More than 40 years later, Brenda Romero Pacheco can still see the east wall of Mission San José, rising a short baseball toss from her childhood home. She can see the sun setting over the mission’s bell tower.
At the time, her view of history and nature was woven into a daily rhythm. It felt unremarkable.
Decades later, Pacheco learned a startling truth. She descended from Native Americans who helped build the mission walls.
Pacheco shared that remembrance Thursday night at the World Heritage Center’s 1-year anniversary celebration, an event that featured Mexican food, modern art and storytelling.
“My house used to be right behind the mission walls, not even 20 feet away,” Pacheco told a gathering of more than 150 people. “I remember sitting in my bedroom as the sun was going down. And I would think to myself, ‘Yeah, that’s okay.’”
Five years ago, Pacheco, 69, discovered that she descended from two tribes. The Pacao’s on her father’s side are connected to Mission Espada. The Pampopa’s on her mother’s side helped build Mission San José, the church in her backyard whose walls are as old as America itself.
The mission structure was constructed between 1768 and 1782.
“That was a gift,” said Pacheco, who lived within feet of the mission until she was 26. “It was majestic to be able to see that on a daily basis. … All of us from these neighborhoods feel the same way. We wish we had asked our grandmas and uncles, ‘What happened?’ What was life like around San José?”
The World Heritage Center was built, in part, to find answers to those questions. The center is 10,000 square feet of Spanish colonial history. Long tables provide accounts of early life in the five missions: the settlers’ dependence on the river and their sources of food and various tools.
A newly installed “Mission Molcajete” by artist Marcos Medellín is a showpiece. It represents a large Mexican mortar and pestle used to grind ingredients into fine powders.
An interactive media wall offers a rich sampling of arts and neighborhood culture. A shared story booth showcases videos of mission descendants sharing childhood memories and discussing connections to the missions, the San Antonio River and acequias, native ancestry, spiritual life and food traditions.
One descendant recalled his mother’s homecooking. “I remember when I was 5 or 6,” said Vincent Huizar, “coming home from school and smelling the tortillas.”
Other descendants recalled a mother’s menudo, a father bringing home watermelon and grandmothers teaching them to make tamales.
Inside the center, a long gastronomical arc unfolds in words and pictures, artifacts and videos. Historical snapshots of local food culture abound, from primitive salsas to chili queens in Alamo Plaza to puffy tacos.
The displays underscore San Antonio as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy. The designation came in 2017, two years after the missions were named a UNESCO World Heritage site.
In that spirit, Naco Mexican Grayson catered the event, providing a delectable array of food samples: meatballs with chipotle sauce, black beans, queso asadero with chili morita, cups of street corn and guacamole and chips.
A long line formed as Francisco Estrada, Naco’s co-owner and chef, filled small plate after small plate. Estrada and his wife, Lizzeth Martinez, are James Beard semifinalists for Best Chef: Texas. Martinez is a UNESCO chef ambassador.
“What’s amazing is that nobody hates to eat,” said Colleen Swain, World Heritage Director and moderator of the event. “People’s demeanor changes when you talk about food. In these videos, people talk about how food brings the family together. The universal love language is food.”
