The Tigua Settlement of Ysleta del Sur

Ysleta del Sur, 15 miles south of El Paso, Texas, was established in 1682 for refugee Tigua Indians who abandoned the old Isleta pueblo, near Albuquerque, New Mexico, during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Despite loss of pueblo lands, intermarriage with non-Indians, and the acculturative influences of a dominant Mexican population, the Tigua of Ysleta del Sur have retained an Indian identity and tribal organization. Officially recognized by the federal government in the spring of 1968 as a surviving tribe of American Indians, they are presently active in reinterpreting and revitalizing their Indian heritage.