The original Texas diversity
The first floor of the Bob Bullock Museum was my favorite. I love learning everything about Native Americans, and it was really cool to learn about the original inhabitants of Texas. It's interesting, to step back and consider the history of Texas as a whole, to note how power shifts between different groups of people. I suppose technically, that's what happens to the world in general, from Leavers to Takers to different civilizations such as the Egyptians and the Romans and the Mongols and the Europeans. Before the Europeans came to Texas, beginning with Panfilo de Narvaez in 1528, the state was divided by Native tribes who were defined by trade. For example, the Southeast and Plains Natives traded cotton and turquoise to the Caddo for bows of bois d'arc wood. However, when the Spaniards arrived, the Natives stopped coexisting with one another and started fighting for survival, or got converted or befriended the newcomers. The Caddo had been the most powerful tribe at the time, but with the rising power of other tries and European diseases, the Caddo lost power by 1680. Now began the age of Spanish power.
The second floor, what hit me the most was that it dealt a lot with slavery. THere was a new group of people who were now losing power. A new group that was introduced to the land, who wasn't native, and who looked very very different from who was already there. They, along with the Hispanic population, suffered as victims of discriminating white rule. Then in the 20th century, an influlx of Europeans, many Jewish, Russians, Swiss, Scots, Czechs, and Italians came, escaping economic oppression and political freedom from their own countries.
Buffalo Soldiers - an all black regiment.
What I liked best about the third floor was the information about gender. Women were beginning to take a stand, and that was awesome. WWII was a new catalyst for women to earn power, and they were showing men that they were strong. The WASPs and WAACs were prime examples.
THe diversity of Texas existed from the beginning, but has only been increasing - I wonder if the future will look at museum exhibits about the 21st century in the same way as we look at the past.
What will history say about us?
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