ABSTRACT
Known as the 1836 Shrine of Texas Liberty, the Alamo, established as Mission San Antonio de Valero in 1724, exemplifies archaeological, academic, and legal consequences of Indigenous-colonial interactions via missionization. Members of a non-federally recognized self-organized Indian community—Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation—trace their cultural and biological heritage to the Native peoples of South Texas and northeastern Mexico known anthropologically as Coahuiltecans. Archaeological and linguistic evidence attests to Coahuiltecan ancestors occupying the region for millennia. Historical records reveal that their eighteenth-century relatives lived and died at Spanish missions in San Antonio. As San Antonio celebrates its 300-year anniversary, a $450 million renovation project and related archaeological investigations are underway at the state-owned Alamo site and adjacent plaza area, a recognized “historic” camposanto (cemetery) for hundreds of missionized Coahuiltecans. In absence of federal funding or permits, Texas undertook this project in the “spirit of NAGPRA,” wherein recognized tribes with little or no historical connection to Mission Valero represent Native American interests. Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation viewed its exclusion from consultation as a weaponization of NAGPRA and continuation of Texas’ long-standing “Jim Crow-Feather” policies. They filed a federal civil rights lawsuit to gain representation as culturally affiliated lineal descendants.
