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{{short description|Texas descendants of Hispanic settlers}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| flag             = [[File:Flag_of_Texas.svg|border|180px]]
| flag_caption     = [[Flag of Texas]]
| group            = Tejanos
| pop              = '''9,530,419''' (people of Mexican origin; 2020 Census)<ref name="census">[https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=B03001%3A%20HISPANIC%20OR%20LATINO%20ORIGIN%20BY%20SPECIFIC%20ORIGIN&g=0400000US48&y=2020&tid=ACSDT5Y2020.B03001 US Census Bureau: Table QT-P10 Hispanic or Latino by Type: 2020] Retrieved July 13, 2022.</ref>
| regions          = [[Texas]] (especially [[El Paso]], [[San Antonio]], and [[South Texas]]), [[Louisiana]] ([[Los Adaes]])
| langs            = [[Spanish language in the United States|Texan Spanish]], [[Texan English]], [[Spanglish]]
| rels             = Predominantly [[Roman Catholic]]
| related          = {{Plainlist|
[[Texas Germans]], [[Louisiana Creole people|Louisiana Creoles]], [[Los Adaes|Adaeseños]], [[Floridanos]], [[Californios]], [[Hispanos of New Mexico|Nuevo Mexicanos]], [[Isleños in Louisiana|Isleños]], [[Cajuns]], [[Native American tribes in Texas|Texan Natives]]}}
}}

'''Tejanos''' ({{IPAc-en|t|eɪ|ˈ|h|ɑː|n|oʊ|z}} {{Respell|tay|HAH|nohz}},<ref name="www.merriam-webster.com">{{Cite web|title=Definition of TEJANO|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Tejano|access-date=2021-09-30|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en}}</ref> {{IPA|es|teˈxanos|lang}}) are descendants of [[Criollo people#In the United States|Texas Creole]]s and [[Mestizos]] who settled in [[Texas]] before its admission as an American state.<ref name="tejanoorigins">{{cite book |title=Tejano Origins in Eighteenth-Century San Antonio|author=Gerald E. Poyo|author2=Gilberto M. Hinojosa|publisher=University of Texas Press|others=Macquarie University|year=2011|pages=222}}</ref> The term is also sometimes applied to Texans of Mexican descent.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia of the Great Plains {{!}} TEJANOS |url=http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.ha.046 |access-date=2022-04-30 |website=plainshumanities.unl.edu}}</ref><ref name="tshaonline.org">{{Cite web |title=TSHA {{!}} Tejano |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/tejano |access-date=2022-04-30 |website=www.tshaonline.org}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The word ''Tejano'', with a ''J'' instead of ''X'', comes from the Spanish interpretation of the original [[Caddo language|Caddo]] indigenous word ''Tayshas'', which means "friend" or "ally".<ref name="www.merriam-webster.com" /> Texas Mestizo<ref>{{Cite web |last=Association |first=Texas State Historical |title=Understanding Mestizos in New Spain: Social Status and Historical Context |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mestizo |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=Texas State Historical Association |language=en}}</ref> refers to as person born in the New World that has one parent that is Spanish Texas born and the other parent as Inidan born.

===Texas Creoles===
In colonial Texas, the term "Creole" (''criollo'') distinguished Old World Africans and Europeans from their descendants born in the New world, Creoles, who were the citizens of [[New Spain]]'s Tejas province.<ref name="andrewdelbanco">{{cite book |title=The War Before the War Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War|author=Andrew Delbanco|publisher=Penguin Publishing Group|year=2019|pages=190}}</ref><ref name="williamcdavis">{{cite book |title=Lone Star Rising|author=William C. Davis|publisher=Free Press|year=2017|pages=63, 64}}</ref><ref name="philipthomastucker">{{cite book |title=Emily D. West and the "Yellow Rose of Texas" Myth|author=Phillip Thomas Tucker|publisher=McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers|year=2014|pages=100}}</ref>

Texas Creole culture revolved around ''ranchos'' (Tejano ranches), attended mostly by ''vaqueros'' (cowboys) of African, Spaniard, or Mestizo descent who established a number of settlements in southeastern Texas and western Louisiana (e.g. [[Los Adaes]]).<ref name="andrewdelbanco" /><ref name="williamcdavis" /><ref name="francisxgalan">{{cite book |title=Los Adaes, the First Capital of Spanish Texas|author= Francis X. Galan|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|year=2020|pages=416}}</ref><ref name="vaqueros">{{cite book |title=Vaqueros, Cowboys, and Buckaroos|author=Lawrence Clayton|author2=Jim Hoy|author3=Jerald Underwood|publisher=University of Texas Press|year=2010|pages=2}}</ref>

[[History of African Americans in Texas|Black Texas]] Creoles have been present in Texas since the 17th century and served as soldiers in Spanish garrisons of eastern Texas. Generations of Black Texas Creoles, also known as "Black Tejanos," played a role in later phases of Texas history during Mexican Texas, the Republic of Texas, and American Texas.<ref name="philipthomastucker" />

==History==
{{Texas History}}

===Spanish government and Mexican Texas===
{{Main|Spanish Texas|Mexican Texas}}
[[File:Ranchero de Texas, 1828.jpg|thumb|310x310px|''Ranchero de Texas'' (1828). Tejano vaqueros were very different from the Mexican vaqueros of central Mexico, both in their costumes and customs. Tejanos were very humble in their dress; their saddles, while being Mexican in origin, were rough and heavy and lacked the finesse of the central Mexico saddles. This changed once Mexican traditions were adopted by the Tejanos.]]
[[File:Frederic Remington - The Mier Expedition- The Drawing of the Black Bean - Google Art Project.jpg|300px|thumb|Spanish Creoles from Texas]]
As early as 1519, [[Alonso Álvarez de Pineda]] claimed the area that is now [[Texas]] for [[Spain]]. The [[Spanish monarchy]] paid little attention to the province until 1685. That year, the Crown learned of a French colony in the region and worried that it might threaten Spanish colonial [[mining|mines]] and [[shipping routes]]. King [[Charles II of Spain|Charles II]] sent ten expeditions to find the French colony, but they were unsuccessful. Between 1690 and 1693, expeditions were made to the Texas region and acquired better knowledge of it for the provincial government and the settlers, who came later.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/alvarez-de-pineda-alonso|title=Álvarez de Pineda, Alonso|first=Texas State Historical|last=Association|website=Texas State Historical Association}}</ref>

Tejano settlements developed in three distinct regions: the northern [[Nacogdoches]] region, the [[Bexar County, Texas|Bexar]]–[[Goliad]] region along the [[San Antonio River]], and the frontier between the [[Nueces River]] and the Rio Grande, an area used largely for ranching. Those populations shared certain characteristics, yet they were independent of one another. The main unifying factor was their shared responsibility for defending the northern frontier of [[New Spain]]. Some of the first settlers were [[Isleños]] from the [[Canary Islands]]. Their families were among the first to reside at the [[Presidio San Antonio de Bexar]] in 1731, which is modern-day San Antonio, Texas.

[[Ranching]] was a major activity in the Bexar-Goliad area, which consisted of a belt of ranches that extended along the San Antonio River between Bexar ([[San Antonio, Texas|San Antonio]] area) and [[Goliad, Texas|Goliad]]. The [[Nacogdoches, Texas|Nacogdoches]] settlement was located farther north and east. Tejanos from Nacogdoches traded with the French and Anglo residents of Louisiana and were culturally influenced by them. The third settlement was located north of the Rio Grande, toward the Nueces River. Its ranchers were citizens of [[Spanish people|Spanish origin]] from [[Tamaulipas]], in what is now northern Mexico, and they identified with Spanish [[Criollo people|Criollo]] culture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/tejanoorigins.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509184531/http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/tejanoorigins.htm|url-status=dead|title=Tejano Origins in Mexican Texas<!-- Bot generated title -->|archivedate=May 9, 2008}}</ref>

On September 16, 1810, [[Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla]], a Catholic priest, launched the [[Mexican War of Independence]] with the issuing of his [[Grito de Dolores]], or “Cry of Delores.” He marched across Mexico and gathered an army of nearly 90,000 poor farmers and civilians. The troops ran up into an army of 6,000 well-trained and armed Spanish troops; most of Hidalgo's troops fled or were killed at the [[Battle of Calderón Bridge]].<ref>[Minster, Christopher. Mexican War of Independence: The Battle of Calderon Bridge<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

[[Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara]], a supporter in independence from Spain, organized a revolutionary army with José Menchaca, who was from the [[Presidio San Antonio de Béxar|Villa de San Fernando de Bejar]]. After Hidalgo's defeat and execution, Gutiérrez traveled to Washington, DC, to request help from the United States. He requested an audience with President [[James Madison]] but was refused. He met with Secretary of State [[James Monroe]], who was busy planning the invasion of [[Canada]] in the [[War of 1812]]. On December 10, 1810, Gutiérrez addressed the [[US House of Representatives]]. There was no official help by the [[US government]] to the revolution. However, Gutiérrez returned with financial help, weapons, and almost 700 [[US Army]] veterans.

Gutiérrez's army would defeat the [[Spanish Army]] and the first independent Republic of Texas, "the Green Republic" was born with the Declaration of Independence. Spain had reinforced its armies in the colonies, and a well-equipped army led by General Juaquin de Arredondo known as the "El Carnicero," invaded the Green Republic of Tejas. During the time of the Republic, the Spaniard [[José Álvarez de Toledo y Dubois]] had been undermining Gutiérrez de Lara's government. Toledo was successful, and Gutiérrez was ousted. Toledo then led the Republican Army of the North (the Green Army) into a trap against the Spanish Army, and no prisoners were taken by the Spanish at the [[Battle of Medina]]. The Spanish Army marched into San Antonio, rounded up everyone it could find from Nacogdoches to El Espiritu de Santo (Goliad), and brought them to San Antonio. The Spanish killed four males a day for 270 days, eradicated the Tejano population, and left the women when they left in 1814. Toledo returned to Spain, a Spanish hero.<ref>Jarratt, Rie (1949). "Gutiérrez de Lara: Mexican-Texan The Story of a Creole Hero". Creole Texana. Archived from the original on 2012-04-11. Retrieved 2008-07-04.</ref><ref>James Monroe during the War of 1812 by Eugene van Sickle, University of North Georgia
http://www.bandyheritagecenter.org/Content/Uploads/Bandy%20Heritage%20Center/files/1812/James%20Monroe%20during%20the%20War%20of%201812.pdf</ref>

In January 1840, the northern Mexican states of [[Nuevo León]], [[Coahuila]], and [[Tamaulipas]] seceded from Mexico to establish the [[Republic of the Rio Grande]], with its capital in what is now [[Laredo, Texas]], but they became part of Mexico again in November 1840.

===Republic of Texas===
{{Main|Republic of Texas}}
[[File:Juan seguin.jpg|thumb|[[Juan Seguín]], Tejano leader of the [[Texas Revolution]] and statesman in the [[Republic of Texas]]]]
By 1821, at the end of the [[Mexican War of Independence]], about 4,000 Tejanos lived in Mexican Texas, alongside a lesser number of foreign settlers. In addition, several thousand New Mexicans lived in the areas of Paso del Norte (now [[El Paso, Texas]]) and [[Nuevo Santander]], incorporating [[Laredo, Texas|Laredo]] and the [[Lower Rio Grande Valley|Rio Grande Valley]].

During the 1820s, many settlers from the United States and other nations moved to [[Mexican Texas]], mostly in the eastern area. The passage of the [[General Colonization Law]], encouraged immigration by granting the immigrants citizenship if they declared loyalty to Mexico. By 1830, the 30,000 recent settlers in Texas, who were primarily Englishspeakers from the United States, outnumbered the Hispanos Tejano six to one.<ref name="Tejanos1">{{cite web |title=Tejano Patriots |work=bexargenealogy.com |url=http://www.bexargenealogy.com/index_Tejanos.htm |access-date=2008-10-04 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080502181031/http://bexargenealogy.com/index_Tejanos.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2008-05-02}}</ref>

The [[Texians]] and Tejano alike rebelled against attempts by the government to centralize authority in [[Mexico City]] and other measures implemented by President [[Antonio López de Santa Anna]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/tejanos-and-the-siege-and-battle-of-the-alamo |title=                        Tejanos and the Siege and Battle of the Alamo |author=De La Teja, Jesús F. |publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]] |work=[[Handbook of Texas]] |access-date=January 19, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/remember-the-tejanos |title=Remember the Tejanos! |author=Santos, John Phillip |publisher=[[Texas Monthly]] |date=2014 |access-date=January 19, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://houstonculture.org/hispanic/alamo.html |title=The Texas Revolution: Tejano Patriots |author=Schmal, John P. |publisher=Houston Institute for Culture |date=2004 |access-date=January 19, 2021}}</ref> Tensions between the central Mexican government and the settlers eventually resulted in the [[Texas Revolution]].

===20th century===
In 1915, insurgents in [[South Texas]] wrote a manifesto that was circulated in the town of [[San Diego, Texas|San Diego]] and all across the region. The manifesto "[[Plan de San Diego]]" called on Mexicans, American Indians, Blacks, Germans, and Japanese to liberate south Texas and kill their racist white American oppressors. Numerous cross-border raids, murders, and sabotage took place. Some Tejanos strongly repudiated the plan. According to Benjamin H. Johnson, middle-class Mexicans who were born in the United States and desired affirming their loyalty to the country founded the [[League of United Latin American Citizens]] (LULAC). It was headed by professionals, business leaders, and progressives and became the main Tejano organization promoting civic pride and civil rights.<ref>{{cite book |first=Benjamin H. |last=Johnson |title=Revolution in Texas: How a Forgotten Rebellion and Its Bloody Suppression turned Mexicans into Americans |url=https://archive.org/details/revolutionintexa00john |url-access=registration |year=2003 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=9780300094251 }}</ref>

Other sources attribute the founding of the organization in 1929 largely to Tejano veterans of [[World War I]], who wanted to improve civil rights for Mexican-American citizens of the United States. They were socially discriminated against in Texas. Only American citizens were admitted as members to LULAC, and there was an emphasis on people becoming educated and assimilated to advance in society.<ref>Gutierrez, David G. (March 1995). ''Walls and Mirrors: Mexican Americans, Mexican Immigrants, and the Politics of Ethnicity''. University of California Press. {{ISBN|978-0-520-20219-1}}, p. 9</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Orozco | first = Cynthia E. | author-link=Cynthia Orozco|title = No Mexicans, Women, or Dogs Allowed: The Rise of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement | publisher = University of Texas Press | location = Austin | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-0-292-72132-6 }}</ref>

In 1963, Tejanos in [[Crystal City, Texas|Crystal City]] organized politically and won elections; their candidates dominated the city government and the school board. Their activism signaled the emergence of modern Tejano politics.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Michael V. |last=Miller |title=Chicano Community Control in South Texas: Problems And Prospects |journal=Journal of Ethnic Studies |year=1975 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=70–89 }}</ref>  In 1969–70, a different Tejano coalition, the [[La Raza Unida Party]], came to office in Crystal City. The new leader was [[José Ángel Gutiérrez]], a radical nationalist who worked to form a Chicano nationalist movement across the Southwest in 1969 to 1979. He promoted cultural terminology (''[[Chicano]], [[Aztlan]]'') designed to unite the militants; but his movement split into competing factions in the late 1970s.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Richard J. |last1=Jensen| author-link1 = Richard J. Jensen |first2=John C. |last2=Hammerback |title=Radical Nationalism Among Chicanos: The Rhetoric of José Angel Gutiérrez |journal=Western Journal of Speech Communication |year=1980 |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=191–202 |doi=10.1080/10570318009374005}}</ref>

==Demographics==
Most Tejanos are concentrated in [[South Texas|southern Texas]], in historic areas of Spanish colonial settlement and closer to the border that developed. The city of [[San Antonio, Texas|San Antonio]] is the historic center of Tejano culture.<ref name="tshaonline.org"/> During the [[Spanish Texas|Spanish colonial period of Texas]], most colonial settlers of northern [[New Spain]] &ndash; including Texas, northern Mexico, and the American Southwest &ndash; were descendants of Spaniards.<ref>''Census and Inspection Report of 1787 of the Colony of Nuevo Santander,'' performed by Dragoon Captain Jose Tienda de Cuervo, Knight of the Order of Santago, with Historical Report by Fray Vicente Santa Maria.</ref>

Although the number of Tejanos whose families have lived in Texas since before 1836 is unknown, it was estimated that 5,000 Tejano descendants of [[Canarian American#Canary Islanders and the founding of San Antonio, Texas|San Antonio's Canarian founders]] lived in the city in 2008.<ref name="Díacanariosentexas">[https://www.cronicasdelaemigracion.com/articulo/canarias/ninos-canarios-tejanos-conoceran-detalles-fundacion-san-antonio-eeuu/20080819111310014150.html Canarias en el Mundo. Niños canarios y tejanos conocerán detalles de la fundación de San Antonio, en EEUU] (In Spanish; "Canarian and Tejano Children Will Know How Some Isleños Founded San Antonio in the U.S.")</ref> The community of Canarian descent still maintains the culture of their ancestors.

Tejanos may identify as being of [[Mexican people|Mexican]], [[Chicano]], [[Mexican American]], [[Spanish people|Spanish]], [[Hispanic|Hispano]], [[Americans|American]] and/or Indigenous ancestry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.texastejano.com/Webpages.asp?Wpid=34|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080107221247/http://www.texastejano.com/Webpages.asp?Wpid=34|url-status=dead |title=Tejano History<!-- Bot generated title -->|archivedate=January 7, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/10/28/in-texas-its-hispanic-por-favor/|title=Hispanic or Latino? Many don't care, except in Texas|date=28 October 2013 }}</ref> In urban areas, as well as some rural communities, Tejanos tend to be well integrated into both the Hispanic and mainstream American cultures. Especially among younger generations, a number identify more with the mainstream and may understand little or no [[Spanish language|Spanish]].

Most of the people whose ancestors colonized Texas and the northern [[Mexican states]] during the Spanish colonial period identified with the [[Spanish people|Spaniards]], [[Criollo people|Criollos]], or [[Mestizo people|Mestizos]] who were born in the colony.  Many of the latter find their history and identity in the [[history of Spain]], [[Mesoamerica]] and the [[history of the United States]]. [[New Spain|Spain's colonial provinces]] ([[Spanish Texas]] and [[Louisiana (New Spain)|Spanish Louisiana]]) participated on the side of the rebels in the [[American Revolutionary War]].

===Ethnic and national origins===
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2020}}
In the 2007 [[American Community Survey]] (ACS) data,
<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US48&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_QTP4&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-redoLog=false |title=Hispanics in Texas-Tejanos |access-date=2007-05-05 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212042041/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/QTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US48&-qr_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_QTP4&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-redoLog=false |archive-date=2020-02-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Tejanos are defined as those Texans descended from colonists of the Spanish colonial period (before 1821), or descended from Indigenous [[Spanish Mexicans]], and indigenous Mexicans.<ref>{{cite book|author=Richard G. Santos|title=Silent Heritage: The Sephardim and the Colonization of the Spanish North American Frontier 1492-1600|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VMLrAAAAMAAJ|date= 2000|publisher=New Sepharad Press|page=385|isbn=9780967472713}}</ref>

Tejanos have a unique cultural identity that is a mixture of Spanish, Indigenous, and African influences. Tejanos have made greatcontributions to the cultural heritage of Texas in terms of [[music]], [[food]], [[language]], and [[tradition]]s. The term "Tejano<ref>{{Cite web |last=Association |first=Texas State Historical |title=Understanding Tejano Identity: History and Cultural Significance |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/tejano?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=Texas State Historical Association |language=en}}</ref>" has been employed to describe various expressions of culture and as an emblem of the unique heritage of Texans of Mexican descent over time.

==Culture==

===Music===
{{main|Tejano music}}
Genuine [[Tejano music]] is descended from a mixture of German and Czechoslovak polka and oom papa sounds and Mexican Spanish strings, and is similar to the French folk music of Louisiana, known as "[[Cajun music]]", blended with the sounds of rock and roll, R&B, pop, and country, and with Mexican influences such as conjunto music. Narciso Martinez is the father of Conjunto Music, followed by the legendary Santiago Jimenez (Father of Flaco Jimenez).

Sunny and the Sunglows lead the rock and roll era in the 1950s along with Little Joe, and Rudy Guerra, who were originators of the rock and roll portion of genre. Today, Tejano music is a wide array of multicultural genres including rockteno and Tejano rap. The American cowboy culture and music was born from the meeting of the European-American Texians, Indigenous people, colonists mostly from the American South, and the original Tejano pioneers and their ''vaquero,'' or "cowboy" culture.<ref>{{cite book |first=Gene |last=Hill |title=Americans All, Americanos Todos |publisher=Añoranza Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Gilbert Y. |last=Chavez |title=Cowboys-Vaqueros, Origins of the First American Cowboys }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Lawrence |last=Clayton |title=Vaqueros, Cowboys and Buckaroos |url=https://archive.org/details/vaqueroscowboysb00clay |url-access=registration |year=2001 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=9780292712386 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Alex |last=Loya |at=chapter 15 |title=The Legacy and Heritage of the Spaniard Texians }}</ref>

===Food===
{{main|Tex-Mex cuisine}}
[[File:Burrito with rice.jpg|thumb|One of the most famous [[Tex-Mex cuisine|Tejano]] dishes, the [[burrito]]]]
The cuisine that would come to be known as "Tex-Mex" originated with the Tejanos. It developed from [[Spanish cuisine|Spanish]] and North American indigenous commodities with influences from [[Mexican cuisine]].<ref>{{Handbook of Texas|id=fon02|name=Juan de Oñate}}</ref>

Tex-Mex cuisine is characterized by its widespread use of melted [[cheese]], [[meat]] (particularly [[beef]]), [[Capsicum|peppers]], [[bean]]s, and [[spice]]s, in addition to [[maize|corn]] or [[flour]] [[tortillas]]. [[Chili con carne]], [[burritos]], [[carne asada]], [[chalupa]], [[chili con queso]], [[enchilada]]s, and [[fajita]]s are all Tex-Mex specialties. A common feature of Tex-Mex is the combination plate, with several of the above on one large platter. Serving [[tortilla chip]]s and a [[hot sauce]] or [[Salsa (sauce)|salsa]] as an appetizer is also a Tex-Mex development.<ref>[http://www.lightmillennium.org/2005_15th/emartinez_tex_mex_cuisine.html Etienne MARTINEZ, "Mexicans in the U.S.A: Mexican-American / Tex-Mex Cousine"], Light Millennium</ref> ''[[Cabrito]]'', ''[[barbacoa]]'', ''[[carne seca]]'', and other products of [[cattle]] culture have been common in the [[ranch]]ing cultures of [[South Texas]] and northern Mexico. In the 20th century, Tex-Mex took on [[Americanized]] elements such as yellow cheese, as goods from the rest of the United States became cheap and readily available.<ref>[[Robb Walsh]]. ''[[The Tex-Mex Cookbook]]'' ([[New York City|New York]]: [[Broadway Books]], 2004), XVI</ref> Tex-Mex has imported flavors from other spicy cuisines, such as the use of [[cumin]]. Cumin is often referred to by its Spanish name, ''comino.''

A common Tex-Mex breakfast dish served is a "breakfast taco" and usually consists of a flour tortilla or corn tortilla served using a single fold. That is in contrast to the burrito-style method of completely encasing the ingredients. Some of the typical ingredients used are a combination of [[Egg as food|eggs]], [[potatoes]], cheese, peppers, [[bacon]], [[sausage]], and barbacoa. Breakfast tacos are traditionally served with an optional [[Salsa (sauce)|red or green salsa]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://austin.eater.com/2016/2/19/11060078/breakfast-taco-austin-history|title = How Austin Became the Home of the Crucial Breakfast Taco|date = 19 February 2016}}</ref>

=== Religion ===
Tejanos, [[Mexican Americans|Mexican-American]] Texans, have always had their own special brand of [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Association |first=Texas State Historical |title=The Evolution of Mexican American Religious Life in Texas |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mexican-americans-and-religion#:~:text=Tejanos%20followed%20the%20basic%20tenets,fervently%20observed%20traditional%20holy%20days. |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=Texas State Historical Association |language=en}}</ref> that addressed their cultural identity and survival. While they adhered to Catholicism's basic tenets, they practiced their faith in ways that went against institutional expectations. Tejanos were devoted to the [[Virgin Mary]] and the saints, and they diligently observed traditional holy days. Yet they also engaged in home altars ([[altar]]citos) and selective sacramental observance, which were not necessarily inaccord with official Church teaching. This was partially a response to the Church's historical neglect and discrimination against them. Despite such tensions, Tejanos' religious practice was deeply integrated in their social and cultural lives and was a means for them to assert identity and communal solidarity.

== Politics ==
Historically, the majority of the Tejano population in South Texas had voted for [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] since the first half of the 20th century. The [[2020 United States presidential election]] was considered a turning point in their political support, as part of a "[[Red states and blue states|red tide]]" for South Texas, where [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] candidate [[Donald Trump]] performed better in areas associated with Tejano population than during former elections. [[Zapata County, Texas|Zapata]] was the only county that turned majority Republican from Democratic in South Texas, while [[Starr County, Texas|Starr County]] saw the strongest pro-Trump swing of any county in the U.S., a 55% increase compared to the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 election]].<ref name="Herrera">{{Cite web|last=Herrera|first=Jack|title=Trump Didn't Win the Latino Vote in Texas. He Won the Tejano Vote.|url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/11/17/trump-latinos-south-texas-tejanos-437027|access-date=2021-09-30|website=POLITICO|language=en}}</ref>

Tejanos are noted to be more supportive of the Republican Party than other Latino populations in Texas. Politically, Tejanos have been compared to [[Cuban Americans]] and [[Venezuelan Americans]], who also disproportionately vote for Republican candidates among Latino voters. ''[[The New York Times]]'' attributed the relative success of Donald Trump among the Tejano community to concerns about regional economy, which is based on [[Natural gas in the United States|gas]] and [[Petroleum in the United States|oil]]. ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' described concerns about possible unemployment caused by [[COVID-19 lockdowns]] as another source of Republican Tejano support. Reporter Jack Herrera argues that Tejanos are culturally conservative and identify with Republican positions on [[Right to keep and bear arms|gun rights]], Christianity, and abortion.<ref name="Herrera" /> Also Tejanos are more likely to be [[Evangelical Protestants]] than [[Roman Catholics]], the latter denomination in which most Latinos across the US identify as being part of.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.axios.com/2023/03/30/catholic-evangelical-latino-religion|title=Percentage of Latino Catholics eclipses white evangelicals in Southwest}}</ref>

==Notable people==
{{Americans}}

=== Tejanos of colonial origin or descent ===
{{Div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Gaspar Flores de Abrego]]
* [[Ignacio Lorenzo de Armas]]
* [[Simón de Arocha]]
* [[Rosa María Hinojosa de Ballí]]
* [[Santos Benavides]]
* [[José Tomás Canales]]
* [[José María Jesús Carbajal]]
* [[Henri Castro]]
* [[Josef Centeno]]
* [[Mariana W. de Coronel]]
* [[Juan Curbelo (Tejano settler)]]
* [[Juan José Elguézabal]]
* [[Blas María de la Garza Falcón]]
* [[Manuel N. Flores]]
* [[Salvador Flores]]
* [[Carlos de la Garza]] 
* [[José Antonio de la Garza]]
* [[Rafael Gonzales]]
* [[Damacio Jiménez]]  
* [[Juan Leal]]
* [[Eva Longoria]]<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.pbs.org/wnet/facesofamerica/profiles/eva-longoria/8/| title = Eva Longoria |work=[[Faces of America]] |publisher=[[PBS]]| date = 4 January 2010}}</ref>
* [[Selena|Selena Quíntinilla-Pérez]]
* [[Antonio Rodríguez Medero]]
* [[Antonio Menchaca]] 
* [[Juan Moya]]
* [[Ramón Músquiz]]
* [[Jose Antonio Navarro]]
* [[Antonio de Olivares]]
* [[Salvador Rodríguez (regidor)]]
* [[Francisco Antonio Ruiz]]
* [[José Francisco Ruiz]]
* [[Salvador Rodríguez (regidor)|Salvador Rodríguez]]
* [[Don Tomás Sánchez]]
* [[Juan Seguín]]
* [[Erasmo Seguín]]
* [[Vicente Álvarez Travieso]]
* [[José de Urrutia]]
* [[Jaci Velasquez]]
* [[Juan Martin de Veramendi]]
* [[Tomás Felipe de Winthuisen]]
* [[Antonio Gil Ybarbo]] 
* [[Ignacio Zaragoza]]
* [[Lorenzo de Zavala]]
* [[Adina Emilia De Zavala]]
{{div col end}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Texas|Hispanic and Latino Americans}}
* [[Texians]]
* [[Hispanics]]
* [[History of the Mexican-Americans in Texas]]
* [[Hispanic and Latino Americans in Texas]]
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* Alonzo, Armando C. ''Tejano Legacy: Rancheros and Settlers in South Texas, 1734-1900'' (1998)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120102074700/http://www.1st-hand-history.org/Hhb/HHBindex.htm Hubert Howe Bancroft. ''The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft,'']
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140415073050/http://www.1st-hand-history.org/Hhb/15/album1.html v 15: ''History of the North Mexican States and Texas, Volume 1: 1531 - 1800'']
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140415073401/http://www.1st-hand-history.org/Hhb/16/album1.html v 16 ''History of the North Mexican States and Texas, Volume 2: 1801 - 1889'']
* Buitron Jr., Richard A. ''The Quest for Tejano Identity in San Antonio, Texas, 1913-2000'' (2004) [https://www.amazon.com/Tejano-Identity-Antonio-1913-2000-Communities/dp/0415949505/  excerpt and text search]
* Chávez, John R. ''The Lost Land: The Chicano Image of the Southwest'' (Albuquerque, 1984)
* De León, Arnoldo. ''They Called Them Greasers: Anglo Attitudes toward Mexicans in Texas, 1821–1900'' (Austin, 1983)
* De León, Arnoldo. ''Mexican Americans in Texas: A Brief History'', 2nd ed. (1999)
* García, Richard A. ''[[Rise of the Mexican American Middle Class: San Antonio, 1929-1941]]'' 1991
* [[David Montejano|Montejano, David]]. ''[[Anglos and Mexicans in the Making of Texas, 1836-1986]]'' (1987)
*{{Cite book|last=Martinez de Vara|first=Art|title=Tejano Patriot: The Revolutionary Life of Jose Francisco Ruiz, 1783 - 1840|publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]] Press|location=[[Austin, TX]]|year=2020|isbn=978-1625110589}}
* Navarro, Armando. ''Mexican American Youth Organization: Avant-Garde of the Movement in Texas'' (University of Texas Press, 1995)
* Ramos, Ratil A. ''Beyond the Alamo: Forging Mexican Ethnicity in San Antonio, 1821-1861'' (University of North Carolina Press, 2008)
* San Miguel, Guadalupe. ''[[Tejano Proud: Tex-Mex Music in the Twentieth Century]]'' (2002)
* Taylor, Paul S. ''Mexican Labor in the United States''. 2 vols. 1930–1932, on Texas
* Stewart, Kenneth L., and Arnoldo De León. ''Not Room Enough: Mexicans, Anglos, and Socioeconomic Change in Texas, 1850-1900'' (1993)
* de la Teja, Jesús F. ''[[San Antonio de Béxar: A Community on New Spain's Northern Frontier]]'' (1995).
* Tijerina, Andrés. ''Tejanos and Texas under the Mexican Flag, 1821-1836'' (1994),
* Tijerina, Andrés. ''Tejano Empire: Life on the South Texas Ranchos'' (1998).
* Timmons, W. H. ''El Paso: A Borderlands History'' (1990).
* Weber, David J. ''The Mexican Frontier, 1821-1846: The American Southwest under Mexico'' (1982)

===Politics===
* Guglielmo, Thomas A. "Fighting for Caucasian Rights: Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and the Transnational Struggle for Civil Rights in World War II Texas," ''Journal of American History,'' 92 (March 2006) [https://web.archive.org/web/20081007045056/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jah/92.4/guglielmo.html in History Cooperative]
* MacDonald, L. Lloyd ''Tejanos in the 1835 Texas Revolution'' (2009) [https://www.amazon.com/Tejanos-1835-Texas-Revolution-MacDonald/dp/1589806387/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338164320&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]
* Márquez, Benjamin. ''LULAC: The Evolution of a Mexican American Political Organization'' (1993)
* Marquez, Benjamin; Espino, Rodolfo. "Mexican American support for third parties: the case of La Raza Unida," ''Ethnic & Racial Studies'' (Feb 2010) 33#2 pp 290–312. (online)
* Navarro, Armando. ''La Raza Unida Party: A Chicano Challenge to the U.S. Two Party Dictatorship'' (Temple University Press, 2000)
* Quintanilla, Linda J., “Chicana Activists of Austin and Houston, Texas: A Historical Analysis” (PhD University of Houston, 2005). Order No. DA3195964.
* de la Teja, Jesus F. ed. ''Tejano Leadership in Mexican and Revolutionary Texas'' (Texas A&M University Press, 2010) 274pp [https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Mexican-Revolutionary-Russell-Southwest/dp/1603441662/ excerpt and text search]

===Religion===
* Martinez, Juan Francisco. ''Sea La Luz: The Making of Mexican Protestantism in the American Southwest, 1829-1900'' (2006)
* Matovina, Timothy. ''Guadalupe and Her Faithful: Latino Catholics in San Antonio, from Colonial Origins to the Present'' (2005). 232 pp.
* Matovina, Timothy M. ''[[Tejano Religion and Ethnicity, San Antonio, 1821-1860]]'' (1995)
* Trevino, Roberto R. ''[[The Church in the Barrio: Mexican American Ethno-Catholicism in Houston]].'' (2006). 308pp.

===Women===
* Blackwelder, Julia Kirk. ''Women of the Depression: Caste and Culture in San Antonio'' 1984. [https://www.amazon.com/Women-Depression-Culture-1929-1939-Southwestern/dp/0890968640/ excerpt and text search]
* Deutsch, Sarah ''No Separate Refuge: Culture, Class, and Gender on the Anglo-Hispanic Frontier in the American Southwest, 1880-1940'' 1987
* Dysart, Jane. "Mexican Women in San Antonio, 1830-1860: The Assimilation Process" ''Western Historical Quarterly'' 7 (October 1976): 365–375. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/968057 in JSTOR]
* Fregoso; Rosa Linda. ''Mexicana Encounters: The Making of Social Identities on the Borderlands'' (2003)

===Historiography===
* Garcia, Richard A. "Changing Chicano Historiography," ''Reviews in American History'' 34.4 (2006) 521–528 in [[Project MUSE]]

{{Hispanics/Latinos}}
{{European Americans}}
{{Spanish Americans by location}}

[[Category:Texas society]]
[[Category:Hispanos| Tejano]]
[[Category:American people of Mexican descent| ]]
[[Category:American people of Spanish descent| ]]
[[Category:American regional nicknames]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American culture in San Antonio]]
[[Category:Mexican-American culture in Texas| ]]
[[Category:Spanish-American culture in Texas]]
[[Category:People from the Republic of Texas| ]]
[[Category:Tejano| ]]
[[Category:White Americans]]