Discussion Questions
Pena, Ch. 4
El Norte – Texas, NM, CO, AZ, and CA. Used to be part of Mexico until 1848.
Two ecological revolutions: 1. Norteña ecological revolution (1598-1848)
2. Anglo-American industrial capitalist ecological revolution (1848-1950)
Look at the epigrams (short passages at beginning of chapter)
1. What do they represent?
2. How do the Tewa view nature from looking at the epigram?
3. Who are many of the teachers in the Tewa tradition?
4. Norte#a worldview?
5. The industrial worldview represents what kind of attitude toward the env.?
6. What is Manifest Destiny?
7. Does our country still believe in Manifest Destiny?
Ecological Revolutions in El Norte
1. What defined this revolution?
2. Land tenure was egalitarian. What does that mean?
3. What were commons rules and what did they prevent?
4. What disrupted this stability during the Industrial-capitalist revolution that
followed?
5. Expropriation of lands
Biological Diversity in El Norte
1. Look at Table 9. Are there any trends in diversity?
2. How many plant species does CO have? How many vertebrate species?
Ancestral Civilizations and Environmental Change
1. Native American are tied to many ancestral tribes: Anasazi and Shoshone for
example. Explain the “myth of a pristine wilderness” that was espoused by the first
settlers.
2. Is this true?
3. What was the relationship like between Native Americans and the first Mexicanorigin settlers?
4. How did Anglos view this relation?
5. How did the Anglos view both groups?
The Norteña Ecological Revolution
1. Describe Mexican land grants.
2. What is the Acequia? Where do its roots come from? Why?
3. How does it work?
4. What are the rules of the acequia?
5. Discuss Table 10. Which do you think are the most valuable ecological services?
Which are the least? Why?
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As mentioned, many of these communities had a self-sufficient subsistence on many
local goods. Were also artisans, creating local furniture, etc.
1. Are there examples of this now?
2. Did these early Norteñas (before 1850) cause a lot of environmental damage? If so,
what kind of damage?
1846-1848 – Mexican-American War
1. What were some of the results of this campaign?
2. What happened to many of the Mexican land grants after this time?
3. United States v. Sandoval in 1897
4. La Sierra (NPR) radio program.
5. Many mortgaged lands to pay taxes, and then lost everything
Railroad Mass Markets
1. What are some of the effects the railroad had on these lands?
1902, creation of the Bureau of Reclamation
1. What did this U.S. govt. agency do?
2. Pena says more monocultures came into existence?
3. How did the Bureau of Rec. subsidize these monocultures?
Labor Migration and Racial Segregation in Labor Markets
1. What were the U.S. immigration policies towards Mexicans during this time?
2. Bracero Program (42-64)? Temporary basis for low wage and hazardous jobs.
3. Workers were excluded from unions.
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