This episode is part of a series exploring the ancestral geographies of what we refer to as the Southwest. Through interviews with Dr. Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert and Rosalie and Patty Talahongva, host Patricia Schwartz had the opportunity to re-learn critical aspects of history and hear from inspiring folks exploring decolonial futures through the telling of Indigenous stories.

Ancestral Geographies: The Indian School

Our guest for this episode of JSW Radio is Alex La Pierre. Alex is co-founding director, with his wife Rocío La Pierre, of the binational, Southern Arizona-based non-profit organization, Borderlandia. Borderlandia’s mission is to expand public understanding of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands through a diversity of activities, including, especially, educational tours in southern Arizona and in Sonora, Mexico. I ask Alex about this work and about his view of public history more broadly. We also discuss how perceptions of the borderlands region seem to become more distorted the farther away one gets, and how Borderlandia’s work aims to combat this distorting effect of distance and politics. 
https://www.borderlandia.org/

Alex La Pierre: Borderlandia, Citizen-Level Diplomacy

The Journal of the Southwest Radio Hour brings the voices of researchers, educators, activists and community members working to better understand the region’s past and envision possible new futures.

Alex La Pierre: Borderlandia, Citizen-Level Diplomacy

Journal of the Southwest Radio

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