Untold Stories: Launching the PBBI Documentary
Item
Title
Untold Stories: Launching the PBBI Documentary
Source
Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute
Interviewee, Interviewer
Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute
Relation
Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute
Date
2020
Identifier
SCUAD_pbbi_00029
extracted text
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[Music]
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california
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a land that has long captured the hearts
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and imaginations of those
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yearning for a better life including
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countless immigrants from around the
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world
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immigrants from portugal and their
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descendants are among those who make up
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the state's rich
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cultural tapestry about 350
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000 californians identify as being of
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portuguese descent
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most are from the azores many have
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settled in cities and towns
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along the highway 99 corridor of the
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central valley
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a sprawling farming region 450 miles
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long
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despite the important contributions
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portuguese americans
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from the central valley have made
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locally and nationally
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little is known about them azorians had
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started settling here in the central
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valley in the 1870s
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they started out as sheep herders they
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developed a good reputation for being
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steady
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and willing to stay out in the field
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with sheep
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and so they were hired first in these
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large
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ranches out by lamore and then of course
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they sent letters home
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and told of the opportunities here
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and more of them came and started
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settling in the area
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there were two waves of portuguese
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immigration to the united states
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the first was in the late 1800s to the
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1920s
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and was made up of individuals and
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families seeking
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better opportunities in america the
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second wave
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followed the eruption of the volcano on
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the island of feyal
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in the azores in 1958 john f kennedy
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then a senator from massachusetts
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co-sponsored the azorian refugee act
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making it possible for almost 5 000
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displaced portuguese citizens to come to
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the united states
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the family reunification act of the
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1960s
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allowed those who had come either at the
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beginning of the century or those who
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came
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uh post uh capolinus volcano in the late
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50s
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to bring forth their families their
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siblings their mom their dad
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um and and that was the last exodus
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from the 1960s early 1960s
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until basically about 1976 to 1980.
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when we left our island of florida there
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was no no electricity at all
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on the island there was no running water
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in any house
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there was there were no roads no cars
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my brothers and sisters grew up reading
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and learning to read by an oil lamp
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you know that and this is in my lifetime
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and uh it's so life was was very
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difficult
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and challenging it was just subsistence
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living
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so you had a you had a good living in
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that it's a very fertile place very
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green place there's
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fish in the ocean and and things grow
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year around
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but that's all you had and you were you
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were
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very isolated and so this was a
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this area here in the san joaquin valley
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was a great area to come to
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based on it was very similar to what you
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had in the azores in terms of fertile
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land and you could have animals and grow
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crops
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i think we've made some contributions in
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certain industries more than others
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and of course in the san joaquin valley
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in agriculture
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in the dairy industry according to
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all data that has been published
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throughout the years in the 1970s
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especially
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the portuguese controlled about half of
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the dairy
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products that were being manufactured of
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course when they immigrated and they
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didn't speak the language
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the opportunity for them was to all milk
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cows so the portuguese people whether
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they were cow people
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in their homeland when they got here
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they milked cows by hand and that was
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their opportunity
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to get started in in to get jobs
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and then to start their own businesses
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well
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my dad couldn't speak english and we
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pretty much started doing
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this taking jobs that you know
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portuguese immigrants you know they were
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offered to um the milk and cows
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working the dairies uh farms and that's
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on my dad you know it was a big change
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for him also
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um to take you know start working the
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dairy in there you know
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it he probably there's some of that when
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he was really young uh in azores
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uh but he was you have to adopt you know
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to that again
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i do remember my my brothers are very
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involved in um you know helping the milk
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and feed calves and
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you know taking hay the cattle and all
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that kind of thing my
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father went to milk cows at first he had
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never
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i don't know that he had touched the cow
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in the azores
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but he went to milk cows for about three
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months
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we all grew up working here on the farm
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from a young age i don't know exactly
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when
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i i estimated somewhere between
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first grade and third grade maybe before
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school after school weekends
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saturday sunday summers
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we worked all the time and so
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you know it's it's it's it's the
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story of the immigrant uh farmer uh
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that is so i think um typical
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from so many of the historians who chose
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to come to the valley
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uh with really nothing more than the
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clothes on their back
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and a strong work ethic and a willing to
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do their best and certainly my
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grandparents and my parents reflect that
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that dream
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language played a role very i mean still
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plays an important role in the
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beginning obviously it was a way for
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people to communicate with each other
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i got together because of the language
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it was a way to communicate and keep the
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language alive
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there was no way to lose the
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primary language it was no way
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so we kept the language because
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in the house we always speak portuguese
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my husband didn't speak another language
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so we had to speak portuguese
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so my gran my parents came over from
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azores over here to live with me then
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afterwards
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they didn't speak english either my
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daughter's we kept
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and my it's a habit my daughters and i
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we
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never even though i speak english now my
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daughters
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never speak portugue uh english whether
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with us never it's a habit so
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uh when i was growing up my mom and dad
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were very adamant that we were going to
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continue to speak portuguese so at home
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we spoke portuguese
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and every day after school my mom would
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sit us down at the kitchen table and we
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had
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our portuguese lessons so she had
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brought books from the azer's and so we
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actually had lessons in portuguese
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i kind of like my language i think i
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think it's uh
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it's a very rich language you know what
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i mean
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uh the the spanish might be
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a little bit more
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suave a little bit more
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romantic because portuguese is a little
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bit stronger
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like we say porta
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everything is very soft very nice
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portuguese language radio was a very
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important bond between the communities
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and it was our way to connect also to
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keep on
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having contact with the language i'm a
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firm believer
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that if we did not have portuguese
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language in the
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programs radio programs in the 1960s 70s
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and 80s
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and even through the 90s we would not
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have folks speaking portuguese that they
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speak today
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the portuguese community depended on
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radio for the news i used to go to
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portugal
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and go from village to village with a
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small
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tape recorder to record messages from
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the people
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in asos to the people here in the united
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states
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in those days a lot of dairies and they
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needed milkers and they needed
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people to work the land uh or or to
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take care of the the dairy uh
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so i would advertise not charge it was
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free
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but this was service to the community
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right dairyman calls me
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and i need a milker i need a hurtsman
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i need this i need okay give me the
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phone number
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and then i go in portuguese okay we need
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it i got
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hundreds and thousands over this year's
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thousand jobs just
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and sometimes people will passed away
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and they didn't have money
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i would ask donations i we help in
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everything not just
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me all the other colleagues who
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who did that we we help people
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so much i charged the sponsors
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for my radio program but the services to
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the people were free
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but they gave me other service
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for instance they would cook they would
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give me soup
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they would give me fried fish linguisa
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all these portuguese things so it was
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kind of
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a mutual exchange there was a radio
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program here in turlock
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and and it's a great story that i
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learned a lot from
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um and mr mendoza is the one who spoke
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on the radio
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and the name of the program was franklin
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speaking his name was frank
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i was with my aunt at her house and she
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had the radio on all the time
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and this gentleman is speaking i said
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the audie
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who is this man oh he speaks portuguese
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very well and he's got a radio program
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and we all listen to it
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and i came from portugal you didn't
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speak in a radio unless you were
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professional
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i said tiaria but he doesn't speak well
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enough to speak in the radio
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and she and she says well he speaks very
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well he taught me
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english to i got my citizenship paper so
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i could bring you here
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and he speaks very well
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[Music]
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so the church was part of of everyone's
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upbringing
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you were catholic and that's just what
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you were yeah
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the church definitely plays into the
287
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heritage
288
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definitely uh big influence
289
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i i it would be hard to be portuguese
290
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and not be catholic and put all the
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pieces together
292
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i was brought up going to church
293
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every sunday and then i brought we
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baptized all our kids
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and my son still goes
296
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i don't think my daughters go see they
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already got a little
298
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but but that helps you know a base of uh
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a foundation of something that you have
300
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to believe in
301
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when they came here in a land that was
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different
303
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in a land that had many different
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religions uh
305
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mainly christian but different
306
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denominations other than catholic
307
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what could you keep that was yours your
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faith
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my parents thought
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it was important for me to maintain some
311
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portuguese identity
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i had learned to speak portuguese and my
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grandmother's paternal grandmother's
314
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home
315
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she spoke portuguese in the home
316
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and we would attend portuguese holy
317
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ghost celebrations
318
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this idea of celebrating queen isabella
319
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portugal
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and what she did during a very tough
321
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time for portugal which was a famine
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which which was that she sold the jewels
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of the crown
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to feed the poor this idea that we have
325
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a responsibility
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for our fellow human being um
327
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independently of one's
328
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ideology is is is the basis of the holy
329
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ghost fishers and if the zorians ever
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lose that in california
331
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they lose who they are you know i mean
332
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and this culture and the cult
333
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that you have here in the valley it's an
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interesting uh micro
335
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culture that you have because you still
336
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you have these these
337
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portuguese halls that are mainly built
338
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about around religious festivals
339
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but you know these date back to the late
340
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1800s early 1900s and they're all over
341
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the
342
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valley here i mean nearly every
343
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community has one and they're still
344
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going today
345
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some of my best recollections now even
346
00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:24,320
as a teenager
347
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was sitting at the portuguese festivals
348
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underneath
349
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a shade tree and my dad talking
350
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with his friends you know about uh
351
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things that they missed to the old
352
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countries
353
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there's always been an ethnic pride
354
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about the azores and about
355
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about those islands and um and i think
356
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it's even
357
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bigger with those who are of a zorian
358
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ancestry than those who are portuguese
359
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people normally say i'm portuguese but
360
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they sometimes will follow up i'm
361
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portuguese from the azores
362
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or i'm portuguese or i'm from the siles
363
00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:03,120
which literally translates
364
00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,440
from the islands i go to the azores
365
00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:06,320
every year
366
00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:10,480
i love the azores i love portugal
367
00:14:11,199 --> 00:14:14,639
it's um i guess the way i describe it
368
00:14:14,639 --> 00:14:17,920
it's it's my biological mother gave me
369
00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:18,880
life
370
00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:20,800
and i look at america as being my
371
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stepmother that opened me with open arms
372
00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:24,000
that treated me
373
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like one of its own you know this small
374
00:14:26,079 --> 00:14:27,120
island so
375
00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,160
everybody knows everybody um
376
00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:33,440
so and a lot of especially in our
377
00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:34,480
village
378
00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,440
people remember us you know my parents
379
00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:39,360
especially
380
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and that was what touched me the most
381
00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:43,680
people
382
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still come and came and
383
00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:50,320
just hugged us and like just saw us
384
00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:51,199
yesterday
385
00:14:51,199 --> 00:14:53,600
you know i've been going since my that
386
00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:55,440
first initial trip
387
00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:58,480
about 25 years ago when i first savored
388
00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,440
the lavish i'll never forget that
389
00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:04,000
to just about every year going there my
390
00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:06,320
mother had three sisters who never left
391
00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:09,600
uh the islands so their children
392
00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:11,360
basically all stayed there so a lot of
393
00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:13,600
first cousins i'm in contact with them
394
00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:15,040
all the time i think
395
00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:18,240
portuguese have a very strong
396
00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:21,680
family commitment and family ties and
397
00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:23,199
matter of fact i've gone back to the
398
00:15:23,199 --> 00:15:25,279
azores several times my children have
399
00:15:25,279 --> 00:15:26,480
gone back i want to make sure my
400
00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:28,000
children go back because i want that
401
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:29,360
family connection
402
00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:33,040
so what i've noticed is our friends and
403
00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:34,000
family
404
00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,120
that go back to the old country and
405
00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,320
actually firsthand witness the culture
406
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,639
and the traditions and things they come
407
00:15:42,639 --> 00:15:43,759
back just
408
00:15:43,759 --> 00:15:46,880
really excited about the culture and
409
00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:49,519
we even have cousins who their their
410
00:15:49,519 --> 00:15:50,399
kids
411
00:15:50,399 --> 00:15:52,800
who are our kids ages come back and they
412
00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:54,000
want to learn the language
413
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and they want to do everything
414
00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:57,600
portuguese because they've actually
415
00:15:57,600 --> 00:15:59,839
gone back and witnessed firsthand since
416
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we haven't been back there
417
00:16:01,519 --> 00:16:03,519
we kind of have a little bit less of an
418
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excitement about the culture
419
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than if we had gone back so someday when
420
00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:08,880
we go back
421
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we will probably come back and you know
422
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be on fire
423
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[Music]
424
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i am very proud of the portuguese i'm
425
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very proud of what they have done
426
00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:26,800
their work their sense of
427
00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:30,160
community the sense of
428
00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:34,480
helping they always want to help someone
429
00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,519
i think of being portuguese as being
430
00:16:37,519 --> 00:16:41,759
um part of one of the pillars that holds
431
00:16:41,759 --> 00:16:43,519
me up i guess
432
00:16:43,519 --> 00:16:47,040
so i think of myself as american
433
00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:50,079
i think of myself as a californian
434
00:16:50,079 --> 00:16:52,560
i think of myself as a catholic i think
435
00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:54,800
of myself as a dairyman i think of
436
00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:55,839
myself
437
00:16:55,839 --> 00:16:59,920
as portuguese so it's it's not
438
00:16:59,920 --> 00:17:02,800
it's part of that whole structure that
439
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:04,480
holds up my identity
440
00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:07,599
i might just say i'm portuguese i don't
441
00:17:07,599 --> 00:17:11,198
even say i'm portuguese american
442
00:17:11,439 --> 00:17:13,439
i might say to somebody i was born in
443
00:17:13,439 --> 00:17:16,160
years i can be an american citizen
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and i'm very proud of that i mean i mean
445
00:17:18,319 --> 00:17:19,679
it's just um
446
00:17:19,679 --> 00:17:23,839
i have the best of both worlds you know
447
00:17:23,839 --> 00:17:26,480
it was born portuguese such it's great
448
00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:28,559
you know
449
00:17:28,559 --> 00:17:30,880
feels great being portuguese and here i
450
00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:32,480
am i'm american this
451
00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:34,720
i'm a citizen of this great country you
452
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:36,880
know i have had such a blessed
453
00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:40,640
life and and really that is in part
454
00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:43,679
to to the sacrifice that my parents made
455
00:17:43,679 --> 00:17:47,039
i can't imagine leaving a world
456
00:17:47,039 --> 00:17:49,039
that you know for a world that you don't
457
00:17:49,039 --> 00:17:50,160
know
458
00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:52,240
thousands of miles not knowing the
459
00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:53,760
language not knowing what's going to
460
00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:54,880
come your way
461
00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:57,039
and why are you doing it you're doing it
462
00:17:57,039 --> 00:17:59,200
for the better life of your children
463
00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,480
so um i just will be eternally
464
00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:06,160
uh forever grateful for to my parents
465
00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:07,360
for giving me
466
00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:10,000
the opportunity to live in this
467
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,080
wonderful world in between these
468
00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:15,440
two worlds that i live in the central
469
00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:18,720
question has always come back to me
470
00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:21,760
what would my life have been like if
471
00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:25,360
it were not for the incredible courage
472
00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:28,880
of my grandparents to to be
473
00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,160
real risk takers i mean we think about
474
00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:36,320
how you know our country has been
475
00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,520
so fortunate to have so many risk takers
476
00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:42,000
and my grandparents were a part of those
477
00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:43,039
risk takers
478
00:18:43,039 --> 00:18:45,120
i know my life would have been much
479
00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:47,520
different
480
00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:50,880
if if my grandparents had not
481
00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:53,679
chose to take that risk and come to the
482
00:18:53,679 --> 00:18:54,720
to the new world
483
00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:56,640
to america to have a better life for
484
00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:11,840
themselves and for their children
485
00:19:13,300 --> 00:19:35,169
[Music]
486
00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:39,710
do
487
00:19:39,710 --> 00:20:03,069
[Music]
488
00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,840
do
489
00:20:09,930 --> 00:20:20,239
[Music]
490
00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,039
you
00:00:00,110 --> 00:00:23,698
[Music]
2
00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:26,160
california
3
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a land that has long captured the hearts
4
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and imaginations of those
5
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yearning for a better life including
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countless immigrants from around the
7
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world
8
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immigrants from portugal and their
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descendants are among those who make up
10
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the state's rich
11
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cultural tapestry about 350
12
00:00:44,079 --> 00:00:46,960
000 californians identify as being of
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portuguese descent
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most are from the azores many have
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settled in cities and towns
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along the highway 99 corridor of the
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central valley
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a sprawling farming region 450 miles
19
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long
20
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despite the important contributions
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portuguese americans
22
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from the central valley have made
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locally and nationally
24
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little is known about them azorians had
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started settling here in the central
26
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valley in the 1870s
27
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they started out as sheep herders they
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developed a good reputation for being
29
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steady
30
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and willing to stay out in the field
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with sheep
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and so they were hired first in these
33
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large
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ranches out by lamore and then of course
35
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they sent letters home
36
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and told of the opportunities here
37
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and more of them came and started
38
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settling in the area
39
00:01:46,479 --> 00:01:48,479
there were two waves of portuguese
40
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immigration to the united states
41
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the first was in the late 1800s to the
42
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1920s
43
00:01:54,799 --> 00:01:56,799
and was made up of individuals and
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families seeking
45
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better opportunities in america the
46
00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:02,000
second wave
47
00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:04,479
followed the eruption of the volcano on
48
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the island of feyal
49
00:02:06,079 --> 00:02:09,919
in the azores in 1958 john f kennedy
50
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then a senator from massachusetts
51
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co-sponsored the azorian refugee act
52
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making it possible for almost 5 000
53
00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,360
displaced portuguese citizens to come to
54
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the united states
55
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the family reunification act of the
56
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1960s
57
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allowed those who had come either at the
58
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beginning of the century or those who
59
00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:31,040
came
60
00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,840
uh post uh capolinus volcano in the late
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00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:34,640
50s
62
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to bring forth their families their
63
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siblings their mom their dad
64
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um and and that was the last exodus
65
00:02:41,519 --> 00:02:44,879
from the 1960s early 1960s
66
00:02:44,879 --> 00:02:48,400
until basically about 1976 to 1980.
67
00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:50,160
when we left our island of florida there
68
00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:52,080
was no no electricity at all
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on the island there was no running water
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in any house
71
00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:01,280
there was there were no roads no cars
72
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my brothers and sisters grew up reading
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and learning to read by an oil lamp
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you know that and this is in my lifetime
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and uh it's so life was was very
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difficult
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and challenging it was just subsistence
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living
79
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so you had a you had a good living in
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that it's a very fertile place very
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green place there's
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fish in the ocean and and things grow
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year around
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but that's all you had and you were you
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were
86
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very isolated and so this was a
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this area here in the san joaquin valley
88
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was a great area to come to
89
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based on it was very similar to what you
90
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had in the azores in terms of fertile
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land and you could have animals and grow
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crops
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i think we've made some contributions in
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certain industries more than others
95
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and of course in the san joaquin valley
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in agriculture
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in the dairy industry according to
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all data that has been published
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throughout the years in the 1970s
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especially
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the portuguese controlled about half of
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the dairy
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products that were being manufactured of
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course when they immigrated and they
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didn't speak the language
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the opportunity for them was to all milk
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cows so the portuguese people whether
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they were cow people
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in their homeland when they got here
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they milked cows by hand and that was
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their opportunity
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to get started in in to get jobs
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and then to start their own businesses
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well
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my dad couldn't speak english and we
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pretty much started doing
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this taking jobs that you know
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portuguese immigrants you know they were
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offered to um the milk and cows
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working the dairies uh farms and that's
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on my dad you know it was a big change
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for him also
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um to take you know start working the
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dairy in there you know
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it he probably there's some of that when
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he was really young uh in azores
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uh but he was you have to adopt you know
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to that again
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i do remember my my brothers are very
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involved in um you know helping the milk
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and feed calves and
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you know taking hay the cattle and all
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that kind of thing my
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father went to milk cows at first he had
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never
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i don't know that he had touched the cow
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in the azores
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but he went to milk cows for about three
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months
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we all grew up working here on the farm
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from a young age i don't know exactly
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when
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i i estimated somewhere between
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first grade and third grade maybe before
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school after school weekends
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saturday sunday summers
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we worked all the time and so
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you know it's it's it's it's the
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story of the immigrant uh farmer uh
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that is so i think um typical
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from so many of the historians who chose
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to come to the valley
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uh with really nothing more than the
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clothes on their back
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and a strong work ethic and a willing to
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do their best and certainly my
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grandparents and my parents reflect that
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that dream
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language played a role very i mean still
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plays an important role in the
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beginning obviously it was a way for
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people to communicate with each other
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i got together because of the language
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it was a way to communicate and keep the
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language alive
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there was no way to lose the
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primary language it was no way
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so we kept the language because
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in the house we always speak portuguese
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my husband didn't speak another language
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so we had to speak portuguese
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so my gran my parents came over from
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azores over here to live with me then
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afterwards
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they didn't speak english either my
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daughter's we kept
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and my it's a habit my daughters and i
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we
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never even though i speak english now my
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daughters
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never speak portugue uh english whether
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with us never it's a habit so
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uh when i was growing up my mom and dad
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were very adamant that we were going to
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continue to speak portuguese so at home
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we spoke portuguese
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and every day after school my mom would
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sit us down at the kitchen table and we
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had
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our portuguese lessons so she had
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brought books from the azer's and so we
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actually had lessons in portuguese
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i kind of like my language i think i
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think it's uh
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it's a very rich language you know what
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i mean
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uh the the spanish might be
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a little bit more
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suave a little bit more
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romantic because portuguese is a little
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bit stronger
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like we say porta
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everything is very soft very nice
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portuguese language radio was a very
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important bond between the communities
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and it was our way to connect also to
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keep on
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having contact with the language i'm a
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firm believer
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that if we did not have portuguese
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language in the
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programs radio programs in the 1960s 70s
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and 80s
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and even through the 90s we would not
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have folks speaking portuguese that they
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speak today
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the portuguese community depended on
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radio for the news i used to go to
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portugal
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and go from village to village with a
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small
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tape recorder to record messages from
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the people
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in asos to the people here in the united
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states
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in those days a lot of dairies and they
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needed milkers and they needed
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people to work the land uh or or to
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take care of the the dairy uh
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so i would advertise not charge it was
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free
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but this was service to the community
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right dairyman calls me
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and i need a milker i need a hurtsman
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i need this i need okay give me the
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phone number
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and then i go in portuguese okay we need
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it i got
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hundreds and thousands over this year's
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thousand jobs just
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and sometimes people will passed away
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and they didn't have money
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i would ask donations i we help in
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everything not just
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me all the other colleagues who
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who did that we we help people
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so much i charged the sponsors
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for my radio program but the services to
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the people were free
250
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but they gave me other service
251
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for instance they would cook they would
252
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give me soup
253
00:10:06,959 --> 00:10:10,720
they would give me fried fish linguisa
254
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all these portuguese things so it was
255
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kind of
256
00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:16,959
a mutual exchange there was a radio
257
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program here in turlock
258
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and and it's a great story that i
259
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learned a lot from
260
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um and mr mendoza is the one who spoke
261
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on the radio
262
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and the name of the program was franklin
263
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speaking his name was frank
264
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i was with my aunt at her house and she
265
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had the radio on all the time
266
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and this gentleman is speaking i said
267
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the audie
268
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who is this man oh he speaks portuguese
269
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very well and he's got a radio program
270
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and we all listen to it
271
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and i came from portugal you didn't
272
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speak in a radio unless you were
273
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professional
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i said tiaria but he doesn't speak well
275
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enough to speak in the radio
276
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and she and she says well he speaks very
277
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well he taught me
278
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english to i got my citizenship paper so
279
00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:02,720
i could bring you here
280
00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:04,900
and he speaks very well
281
00:11:04,900 --> 00:11:08,250
[Music]
282
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so the church was part of of everyone's
283
00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:12,720
upbringing
284
00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:14,560
you were catholic and that's just what
285
00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:16,240
you were yeah
286
00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:18,720
the church definitely plays into the
287
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heritage
288
00:11:19,519 --> 00:11:23,120
definitely uh big influence
289
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i i it would be hard to be portuguese
290
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and not be catholic and put all the
291
00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:28,320
pieces together
292
00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,519
i was brought up going to church
293
00:11:31,519 --> 00:11:34,480
every sunday and then i brought we
294
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baptized all our kids
295
00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:40,399
and my son still goes
296
00:11:40,399 --> 00:11:42,560
i don't think my daughters go see they
297
00:11:42,560 --> 00:11:44,800
already got a little
298
00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:48,640
but but that helps you know a base of uh
299
00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:51,040
a foundation of something that you have
300
00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:52,560
to believe in
301
00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:55,760
when they came here in a land that was
302
00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:56,639
different
303
00:11:56,639 --> 00:11:58,560
in a land that had many different
304
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religions uh
305
00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:02,079
mainly christian but different
306
00:12:02,079 --> 00:12:04,000
denominations other than catholic
307
00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:07,200
what could you keep that was yours your
308
00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:08,639
faith
309
00:12:08,639 --> 00:12:11,839
my parents thought
310
00:12:11,839 --> 00:12:14,639
it was important for me to maintain some
311
00:12:14,639 --> 00:12:16,320
portuguese identity
312
00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:18,560
i had learned to speak portuguese and my
313
00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:20,320
grandmother's paternal grandmother's
314
00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:21,440
home
315
00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:24,880
she spoke portuguese in the home
316
00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:28,160
and we would attend portuguese holy
317
00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:29,839
ghost celebrations
318
00:12:29,839 --> 00:12:32,880
this idea of celebrating queen isabella
319
00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:33,920
portugal
320
00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:37,040
and what she did during a very tough
321
00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:38,880
time for portugal which was a famine
322
00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:41,200
which which was that she sold the jewels
323
00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:42,240
of the crown
324
00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,399
to feed the poor this idea that we have
325
00:12:44,399 --> 00:12:45,760
a responsibility
326
00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:48,399
for our fellow human being um
327
00:12:48,399 --> 00:12:49,920
independently of one's
328
00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:52,800
ideology is is is the basis of the holy
329
00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:54,639
ghost fishers and if the zorians ever
330
00:12:54,639 --> 00:12:55,920
lose that in california
331
00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:57,839
they lose who they are you know i mean
332
00:12:57,839 --> 00:12:59,200
and this culture and the cult
333
00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:00,720
that you have here in the valley it's an
334
00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:02,639
interesting uh micro
335
00:13:02,639 --> 00:13:04,639
culture that you have because you still
336
00:13:04,639 --> 00:13:07,040
you have these these
337
00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:09,200
portuguese halls that are mainly built
338
00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:11,600
about around religious festivals
339
00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:13,200
but you know these date back to the late
340
00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:15,920
1800s early 1900s and they're all over
341
00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:16,480
the
342
00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:17,920
valley here i mean nearly every
343
00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:19,920
community has one and they're still
344
00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:21,040
going today
345
00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:23,040
some of my best recollections now even
346
00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:24,320
as a teenager
347
00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:26,800
was sitting at the portuguese festivals
348
00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:27,360
underneath
349
00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,800
a shade tree and my dad talking
350
00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:33,839
with his friends you know about uh
351
00:13:33,839 --> 00:13:35,200
things that they missed to the old
352
00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:37,600
countries
353
00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:43,360
there's always been an ethnic pride
354
00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:46,480
about the azores and about
355
00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,040
about those islands and um and i think
356
00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:49,680
it's even
357
00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:51,680
bigger with those who are of a zorian
358
00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:53,760
ancestry than those who are portuguese
359
00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:56,000
people normally say i'm portuguese but
360
00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:57,600
they sometimes will follow up i'm
361
00:13:57,600 --> 00:13:59,120
portuguese from the azores
362
00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:01,760
or i'm portuguese or i'm from the siles
363
00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:03,120
which literally translates
364
00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,440
from the islands i go to the azores
365
00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:06,320
every year
366
00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:10,480
i love the azores i love portugal
367
00:14:11,199 --> 00:14:14,639
it's um i guess the way i describe it
368
00:14:14,639 --> 00:14:17,920
it's it's my biological mother gave me
369
00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:18,880
life
370
00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:20,800
and i look at america as being my
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stepmother that opened me with open arms
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that treated me
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like one of its own you know this small
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island so
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everybody knows everybody um
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so and a lot of especially in our
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village
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people remember us you know my parents
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especially
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and that was what touched me the most
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people
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still come and came and
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just hugged us and like just saw us
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yesterday
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you know i've been going since my that
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first initial trip
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about 25 years ago when i first savored
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the lavish i'll never forget that
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to just about every year going there my
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mother had three sisters who never left
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uh the islands so their children
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basically all stayed there so a lot of
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first cousins i'm in contact with them
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all the time i think
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portuguese have a very strong
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family commitment and family ties and
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matter of fact i've gone back to the
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azores several times my children have
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gone back i want to make sure my
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children go back because i want that
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family connection
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so what i've noticed is our friends and
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family
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that go back to the old country and
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actually firsthand witness the culture
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and the traditions and things they come
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back just
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really excited about the culture and
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we even have cousins who their their
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kids
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who are our kids ages come back and they
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want to learn the language
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and they want to do everything
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portuguese because they've actually
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gone back and witnessed firsthand since
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we haven't been back there
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we kind of have a little bit less of an
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excitement about the culture
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than if we had gone back so someday when
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we go back
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we will probably come back and you know
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be on fire
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[Music]
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i am very proud of the portuguese i'm
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very proud of what they have done
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their work their sense of
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community the sense of
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helping they always want to help someone
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i think of being portuguese as being
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um part of one of the pillars that holds
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me up i guess
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so i think of myself as american
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i think of myself as a californian
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i think of myself as a catholic i think
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of myself as a dairyman i think of
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myself
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as portuguese so it's it's not
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it's part of that whole structure that
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holds up my identity
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i might just say i'm portuguese i don't
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even say i'm portuguese american
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i might say to somebody i was born in
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years i can be an american citizen
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and i'm very proud of that i mean i mean
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it's just um
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i have the best of both worlds you know
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it was born portuguese such it's great
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you know
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feels great being portuguese and here i
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am i'm american this
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i'm a citizen of this great country you
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know i have had such a blessed
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life and and really that is in part
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to to the sacrifice that my parents made
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i can't imagine leaving a world
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that you know for a world that you don't
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know
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thousands of miles not knowing the
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language not knowing what's going to
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come your way
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and why are you doing it you're doing it
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for the better life of your children
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so um i just will be eternally
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uh forever grateful for to my parents
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for giving me
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the opportunity to live in this
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wonderful world in between these
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two worlds that i live in the central
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question has always come back to me
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what would my life have been like if
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it were not for the incredible courage
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of my grandparents to to be
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real risk takers i mean we think about
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how you know our country has been
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so fortunate to have so many risk takers
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and my grandparents were a part of those
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risk takers
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i know my life would have been much
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different
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if if my grandparents had not
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chose to take that risk and come to the
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to the new world
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to america to have a better life for
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themselves and for their children
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[Music]
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do
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[Music]
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do
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[Music]
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you