GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

The Cultural Stew of Rodeo in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands

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Thomas M. Hunt
Board of Contributors

Nov 19, 2018 | 17:27 GMT

This photo shows the rugged territory in the Chisos Mountains typical of the landscape in the Big Bend region along the U.S.-Mexico border.

A falcon flies over the Chisos Basin on Oct. 16, 2016, in the Big Bend National Park in West Texas. Big Bend is a rugged, vast and remote region along the U.S.-Mexico border.

(JOHN MOORE/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • For centuries, migration across the U.S-Mexican border has been a normal part of life in rural far West Texas.
  • The rodeo culture in the region reflects that reality, featuring traditions from both north and south of the Rio Grande.
  • The popularity of the sport in both Mexico and Texas makes it an interesting prism through which to view the current issues surrounding the border and immigration.

My family owns a ranchito in the beautiful Davis Mountains of far West Texas. It is my favorite spot on earth. A recent episode of Anthony Bourdain's "Parts Unknown" series on CNN featured Texas' Big Bend region where the Davis Mountains are located. The residents he interviewed, much like myself, cherish both the rugged beauty of the land as well as its rich mixture of Anglo and Mexican cultural traditions. And they universally opposed the push to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border through the sparsely populated region....

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