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Borderlands Curanderos
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Join Metro State University professor Jennifer Koshatka Seman, author of Borderlands Curanderos: The Worlds of Santa Teresa Urrea and Don Pedrito Jaramillo, as she discusses U.S.-Mexico borderlands during the turn of the twentieth century.
From the moment the Spanish colonized the Americas, they actively tried to suppress non-Catholic spiritualities. Yet Indigenous religions persisted. Sometimes they went underground; sometimes they combined with elements of Catholicism. In the tension between oppression and persistence, new religious formulations emerged in Spanish America, deeply influencing religious practices in the North American West, especially the region we now recognize as the US-Mexico borderlands and the Southwest. Not only were these new and evolving hybrid spiritualities seen throughout the colonial period but also at the turn of the twentieth century in the practice of Mexican curandera and espiritista Teresa Urrea (1873-1906), sometimes called “Santa Teresa” by her adherents. Teresa Urrea (1873-1906) and another curandero, Don Pedro Jaramillo (1829-1907), practiced curanderismo–a Mexican and Indigenous faith healing practice–in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands amidst rapid social and political transformations in both Mexico and the United States.
Through an examination of the lives and healing practices of Teresa Urrea and Pedro Jaramillo, this presentation will shed light on the various meanings that the practice of curanderismo held in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands over the turn of the twentieth century within the overlapping contexts of race, state-building, and institutionalized/professionalized medicine in the American Southwest and northern Mexico. This presentation will suggest that curanderismo as practiced by Urrea and Jaramillo contributed to the vitality of racially diverse communities in need of healthcare as well as religious and political inspiration during this transformative period.
About Jennifer Koshatka Seman
Jennifer Koshatka Seman received her doctorate in history from Southern Methodist University in 2015, and she currently is a lecturer in history at Metropolitan State University in Denver. Borderlands Curanderos: The Worlds of Santa Teresa Urrea and Don Pedrito Jaramillo is her first book, and it was published with the University of Texas Press in 2021. Borderlands Curanderos was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award in 2022 in the category of biography, and it won the Americo Paredes 2022 book award. Jennifer teaches courses in US and Latin American history at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and she lives with her husband, Michael Seman, in Loveland, Colorado.
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Ranching Women of Colorado
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The 19th century west opened opportunities for women, including entering the male-dominated ranching industry. Join author Linda Womack as she tells the stories of women ranchers in Colorado. These women not only survived, but thrived, in a role outside the conventional norm.
About Linda Wommack
A Colorado native, Linda Wommack is a Colorado historian and historical consultant. An award-winning writer, she has written eighteen books on Colorado history, including Murder in the Mile High City, Colorado’s Landmark Hotels, From the Grave: A Roadside Guide to Colorado’s Pioneer Cemeteries, Our Ladies of the Tenderloin: Colorado’s Legends in Lace, Colorado History for Kids; Colorado’s Historic Mansions and Castles, Colorado’s Historic Schools, Ann Bassett; Colorado’s Cattle Queen, Haunted History of Cripple Creek and Teller County, Growing Up with the Wild Bunch, Ranching Women of Colorado, Cripple Creek, Bob Womack and the Greatest Gold Camp on Earth, and From Sand Creek to Summit Springs; Colorado’s Indian Wars. She has also contributed to two anthologies concerning Western Americana. Linda feeds her passion for history with activities in many local, state, and national preservation projects, participating in historical venues and speaking engagements, hosting tours, and is involved in historical tours across the state.
Pricing
Free for museum members, $10 non-members
Membership
Membership pays for itself with just a few programs for your family. Join us.
More Golden history
Check out the Golden History Museum & Park blog for the latest behind the scenes videos and stories, personal memoirs, and history tidbits about Golden.