.080 statue of a living Teresa. They chose La Sante caoa 358 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:11.280 deterresita as the official guardian of the town. This brought 359 00:25:11.280 --> 00:25:14.359 the great ire of a local priest, who threatened to 360 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:19.720 excommunicate every Tomochko who believed in Teresa. When they refused 361 00:25:19.760 --> 00:25:23.080 to obey, the priests sent out a message to the government. 362 00:25:24.359 --> 00:25:30.119 Porfido Dias ordered the rebels to be quickly and severely punished. 363 00:25:30.800 --> 00:25:34.320 And Porfioria sends hundreds of troops to utterly destroy the 364 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:35.080 entire town. 365 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:39.920 The rebels flinged themselves into a fight they were destined 366 00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:45.040 to lose, shouting Viva la Santa Kaura. According to Romo, 367 00:25:45.160 --> 00:25:48.840 they killed six hundred federal troops, but the Mexican government 368 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:52.959 led a ruthless fight. They set fire to the village, 369 00:25:53.240 --> 00:25:56.320 killed women and children. They stacked the bodies of the 370 00:25:56.359 --> 00:26:01.080 dead with their leader, Cruise Travis on top. Not one 371 00:26:01.160 --> 00:26:04.120 boy or man over the age of thirteen survived, according 372 00:26:04.119 --> 00:26:08.240 to historians, So. 373 00:26:08.280 --> 00:26:11.720 I was just kind of a vicious, vicious attack on 374 00:26:11.800 --> 00:26:17.960 anyone that would challenge the power of the dictator of Mexico. 375 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:18.639 At that time. 376 00:26:19.840 --> 00:26:25.439 The Mexican government claimed that Asita incited the rebellion. She 377 00:26:25.640 --> 00:26:29.280 always denied any involvement in any uprisings, but she also 378 00:26:29.400 --> 00:26:34.359 defended them. She believed revolution was necessary when people were oppressed. 379 00:26:36.040 --> 00:26:39.800 When she was nineteen years old, Porfidio Diaz exiled Teresa 380 00:26:39.840 --> 00:26:44.280 from Mexico. I can't help thinking of Teresa's power, of 381 00:26:44.320 --> 00:26:47.600 the fact that men threw themselves into a revolution while 382 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:48.760 screaming her name. 383 00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:53.960 Porfiodias had said she was the most dangerous girl in Mexico, 384 00:26:54.840 --> 00:26:58.439 and she was a teenager. So what would make a 385 00:26:58.520 --> 00:27:05.320 teenager dangerous to a dictator with incredible power and incredible 386 00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:09.439 policing power. You know that to me shows you the 387 00:27:09.520 --> 00:27:13.160 power of her love and the power of her vision, 388 00:27:14.440 --> 00:27:20.640 which was that everyone should be equal, men and women, mestisos, blancos, 389 00:27:21.600 --> 00:27:24.000 indigenous people, everybody's human. 390 00:27:33.320 --> 00:27:36.679 After being exiled from Mexico in eighteen ninety two, Teresa 391 00:27:36.800 --> 00:27:41.280 lived in Nogles, Arizona. By then, Teresa was already a star. 392 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:44.959 The world press had been covering her miraculous cures for 393 00:27:45.040 --> 00:27:47.240 two years. At that point, she. 394 00:27:47.280 --> 00:27:50.360 Was in the newspapers all the time, the local newspapers, 395 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:54.760 newspapers in Mexico City, and there were articles like from 396 00:27:54.760 --> 00:27:57.080 all over the United States about her, you know, the 397 00:27:57.080 --> 00:27:59.960 New York Times, and I know that there were people 398 00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:03.560 from France writing letters to her. So this is like 399 00:28:04.040 --> 00:28:07.400 mega superstar in the world of the eighteen nineties. 400 00:28:08.359 --> 00:28:12.280 Reading the articles, it seems there's almost an obsession with her. 401 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:16.360