They say you can tell true intentions not by what one says but rather by what one does. Another saying is “Actions speak louder than words”. I think both of these sayings are a good way of gauging the truth that underlies many complex issues. One of those complex issues surrounds the cemetery at Mission Valero–aka the Alamo.
Many question the intentions of the Tap Pilam nation and those of the descendants whose ancestors are buried in and around the Alamo. Some say they only seek publicity. Others say they just want to stop the Alamo Plaza development. If you want to understand their intentions, look at their actions. You don’t have to look far to see the true motivation behind their words; the meaning in their actions.
The situation facing Tap Pilam and the descendants of those buried at Valero are not unlike what many of the same people continue to face with the EXACT same situation–ancestors buried in a sacred cemetery, the Campo Santo, underneath a significant structure undergoing a major construction project. Did the construction project stop? Was it delayed? Were the small collection of buried ancestors and their living descendants sacrificed because the construction project was sponsored by a multi-million dollar company? A company that has an international footprint backed by the Catholic church?
Amazingly not! Christus Children’s Hospital’s Prayer Garden construction project has not faltered nor has it been stopped. All we want is for our ancestors’ sacred resting place to be honored and respected. For their remains to be treated with dignity. Those of us whose ancestors are buried underneath the hospital grounds have had our desires heard and accepted while the hospital’s construction project continues to move forward. We have participated in the Prayer Garden’s design. The hospital sought out and implemented our design changes so the garden could still achieve its objectives while honoring our desires to respect our ancestors’ sacred burial grounds. Through cooperative and collaborative meetings, two opposing forces met and agreed on how each could achieve their desired outcomes. One is a major corporation with revenues close to three-quarters of a billion dollars and the backing of the Catholic Church sitting alongside the other—a collection of descendants whose buried ancestors, within today’s hospital’s grounds, were the indigenous, Presidio soldiers, alcaldes, jefe politicos (senior Spanish colonial and Mexican government officials) and some of San Antonio’s earliest citizens. This is what cooperation and collaboration looks like.
Much can be learned by examining the cooperation and collaboration that continues to exist between Christus Children’s Hospital, members of the Tap Pilam nation and descendants of those buried underneath the hospital. The cooperation and collaboration did not happen immediately. It was through active listening, patience and a willingness on all parties to seek to understand as well as to be understood, that mutually agreeable solutions were reached. The Catholic Health Association of the United States wrote an article in 2017 that provides a thumb-nail description of the meetings between the descendant groups and the hospital as well as the outcomes that resulted in the reburial of ancestral remains. The article’s title is quite befitting considering the current on-goings with the Alamo: “…a case study in cultural sensitivity.” Some can learn valuable lessons from the leadership at the Children’s Hospital. Lessons in cooperation and collaboration. The possibility of reaching a win-win solution is there if you wish to seek it. We know what the descendants and the Tap Pilam nation really want–just look at what they’ve done to date.
Disclaimer: The author is one of the descendants whose ancestors are buried at Christus Children’s Hospital as well as the Alamo and has been a member of the descendant groups meeting with the hospital. He also took part in the reburial of ancestral remains.