A compelling new exhibition at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin honors the enduring legacy of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, a Tribal Nation whose roots stretch back thousands of years. Through carefully curated artifacts and a moving documentary film, the Museum has partnered directly with the El Paso-area Pueblo to share its remarkable story with the world.
The exhibition focuses on the Pueblo’s origins following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, when Spanish colonizers fled New Mexico and forcibly brought hundreds of the Tigua people from Isleta Pueblo to El Paso. There, these displaced people founded Ysleta del Sur near the Hueco Mountains—a region their oral traditions claim as an ancestral homeland. Despite centuries of hardship, displacement, and cultural suppression, the Tigua people have preserved their language, self-government, and traditional ways.
“We are honored that the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo entrusted the state museum with the sharing of their language, relationship with the land and cultural history,” said Margaret Koch, Director of the Bullock Museum. “Their story is an inspiring Texas story.”
That story now comes to life in the Museum’s Texas Roots section, where visitors can explore historical and modern pottery from the Pueblo, including an olla by 19th-century potter Juana Ortega Muñoz and a dough bowl crafted by Albert Alvidrez, a former Pueblo governor and tradition bearer. These artifacts illustrate a continuity of cultural expression passed from generation to generation.
The project gained momentum when Rick Quezada, Cultural Preservation Director and Southern Tigua language teacher, collaborated with Museum staff during 2023 workshops. Quezada advocated for the inclusion of the Southern Tigua language in the Museum’s Native Languages audiovisual experience. His voice now resonates through immersive visuals, narrating the landscapes of West Texas and their profound significance to the Tigua people.
Inspired by Quezada’s passion and insight, the Museum also produced a short documentary that shares the Pueblo’s deep ties to Texas, past and present. A two-minute version plays in the gallery, while a longer version is available on the Bullock Museum’s YouTube channel. In it, Quezada poignantly states his hope that all Texans come to understand that this is not just Tigua history—it is Texas history.
Artifacts from the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Cultural Center, the El Paso Museum of Archaeology, and private collections further enrich the experience, offering a tangible link to the resilience, creativity, and identity of the Pueblo people.
The exhibition is now open in the Texas History Galleries on the museum’s first floor. Through this powerful partnership, the Bullock Museum and Ysleta del Sur Pueblo invite visitors to engage with one of Texas’ oldest living stories.
