Senecu, Mexico

For the original pueblo of Senecú, see Senecú.

Senecu (Senecú del Sur, San Antonio de Senecú) is a small Mexican village, now on the outskirts of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. It is at an altitude of 1123 m. and lies within the Chihuahuan Desert ecosystem.

Senecú del Sur was founded in 1682^[1] by Piro indians from Senecú, New Mexico, who fled south along with the Spanish after the Pueblo Revolt.^[2] There is evidence that some Tompiro joined the pueblo. Originally it was located on the north side of the Rio Grande,^[1] with its mission church (located approximately two miles westnorthwest of the Ysleta, Texas mission.^[3] This close proximity resulted in repeated disputes over the boundary between the two pueblos.^[4] In 1832 there was severe flooding and due to the meanderings of the Rio Grande much of the village was destroyed.^[3] Further losses to the river occurred and after the Senecú Pueblo was not recognized by the Texas legislature, and after they had lost their suit of 1871 to Ysleta,^[5] the inhabitants probably developed the same land which was now south of the river; however, the town was not formally established at its current location until 1949.^[3]

As of 1901, Senecú still had "a tribal organization, with a cacique (who is also custodian of the church), a governor, a war-chief, and subordinate officials."^[6] The old church identified in 1901^[6] is gone, replaced by a modern church^[1]. The 1910 Mexican Revolution caused some members of the community to flee across the border to Ysleta and Socorro del Sur.^[7]

The Pueblo is commemorated by a stone monument^[3] on Alameda Street, in El Paso, about 1½ miles west of the Ysleta Mission.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Baldridge, Carol (1998) "El Paso Missions: Senecu" Texas Missions (fact cards) Toucan Valley Publications, Milpitas, California, card 40, ISBN 1-884925-58-8
2. ^ Marshall, Michael P. and Walt, Henry J., (1984) "Chapter 11: Pre-Revolt Place Names: Senecú" Rio Abajo: Prehistory and History of a Rio Grande Province New Mexico Historic Preservation Division, Santa Fe, pp. 252 OCLC 11553460
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "San Antonio de Senecú" The Handbook of Texas Online, accessed 21 February 2009
4. ^ Eickhoff, Randy Lee (1996) Exiled: The Tigua Indians of Ysleta del Sur Republic of Texas Press, Plano, Texas, p. 100, ISBN 1-55622-507-5
5. ^ Eickhoff, Randy Lee (1996) Exiled: The Tigua Indians of Ysleta del Sur Republic of Texas Press, Plano, Texas, p. 202, ISBN 1-55622-507-5
6. ^ ^{a b} Fewkes, J. Walter (1902) "The Pueblo Settlements near El Paso, Texas" American Anthropologist New Series, 4(1): pp. 57-75, p. 73; full text, accessed 21 February 2009
7. ^ Miller, Mark Edwin (2004) Forgotten Tribes: Unrecognized Indians and the Federal Acknowledgment Process University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska, p. 217, ISBN 0-8032-3226-8

Coordinates: 31°42′25″N 106°24′11″W / 31.70694°N 106.40306°W / 31.70694; -106.40306