Migration Links Morelia and Kentucky

Gathered around the conference room tables, staring at the projected screen with my classmates and professor, I couldn’t help thinking that we hadn’t strayed too far from home. The presenter, Carlos Vega of the Michoacán Police Department, could probably have used lessons in PowerPoint presentations. But our class was comparative criminal justice systems, and we weren’t there to bicker about slide structure.

We wanted to learn about the newly formed relationship between Kentucky police departments and Michoacán. Our instructor, Dr. Wilson, didn’t hesitate to elaborate as Lic. Vega described the recently formed agreement to slow international criminal immigration problems. The idea was to educate Kentucky’s police force in the culture, history and language of Michoacán.

Many police officers from the United States travel to Morelia, Michoacán, and take classes while living with a host family. In turn, Kentucky’s police department helps provide the technology that prepares Michoacán’s police department for the next couple of decades. During the ten days of our trip, we embarked on our own exploration of Morelia. What we experienced showed us a modern culture infused with past roots: the copper-mining village, ruins, churches and monarchs of Michoacán.

The copper-mining village of Santa Clara del Cobre, now depleted of mined copper, relies on recycling and purchases of copper wire to shape their craft. The copper is heated to phenomenal temperatures using large hand-operated bellows. As the glowing red disk is held by iron tongs, a group of three to eight young men hammer in perfectly timed coordination. In this long practiced manner, they slowly curve and shape their metal objects into all sizes and shapes. As we browsed many identical street stands, it became obvious that save for the occasional specialty shop, there were but few main producers that distributed their products to the middlemen. This miniature copper industry was the livelihood of the town, giving all ages and gender work and income. I found it admirable that they simply adapted to modern circumstances, rather than letting the depletion of their copper mines lead them into decadence.

What really seems to uphold and motivate their culture, however, is a strong moral and religious influence. Although Spanish interaction with the natives in the early 1500s led to much violence and abuse, it has left Catholicism and early colonial churches spread densely throughout the land. Our lodging itself, Hotel de la Soledad, wasn’t more than a minute’s walk from the nearby cathedral. We attended Mass on Sunday, and although the language was lost on nearly all of us, the setting and procession were solemn and breathtaking. Our class spent several days traveling from village to village, taking in their culture that revered the crucified Christ, the Virgin Mary and the many saints that watched over them.

Perhaps the most interesting excursion was the trip to the ruins, particularly Tinganio. Here, over a thousand years ago, the descendants of the Tarascan people (Purepecha) forged their city. They developed crops, raised young warriors and mapped the stars. They engaged in a ritualistic ball game ceremony, in which the winning team’s captain was given the honor of sacrifice towards the gods. But 1500 years later, only American tourists occupied the empty ball court, bare and surrounded by avocado groves.

Yet the greatest understanding of our trans-national relationship with Mexico came from a mass of insects, or the monarchs of Morelia. Every year, millions upon millions of mariposas (butterflies) make a several thousand kilometer trip to winter in the mountains of Michoacán. To observe this miraculous sight we hiked up and down a dusty trail, inhaling copious amounts of dust. But it was well worth the trip. As my classmates stared in awe or indifference, I asked myself what exactly drew them to migrate such long distances. But that was the connection to the Michoacán immigration influence in Kentucky. They both were just looking for better conditions: better jobs, more money or a little sun to warm their wings.

To be sure, the analogy can end there. Unlike the migration of the monarchs, the relationship between Kentucky and Michoacán has been newly forged. There are still many questions to be answered, problems to be faced. What does the future hold for other states, and can bordering states with a past history of problems accomplish this level of cooperation? Will the education of our police force make any difference, or will our technology makes a difference in Morelia? What problems will we face as populations grow and fight for jobs and resources? After the PowerPoint presentation we were given a short tour of the facility. As we briefly chatted with Lic. Carlos Vega in his office, I noticed several American posters and a Woodford Reserve Bottle, turned vase, on his desk. Perhaps, I thought, we can hope for a cooperative connection after all.