SAN ANTONIO — Christa Mancias and many others held their fists up at Columbus Park in San Antonio.

“Columbus didn’t discover America. We don’t live in the United States of Columbus,” Mancias says. “We live in the United States of America, but how do you discover something that was already inhabited by Indigenous people? So he didn’t discover anything, he was lost.”

Mancias is the tribal secretary for the Carrizo Comecrudo Tribe of Texas. Since her father Juan Mancias is the current tribal chairman, she’s next in line.

“Even though I have a younger brother, I’m going to step into the role this time in the seventh generation to be the first woman leader in over 100 years,” Mancias says.

The defaced Christopher Columbus Statue at Columbus Park has been removed temporarily to be cleaned, but city council says they will soon vote on removing it permanently.

“Even though they say it’s going to be cleaned, there’s still a chance that the statue won’t come back,” Mancias says. “It’s a victory in small doses but the fight still continues.”

It’s a fight to keep Indigenous history alive. Mancias took a drive to Floresville where many of her ancestors lived before the town existed. She and her tribe feel at home in the San Antonio River, which runs through the town.

“My ancestors live in this water and we are born from the earth so it feels like home. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Mancias says.

A person stands near the San Antonio River (Jose Arredondo/Spectrum News)

In 2010, the City of Floresville found the remains of an unknown Indigenous person and contacted Juan Mancias to see how they could honor them. A year later, they did it with a memorial.

“This was a good step working with the city of Floresville, especially finding the remains of somebody and then returning him back to the people,” Mancias says.

The Carrizo Comecrudo tribe wants the City of San Antonio to take similar steps to keep Indigenous history alive.

“To find that connection from the original history of this land with the people that were from this land, who know this land, and are created from this land,” Mancias says.