Tejano Origins in Mexican Texas — 6
The single most distinguishing characteristic of Tejano culture was the strong sense of community. The early Spaniards had brought with them a strong neighborhood concept of the barrio, which was reinforced, on the Texas frontera. Then as the early expeditions came in to settle Texas, the people came as whole families or communities. Some of these families grouped themselves around the early missions where they remained for decades. Others huddled around the presidio or in distant communities like Nacogdoches, where even the different races tended to be drawn together.i To the nineteenth-century Tejano the barrio was home, and the vecindario, or neighboring populace, was family. It was not enough for municipal government to provide an alcalde as the leader of the town. Each barrio had to have its own resident comisario or "judge of the barrio." The comisarios, who saw to the social welfare and administrative matters in their respective barrios, were seen officially as the heads of these extended families. One Béxar ordinance described the comisarios as "the true Fathers of the vecindario in their respective territories."ii Standard procedure in the management of a municipality's social functions called for the appointment of quasi-official committees, or municipal commissions. These commissions were composed of local government officials, professionals in the respective endeavor, and ordinary citizens. They were responsible for collecting funds, making necessary arrangements, and conducting the operations of the social function. One such municipal commission was the Junta Patriotica, or the Patriotic Committee. It was responsible for the operation of patriotic or civic endeavors. Their most common activities involved official celebrations, however, of such events as Constitution Day, the Feast of Corpus Christi, Christmas, Good Thursday and Friday, the Feast of San Felipe de Jesús, the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and Independence Day. Preparations for these events sent the city official busily buying the refreshments, renting a dance hall, and contracting for the musicians.
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