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Speaker 1: Dear listener, this is part two from our reporting trip

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Speaker 1: deep into North Dakota. So if you haven't listened to

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Speaker 1: part one yet, you kind of should go to the

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Speaker 1: Latino USA podcast feed and listen to Ever Since the

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Speaker 1: Oil Part one, and here's part two.

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Speaker 2: Thanks. That's yes.

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Speaker 1: I'm with Latino USA producer Reynaldo Leans Junior, and we're

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Speaker 1: on the Fort Berthold Native American Reservation in western North Dakota.

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Speaker 1: We're checking out here at a local gas station. Ray

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Speaker 1: and I are picking up some food, some snacks for lunch,

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Speaker 1: because well, the gas station is the only place around

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Speaker 1: here where you can buy food. The nearest restaurant is

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Speaker 1: about an hour away fourteen sixty seven.

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Speaker 2: My credit card is well, it's all chewed up.

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Speaker 3: I got it.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, and I dog ate it.

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Speaker 2: Let me, I'll just get we can go ahead and

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Speaker 2: try it.

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Speaker 1: So while we're in line, I turn around and I

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Speaker 1: see some savaritas on the shelves and that's basically like

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Speaker 1: a typical Mexican brand of chips. So I guess I'm

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Speaker 1: a little surprised to see them here, and the cashier says,

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Speaker 1: actually the snack is kind of new here, but a.

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Speaker 4: Lot of natives do like Mexican doe with Mexicans here,

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Speaker 4: and when did that start happening?

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Speaker 5: Ever since the oil.

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Speaker 2: Which was like a decade a though right like ten

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Speaker 2: years ago.

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Speaker 1: Over the last decade, the Latino population in Mackenzie County

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Speaker 1: where we are right now went from one hundred and

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Speaker 1: thirty nine latinos to more than one thousand and five

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Speaker 1: hundred latinos. That's an increase of over one thousand percent.

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Speaker 1: This state, North Dakota had the biggest growth rate of

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Speaker 1: Latinos in the entire country. So after paying up here

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Speaker 1: at the gas station, we walk towards the back of

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Speaker 1: the store where I find three Latino guys who are

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Speaker 1: having lunch and watching some loud TV. They work in construction,

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Speaker 1: and I start talking to them. One of them, his

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Speaker 1: name is Miguel, tells us that he arrived in North

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Speaker 1: Dakota about a decade ago.

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Speaker 6: In the last five years, you walk into Walmart and

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Speaker 6: what is doing it?

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Speaker 5: Like?

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Speaker 6: Everything you need there, even you don't have to speak

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Speaker 6: English anymore.

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Speaker 1: And then he says he's seeing both the good and

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Speaker 1: the bad that come from oil.

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Speaker 2: What do you see as the biggest challenge here?

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Speaker 6: My perception is especially the people who work on the

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Speaker 6: oil fields. They make so much money, they're young, and

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Speaker 6: then easy they derail themselves. I mean, you may two

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Speaker 6: thousand dollars a week and then you feel I'm gonna

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Speaker 6: take the other week off and then put in my

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Speaker 6: you come in a circle.

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Speaker 3: He's seeing that.

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Speaker 6: He's seeing kids being here for six seven years and

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Speaker 6: don't have money to go back home and making way

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Speaker 6: too much money.

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Speaker 2: They're making way too much money, but they're spending it all.

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Speaker 3: Spend all.

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Speaker 2: They lost the purpose. They lost the purpose, and one

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Speaker 2: purpose of North Dakota needs.

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Speaker 6: To be come more, make money.

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Speaker 3: Are right here.

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Speaker 1: From Fudro Media and PRX, It's Latino USA by Maria Josa.

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Speaker 1: Today part two of Ever Since the Oil from our

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Speaker 1: reporting trip in North Dakota. We're going to look this

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Speaker 1: time at how Latinos and Latinas are changing the state

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Speaker 1: of North Dakota and how the state is changing them too.

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Speaker 2: Here is a piece of big data for you.

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Speaker 1: Between the years twenty ten and twenty twenty, North Dakota

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Speaker 1: saw the biggest growth rate of the Latino population in

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Speaker 1: the entire United States, a one hundred and fifty percent

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Speaker 1: increase over the past decade. Last week we reported on

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Speaker 1: what's driving this huge population growth, and it's the oil boom.

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Speaker 1: Latinos and Latinas are coming here looking for well paying

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Speaker 1: jobs and economic stability. But what are these oil jobs

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Speaker 1: actually like and what is there to do in North

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Speaker 1: Dakota beyond the.

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Speaker 2: Work in the oil and gas industry.

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Speaker 1: Whether Latinos and Latinas are coming just for a while

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Speaker 1: or they're coming and planning to stay, they're actually building

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Speaker 1: a new community in this state, and they're doing it fast,

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Speaker 1: faster than anywhere else in the country. But do they

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Speaker 1: feel at home here in North Dakota. Producer Renaldo Leanos

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Speaker 1: Junior and I traveled to western North Dakota this summer

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Speaker 1: because we wanted to see what it's like to build

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Speaker 1: a new Latino community from scratch and what challenges.

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Speaker 2: They're facing now.

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Speaker 1: So first we headed to Williston, North Dakota, on the

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Speaker 1: northern border of Mackenzie County. The last time I was

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Speaker 1: here about a decade ago. Basically here in Williston, it

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Speaker 1: was a short strip of fast food places.

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Speaker 2: There wasn't much else here.

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Speaker 1: It was a kind of utilitarian city, but it didn't

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Speaker 1: appear to be like very social or family friendly. Now

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Speaker 1: a decade later, I see that there are lots of

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Speaker 1: neon signs, there are more family friendly restaurants. It just

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Speaker 1: feels like there's a city that has grown up and

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Speaker 1: kind of matured, more spruced up, kind of like Williston

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Speaker 1: is saying, Hey, we're here, We're on the map now.

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Speaker 2: But what really interests Ray and me are the people.

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Speaker 1: So we make our way to the Miller Insulation Company

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Speaker 1: and that's where a man by the name of Miguel

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Speaker 1: Castillo greets us with a very big smile from behind

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Speaker 1: his desk.

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Speaker 5: From Mexico Idalgo, Mexico Sima panma Pan.

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Speaker 1: It's around seven thirty in the morning, super early, and

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Speaker 1: it's pretty quiet inside the building. There aren't a lot

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Speaker 1: of workers here, but Miguel has been here since six

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Speaker 1: a m.

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Speaker 2: This morning.

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Speaker 1: He takes out his phone and he's showing me photos

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Speaker 1: and videos of the work that he and others do here.

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Speaker 5: Tho as Bulas, Aquepaneleasum Blanket, Mantegakali and tess Onto.

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Speaker 2: Where is this.

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Speaker 1: The thing about the oil and gas industry is that

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Speaker 1: there are all of these companies that are attached to it.

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Speaker 1: So this company For example, the company that Miguel works

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Speaker 1: for provides insulation for the gas pipes. They cover them

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Speaker 1: and all of the machinery with these special blankets that

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Speaker 1: make sure that the pipes stay warm and functional during

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Speaker 1: the frigid winters. Miguel is over six feet tall. He's

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Speaker 1: fifty two years old, has a nice smile, and has

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Speaker 1: pepper gray hair. He comes across a little.

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Speaker 2: Shy, with slow movements and a soft spoken voice.

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Speaker 3: From Mexico, Idalgo, Mexico sima Pan.

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Speaker 1: Like the majority of Latinos in North Dakota, Miguel is

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Speaker 1: originally from Mexico. He's very proud to be from Ivalgo.

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Speaker 1: He's been in Willison now for twelve years. He first

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Speaker 1: came here in twenty ten, near the very start of

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Speaker 1: the oil boom.

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Speaker 2: Te machinawazek in al Momento had an insulation Tueria Essay

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Speaker 2: North Thea.

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Speaker 5: Jermin and Ados, Mildias, Espendo sam and Manossa.

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Speaker 1: Migue gets a little excited as he remembers the early

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Speaker 1: days of the oil boom in western North Dakota. He said,

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Speaker 1: it did bring a lot of workers to this area

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Speaker 1: and gave people a lot of jobs. But when these

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Speaker 1: people came to work here, there weren't places for them

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Speaker 1: to live in.

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Speaker 5: I studied the Tolocus Williston Mahente seven Maxa assumed the

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Speaker 5: hent comp Paratreos main comes on the.

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Speaker 3: Via Luel.

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Speaker 1: In fact, that's what I saw when I was here

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Speaker 1: about a decade ago, and it's when I first heard

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Speaker 1: the term man camp. Basically, the oil and gas companies

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Speaker 1: created their own housing units for the workers, and what

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Speaker 1: they looked like was areas that had been transformed into

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Speaker 1: massive housing units. They looked like the houses from Monopoly

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Speaker 1: that just went on and on forever. And essentially it

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Speaker 1: was a place to sleep. It wasn't a place to

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Speaker 1: build a community well. Also because it was almost entirely

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Speaker 1: men living in these bare bones places. Some people were

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Speaker 1: also forced to sleep in their cars, in parking lots,

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Speaker 1: in tents, or outside of gas stations. Miel says locals

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Speaker 1: were surprised by the amount of people who were suddenly

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Speaker 1: coming into their town.

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Speaker 2: Here in North Dakota, the.

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Speaker 3: Navia Tavia.

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Speaker 5: And Los cars and Pero Deluile Maraqui whils to manas.

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Speaker 3: Tempo.

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Speaker 1: Miel considers himself lucky that he didn't have to live

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Speaker 1: in a man camp. In those early days of the boom,

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Speaker 1: he was able to stay with a friend who had

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Speaker 1: an r V. Now he has his own apartment in Williston.

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Speaker 3: Do you like it here?

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Speaker 5: I can't say they right, we regress the Rapentemndo is

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Speaker 5: Elimpierros Sando.

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Speaker 1: But there's a problem because Miguel's family actually lives in

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Speaker 1: Sioux City, Iowa. He has two brothers and a sister there.

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Speaker 1: He drives twelve hours each way just to see them.

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Speaker 5: Was so Sirio, the original Verma and elimbieroellnevel torments so

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Speaker 5: much sucidence Manhattan O Limbero.

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Speaker 1: Miguel doesn't like to show his emotions, but as he speaking,

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Speaker 1: I can tell that this is a source subject. He

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Speaker 1: sees his family every month or every two months, as

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Speaker 1: often as his work schedule allows, and he says, look,

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Speaker 1: the drive is fine during the summer, but in the winter,

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Speaker 1: when the temperatures can get down to a windchill of

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Speaker 1: negative forty degrees driving to and from Sioux City, Iowa

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Speaker 1: from North Dakota, he says, there are so many accidents

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Speaker 1: due to the ice and the snowstorms. And still Miguel says,

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Speaker 1: even though he's got a good job and he's stable.

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Speaker 1: He can't stay longer than a week visiting his family

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Speaker 1: because he's got to get back to work in North Dakota,

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Speaker 1: and he says, it just always feels too short.

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Speaker 3: A parentiment is much better, Amomila.

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Speaker 1: And this is when I begin to see a little

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Speaker 1: bit of a tired look come across Miguel's face. The

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Speaker 1: long winters, the separation from his family. It's taken a

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Speaker 1: toll on him. And the work he does is an

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Speaker 1: easy either.

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Speaker 2: Insulating the oil and gas pipes is physically demanding.

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Speaker 3: So start la material the malas.

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Speaker 2: Miguel says. This is what a workday can look like here.

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Speaker 1: You start at around five am and you don't get

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Speaker 1: home until maybe eight pm. And when it's really busy,

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Speaker 1: you have to work weekends too. It's very common in

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Speaker 1: this business that workers will do a three week stint

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Speaker 1: out in the rig and then have a couple of

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Speaker 1: weeks off. Working a twelve hour shift is pretty common,

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Speaker 1: and being outdoors is incredibly common, and that means you're

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Speaker 1: dealing with rain and heat, and in North Dakota freezing cold.

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Speaker 1: A lot of talk around the oil boom and the

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Speaker 1: jobs is that it's also pretty dangerous. Miguel has slipped

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Speaker 1: and fallen on ice several times, and he says he

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Speaker 1: knows a lot of people who have gotten much more

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Speaker 1: seriously injured. It's not uncommon to hear about truck accidents,

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Speaker 1: people getting burned, falling from very high and getting caught

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Speaker 1: in machines. In fact, North Dakota has one of the

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Speaker 1: highest worker fatality rates in the country.

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Speaker 2: These days. Miguel says his job is pretty safe, but

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Speaker 2: he knows there are a lot of jobs out there

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Speaker 2: in the industry that are really dangerous, like the people

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Speaker 2: who work on.

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Speaker 5: The rigslaful Perforindros in Manos Burge well Querfaya Giando la

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Speaker 5: machino from Mino. Let's say Spasano's accidents.

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Speaker 1: Mass the rigs are dangerous, but Miguel says, you get

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Speaker 1: paid more for working out there, which is the attraction.

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Speaker 5: And laid way and ries I told Kara to Stanrieso

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Speaker 5: Tolukus from a Marlstone and instant.

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Speaker 2: Another big risk is fire.

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Speaker 1: Just a few weeks ago, in early September, there was

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Speaker 1: a fire on a rig that injured three people.

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Speaker 2: One of them died several days later. He was Latino.

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Speaker 1: So when Miguel drives the seven hundred miles back to

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Speaker 1: North Dakota from Iowa after a week with his family,

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Speaker 1: these are the things that make him not want to

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Speaker 1: come back.

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Speaker 5: Yes, Tabieski and Elimbierno Javin saves, Mugula and Negrio contest

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Speaker 5: I am press.

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Speaker 3: Concertment talment mach.

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Speaker 1: During the winter, you can see the dark and cloudy

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Speaker 1: sky in the horizon, and Miguel says, it's like the

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Speaker 1: depression that begins to consume you. And then he says,

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Speaker 1: that's why a lot of people end up leaving.

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Speaker 3: Not a facil.

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Speaker 1: Now, all that Miguel has here are his co workers.

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Speaker 1: Many of them say I'm gonna come work, save some money,

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Speaker 1: buy a house back home, but then they end up

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Speaker 1: staying here longer and longer.

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Speaker 2: So how how much longer will you stay in North Dakota?

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Speaker 3: Jaak Petro.

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Speaker 1: Young I wasn't expecting this, but Miguel says, if it

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Speaker 1: were up to him, he'd actually liked to leave tomorrow.

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Speaker 1: But work has actually been picking up in recent months,

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Speaker 1: and it's hard to say.

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Speaker 5: Non com and mikarias.

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Speaker 1: Here's Ultimately it's all about the money, the steadiness of

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Speaker 1: a job, your economic stability, and so much more that

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Speaker 1: keeps people like Miguel in North Dakota.

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Speaker 2: It's complicated, he says. It feels like you're kind of

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Speaker 2: talking like North Dakota is a little bit of a trap.

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Speaker 5: Almost, Lovasi Tevasius.

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Speaker 2: It's a story you hear over and over in this

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Speaker 2: part of the country.

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Speaker 1: Miguel says, you tell yourself, just one more year and

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Speaker 1: then I'll leave North Dakota. But then a year passes,

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Speaker 1: and then another, and by the time you know it,

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Speaker 1: it's been twelve years. Coming up on Latino USA, we

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Speaker 1: meet a Latina who calls North Dakota home, and she's

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Speaker 1: trying to make others stay for the long haul, stay

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Speaker 1: with us, don't stay bye. Yes, hey, we're back for

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Speaker 1: a lot of Latinos and Latinas. North Dakota is a

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Speaker 1: place to just be temporarily, to work hard, save some money,

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Speaker 1: and then leave. But Jolanda Rojas feels pretty differently about

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Speaker 1: this state, and she's trying to get others to fall

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Speaker 1: in love with it too. All right, let's get back

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Speaker 1: to our story.

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Speaker 7: Now.

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Speaker 1: Ray and I are in Watford City, which is in

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Speaker 1: central Mackenzie County. The population is about eight thousand and well,

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Speaker 1: it's pretty spread out, pretty flat, but I do.

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Speaker 2: See one or two Mexican restaurants here and there.

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Speaker 1: Like in most of North Dakota, there's big, big sky here,

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Speaker 1: but you don't feel like there's a lot of people around.

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Speaker 1: The place where a lot of people here go to

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Speaker 1: get their coffee is known as Megalate. The smell of

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Speaker 1: coffee here is delicious and there's a real family vibe

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Speaker 1: going on here. It's around mid afternoon and the place

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Speaker 1: is busy. Latino USA producer Renaldo Le Junior and I

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Speaker 1: are about to meet up with Yolanda Rojas. Oh god,

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Speaker 1: this is such a kid friendly place. There's a sense

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Speaker 1: of I don't know community here. Everyone is friendly. It

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Speaker 1: seems like everyone knows each other, but actually they don't.

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Speaker 1: Then Yolanda walks in with several kids of her own

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Speaker 1: and there are two women with her antsil. Yolanda is

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Speaker 1: thirty five years old. Her hair falls loose over her shoulders.

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Speaker 1: She's got a very big and welcoming smile. She's brought

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Speaker 1: two volunteers who work with her. She founded an organization

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Speaker 1: she named it Hispanic Advocacy of North Dakota or hand,

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Speaker 1: and the idea is to celebrate Latino culture and strengthen

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Speaker 1: the bonds between the community here and other non Latinos

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Speaker 1: in North Dakota, to play a kind of bridge factor.

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Speaker 2: In the community.

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Speaker 4: An Espano and Inglis.

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Speaker 1: She's from Sinaloa, Mexico, but before she moved to North Dakota,

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Speaker 1: she and her husband, Ruben, lived in Tucson, Arizona. It

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Speaker 1: was in fact, her husband, Reuben, who first came to

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Speaker 1: North Dakota for a job in the oil industry. He

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Speaker 1: was just looking for a change from Arizona and he

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Speaker 1: had a friend who told him he should come up

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Speaker 1: because there was money to be made. Yolanda encouraged her

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Speaker 1: husband to try it out. Then a year later, Yolanda

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Speaker 1: herself moved to North Dakota with their five children. At

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Speaker 1: the coffee shop, Yolanda introduces me to her daughter, Elizabeth.

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Speaker 1: She's twelve years old and she's helping her mom, She

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Speaker 1: tells me, as usual, Elizabeth has long, dark brown hair

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Speaker 1: and smiles a lot. In fact, she's lived in North

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Speaker 1: Dakota since she was five years old.

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Speaker 2: Elizabeth, so you're here in North Dakota and your mom

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Speaker 2: is putting you to work. What are you gonna do

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Speaker 2: what's your job right now, Elizabeth.

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Speaker 8: I'm just gonna help watch children.

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Speaker 2: Are you accustomed to your mom saying hey, I need

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Speaker 2: you to do this for me, I need you to

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Speaker 2: do this, Yeah.

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Speaker 8: Something like that.

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Speaker 2: And do you like North Dakota?

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Speaker 8: Yeah, Like the people here are very welcoming and there's

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Speaker 8: like a lot of events going on and the cultures

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Speaker 8: of the Mexican I think it's just very interesting about it.

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Speaker 2: That's an interesting thing for you to first thing to

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Speaker 2: say about the North Dakota is that the people are

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Speaker 2: very welcoming.

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Speaker 8: What does that mean, like smiling and always greeting you,

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Speaker 8: trying to make you feel welcome. I don't feel like

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Speaker 8: I don't belong here, like I want to go home

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Speaker 8: or I want to go somewhere someplace else.

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Speaker 2: And when you talk like this at school, which is

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Speaker 2: basically like hey, you know, let's welcome, let's you know

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Speaker 2: people speak Spanish, or like, what do people say? Are

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Speaker 2: they like yeah, Elizabeth, Oh, they.

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Speaker 6: Really agree with it.

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Speaker 8: They seem like really interested to talk to them and

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Speaker 8: learn more about their culture and things.

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Speaker 1: Elizabeth tells me she sees a lot of other Mexican

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Speaker 1: kids in her school in Watford City. Now, around ten

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Speaker 1: percent of the children in public schools identify as Latino

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Speaker 1: or Latina in Mackenzie County, but a lot of remembers

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Speaker 1: what it was like when she and the rest of

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Speaker 1: her family first moved here.

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Speaker 9: The first year after moving to Watford, we had a

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Speaker 9: very secluded lifestyle. I thought it was pretty laid back,

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Speaker 9: pretty boring. But you know that's me coming from a

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Speaker 9: large town with a large Hispanic population.

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Speaker 1: And any time you move from one place to another,

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Speaker 1: it can be difficult to adjust. But from Arizona to

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Speaker 1: North Dakota, she was experiencing some culture shock.

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Speaker 2: In Tucson, there was this community.

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Speaker 1: There were her friends who would go out to Latino

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Speaker 1: restaurants and events and concerts. In Watford City, there wasn't

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Speaker 1: any of that, and the winters again so harsh. A

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Speaker 1: few months into his oil job, her husband quit.

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Speaker 9: He missed working in the restaurant industry and working in

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Speaker 9: the kitchen, and he went back and started working at

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Speaker 9: one of the restaurants in town, and he moved up

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Speaker 9: the ladder, you know, as a kitchen manager and then

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Speaker 9: a manager, and you know, that was something he was

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Speaker 9: very passionate about, and he was feeling very successful and fulfilled.

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Speaker 1: They had both worked in restaurants, so they just to

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Speaker 1: open their own restaurant in March of twenty twenty. They

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Speaker 1: called it Los Aguaros and they served Mexican food. Finally,

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Speaker 1: she said, after opening the restaurant, she felt at home

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Speaker 1: in Watford City and now she wanted to build on

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Speaker 1: this community.

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Speaker 4: Story after story, I would hear people say I'm just

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Speaker 4: here for work because this isn't home. So then I

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Speaker 4: started asking why is this not home? Why can't they

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Speaker 4: call Watford City home?

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Speaker 7: It's my home.

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Speaker 10: I love it here.

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Speaker 4: I discovered a beauty. It's peaceful place, it's very safe,

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Speaker 4: it's a great environment to raise a family. So I

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Speaker 4: started asking why can't people see that, or how can

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Speaker 4: I help them discover that.

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Speaker 1: Yolanda is committed to making people realize that there's so

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Speaker 1: much more to North Dakota than just work.

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Speaker 4: There's opportunity for personal growth. There's opportunity for for you

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Speaker 4: to you become part of your community, be a leader

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Speaker 4: in your community. We are pioneer in this state. There

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Speaker 4: if you see there's no fingerprints of Hispanics, there's no nonprofits,

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Speaker 4: no organizations, there's nothing representing Hispanics.

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Speaker 1: And so when Yolanda realized there was this gap in

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Speaker 1: representation and resources for Latinos and Latinas, that's when she

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Speaker 1: decided to create her organization hand. Yolanda and her two

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Speaker 1: volunteers from hand sit down at a table in the

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Speaker 1: coffee shop and we form a circle.

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Speaker 11: My name is Angelica Ariana and I'm fifty two years old.

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Speaker 3: I move here last year. I have been maybe eight

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Speaker 3: months nine months here.

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Speaker 1: I'm from Texas and Heliga is from Breckinridge, Texas. She

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Speaker 1: lived there for about twenty six years, but she's originally

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Speaker 1: from Mexico. She moved to North Dakota with her then fiance,

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Speaker 1: who had worked in the oil industry for many years.

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Speaker 11: La venosare Monica Lonso Jose, Mexicana. Then will be Bena

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Speaker 11: Qing what for tiriadric Quatronos Imerio.

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Speaker 2: This is Monica Alonso.

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Speaker 1: She's thirty five years old and is originally from Jalisco, Mexico.

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Speaker 1: She's been living here in Watford City for about four

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Speaker 1: and a half years, and she moved here with her

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Speaker 1: husband because he too got a job in the oil industry.

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00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:30,840
Speaker 1: Yolanda actually met Monica when she was working as an

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Speaker 1: office manager at the hospital. Here Moni Goat showed up

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Speaker 1: without being able to speak English. Moni God needed help

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Speaker 1: with translation and just getting oriented, and Yolanda was there

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Speaker 1: to help.

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Speaker 4: She would come in and she would be probably nervous

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Speaker 4: or anxious because she's coming to an appointment and they're

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Speaker 4: going to speak to her in English. She will probably

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Speaker 4: not understand, and so she's feeling these emotions and this stress.

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Speaker 4: So what makes me feel good is knowing that I

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00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:05,840
Speaker 4: can help alleviate that and take that off her back.

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Speaker 1: In fact, translating was something that Yolanda was doing a

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Speaker 1: lot when she first moved to Watford City. North Dakota

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Speaker 1: is still predominantly white, and the rapid growth of Latinos

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Speaker 1: and latinas well it can cause some tensions between these

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Speaker 1: communities and Helica, do you feel like you have been

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Speaker 1: overwhelmingly welcomed, not just by your compagna as, your Hispanic

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00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:35,840
Speaker 1: and Latina Mexican compagnas, but by the people of Watford City.

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Speaker 3: I feel very welcome everywhere I got.

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Speaker 2: And what about you, Monica Aloya. We want to Mexico.

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Speaker 11: Mexico proqui.

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Speaker 1: Monica says that no one has ever told her directly

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Speaker 1: to go back to Mexico, but people have said things like,

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00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:57,440
Speaker 1: what are you doing here?

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Speaker 2: Can you tell me how that happened?

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00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:01,560
Speaker 7: But tal.

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Speaker 11: Pronounce your noise eza tamente city quios, yeah, talve my

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00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:19,080
Speaker 11: lego viennes.

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Speaker 2: Monica says her English isn't perfect.

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Speaker 1: She feels that people notice her accent and they probably

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00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,920
Speaker 1: think she should first learn English and then come to

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Speaker 1: this state.

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Speaker 11: Pero tamini in control persona moess is the don, the don,

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00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:45,000
Speaker 11: the gabadido, they throw the trust persona co no commons

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00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:49,360
Speaker 11: and then they're doinglists when pronunc whenna not well crequan knowledge.

439
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:54,480
Speaker 1: But then she says, she's met a lot of incredible

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00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:57,280
Speaker 1: people here who have defended her. What do you think

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00:28:57,320 --> 00:28:59,239
Speaker 1: about that, the fact that there have been people who

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00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:02,120
Speaker 1: have had to kind of of come between you and

443
00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,040
Speaker 1: people who are not accepting of you as a as

444
00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:07,080
Speaker 1: a Mexican woman.

445
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:13,560
Speaker 11: With mena gusto porque espos personasqui balor and talbnostre suerso

446
00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:28,920
Speaker 11: elesporso they literally thee letin and pais fora.

447
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:36,960
Speaker 1: Monica says she's grateful for them because they understand her struggle.

448
00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:40,600
Speaker 1: Because so many immigrants risk their lives to come to

449
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:43,920
Speaker 1: this country, to get to places like North Dakota.

450
00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:51,760
Speaker 2: And then Monica starts to get teary eyed. Is this see?

451
00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:52,960
Speaker 2: Why are you getting so emotional?

452
00:29:54,720 --> 00:30:07,880
Speaker 12: Waisbourg Mus say there almost too absolute tunes through here too,

453
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:17,800
Speaker 12: familiars in Porcento to Raises borgaviian Es Corindo, Oh yeah,

454
00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:24,400
Speaker 12: Vesa a Sinuada.

455
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:30,360
Speaker 1: She says, so many people leave everything behind, their families,

456
00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:34,960
Speaker 1: their roots, just looking for a better life, fleeing insecurity.

457
00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:42,280
Speaker 2: No one comes here just to take things. What's it

458
00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,360
Speaker 2: like for you? Yolanda is like, you know, when you're

459
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:47,520
Speaker 2: hearing your your friends kind of say, well, yeah, I

460
00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:49,960
Speaker 2: do love it, but I've had some hard times and

461
00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:54,560
Speaker 2: I felt a little bit unprotected. You can't deny that

462
00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:57,840
Speaker 2: here in this part of North Dakota there is a

463
00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:02,160
Speaker 2: cultural confrontation that happening doesn't always have to be bad,

464
00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:05,040
Speaker 2: but there is this this thing that's happening.

465
00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:05,760
Speaker 3: Am I right?

466
00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:08,880
Speaker 4: I think you will. Wherever you go, you're gonna find bad,

467
00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:12,280
Speaker 4: good and bad. I'm a realist. I look at life

468
00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:15,200
Speaker 4: the way it is in reality. I don't make assumptions

469
00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:18,280
Speaker 4: that it this is Disneyland, it's the perfect world. I

470
00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:20,280
Speaker 4: don't I don't go buy that assumption.

471
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:23,040
Speaker 2: It wasn't like for you to hear Morniget kind of

472
00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:24,280
Speaker 2: get emotional about those.

473
00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,960
Speaker 4: My heart goes out for her, but at the same time,

474
00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:30,480
Speaker 4: it's just those are the challenges you have to face

475
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,360
Speaker 4: in order to when you come to a new place,

476
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:36,320
Speaker 4: you're always going to face challenges.

477
00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:43,640
Speaker 2: Yolanda is committed to building bridges between the Latino community

478
00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:49,160
Speaker 2: and the majority white community in Watford City, and interestingly,

479
00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:53,840
Speaker 2: she talks about how the white folks here are descendants

480
00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:58,160
Speaker 2: of Scandinavian migrants and people from Norway.

481
00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:03,280
Speaker 4: Specifically, physically, they're not very they don't seem like they're

482
00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:07,160
Speaker 4: very friendly. They're kind of close knitted community, and they

483
00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:10,240
Speaker 4: they're reluctant to meeting more people.

484
00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:15,640
Speaker 1: Yolanda is convinced that these cultural differences can lead to

485
00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:20,240
Speaker 1: misunderstandings or preconceived notions about each other.

486
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:25,480
Speaker 4: Hispanics, we are very friendly. We like to smile, say hello.

487
00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:28,719
Speaker 4: That's how we are, that's how we are ingrained, that's

488
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:33,200
Speaker 4: our culture. So when you meet someone who is totally

489
00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:35,840
Speaker 4: the opposite of who you are, what would be my

490
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:39,400
Speaker 4: concept of that person, that person is racist, that person

491
00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:41,960
Speaker 4: is just me and doesn't like me here. They don't

492
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,640
Speaker 4: welcome me here, but that's really that's who they are,

493
00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:48,280
Speaker 4: and when they see you being so friendly, that really

494
00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:52,080
Speaker 4: probably makes them feel uncomfortable because they're not used to it.

495
00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:57,280
Speaker 1: So Yolanda organizes and hosts these Latino centered events in

496
00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:01,480
Speaker 1: her community. Last year, their first every event was a

497
00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:03,120
Speaker 1: Mexican posada.

498
00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:08,200
Speaker 4: We had food vendors from Colombia, Salvador, Mexican. We had

499
00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:12,719
Speaker 4: about two fifty to three hundred people at tend They

500
00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:16,480
Speaker 4: were excited that we were bringing a new event into

501
00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:20,280
Speaker 4: our community. A lot of Scandinavians Norwegians come to the

502
00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:22,680
Speaker 4: event and they tried the food and they were just

503
00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:23,280
Speaker 4: loving it.

504
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:28,640
Speaker 1: Because there are basically zero organizations working for Latinos and

505
00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:33,400
Speaker 1: Latinas and community outreach, Yolanda says, people are watching what

506
00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:37,320
Speaker 1: she's doing and she's getting asked to do similar things

507
00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:41,120
Speaker 1: in nearby towns, and she says they're already planning next

508
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:45,440
Speaker 1: year's posada. In fact, her work caught the attention of

509
00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:49,280
Speaker 1: Mackenzie County officials. Yolanda says they reached out to her

510
00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:54,400
Speaker 1: wanting to collaborate to help expand her reach. So it's

511
00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:59,840
Speaker 1: a beautiful Monday morning in Watford City, super quiet, and

512
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,120
Speaker 1: we're walking into the courthouse. It's a very pretty building

513
00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:06,960
Speaker 1: surrounded by really a lot of green again because everything

514
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:10,360
Speaker 1: is so verdant because of the rain. We wanted to

515
00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:15,400
Speaker 1: meet some of those officials that are working with Yolanda.

516
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:19,480
Speaker 1: So we are here at the Mackenzie County Courthouse to

517
00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:23,920
Speaker 1: meet up with Daniel Stenberg. He's the Economic Development coordinator

518
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:24,560
Speaker 1: for the county.

519
00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:27,440
Speaker 7: This first floor, then the second floor, we've got social

520
00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:28,600
Speaker 7: services and the streets.

521
00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:33,440
Speaker 1: Daniel Stenberg is tall, with a reddish brown beard and mustache,

522
00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:36,279
Speaker 1: with light blue eyes. We follow him over to his

523
00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:39,600
Speaker 1: office and I'm instantly drawn to what's on his walls.

524
00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:46,320
Speaker 1: So there's three posters McKenzie County Tourism, Your Adventure awaits

525
00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:48,840
Speaker 1: on the New Frontier, A guy smiling with a fish.

526
00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:52,480
Speaker 1: Daniel is really proud to be from North Dakota. He

527
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:56,440
Speaker 1: grew up here in Mackenzie County. His great grandparents are

528
00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:59,840
Speaker 1: originally from Norway and they migrated here Back in the

529
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,000
Speaker 1: the early nineteen hundreds.

530
00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:07,000
Speaker 7: There was kind of economic depression in Northern European areas

531
00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:11,279
Speaker 7: like My family came from Norway and they had very

532
00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:13,640
Speaker 7: very little land. But there is lots and lots of

533
00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:16,200
Speaker 7: land here promised for people if they would come out here.

534
00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:19,879
Speaker 1: His great grandfather arrived in Mackenzie County in nineteen oh six,

535
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:24,920
Speaker 1: but he didn't come empty handed. In the late nineteenth century,

536
00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:30,800
Speaker 1: the US federal government incentivized people, including migrants from abroad,

537
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:34,560
Speaker 1: to move to areas of the United States like North

538
00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:40,400
Speaker 1: Dakota by offering them essentially free land. It's what's called

539
00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:41,640
Speaker 1: the Homestead Act.

540
00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:44,759
Speaker 7: They got, you know, one hundred and sixty acres with

541
00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:48,680
Speaker 7: the Homestead Act, and that in some places that worked.

542
00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:52,080
Speaker 7: This is the land isn't as productive as other areas,

543
00:35:52,239 --> 00:35:54,440
Speaker 7: and so a lot of people who came with just

544
00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:57,480
Speaker 7: one hundred and sixty acres it wasn't enough to survive on,

545
00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:00,319
Speaker 7: and so then they ended up either selling out are

546
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:01,520
Speaker 7: losing it and moving.

547
00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:09,239
Speaker 1: The Homestead Act of eighteen sixty two would grant more

548
00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:13,480
Speaker 1: than two hundred and seventy million acres of land while

549
00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:16,440
Speaker 1: the law was still in place. That's about ten percent

550
00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:20,520
Speaker 1: of the now entire United States. The majority of the

551
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:25,200
Speaker 1: land went to cattle owners, loggers, and the railroad industry.

552
00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:30,080
Speaker 2: The Act also further displaced.

553
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:33,480
Speaker 1: Native American communities who had lived here for generations before

554
00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:37,879
Speaker 1: settlers and white Europeans migrated to the West. In fact,

555
00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:44,439
Speaker 1: the Homestead Act wasn't repealed until nineteen seventy six. Daniel says,

556
00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:47,960
Speaker 1: this region has been a melting pot for generations, mostly

557
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:52,840
Speaker 1: for people looking for economic opportunity. But what happened in

558
00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:57,320
Speaker 1: the past compared to what's happening now is very different.

559
00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:04,080
Speaker 1: So your family comes from Norway to the United States,

560
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:06,880
Speaker 1: actually not penniless because they arrive and they get one

561
00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:09,560
Speaker 1: hundred and sixty acres in North Dakota. And I'm just

562
00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:14,439
Speaker 1: thinking about the recent arrivals of people here. They don't

563
00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:17,600
Speaker 1: get one hundred and sixty acres at all, but they

564
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:19,680
Speaker 1: do get the opportunity to work as hard as they

565
00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:20,480
Speaker 1: possibly can.

566
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:22,680
Speaker 2: And I'm wondering if you've thought about that.

567
00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:25,399
Speaker 7: Oh yeah, yep, yeah, no, I mean, and it came

568
00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:29,880
Speaker 7: with work. But I think that's what hopefully that is

569
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:32,600
Speaker 7: the American dream, is that people that are willing to

570
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:35,200
Speaker 7: show up and work hard can have an opportunity.

571
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:40,160
Speaker 1: But this is a big challenge because according to the Census,

572
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:44,479
Speaker 1: Mackenzie County is the fastest growing county in the entire

573
00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:48,680
Speaker 1: United States. It's population more than doubled in the span

574
00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:53,400
Speaker 1: of ten years, and now the county's Latino population is

575
00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:58,560
Speaker 1: at eleven percent. Here's my car, Daniel tells us he

576
00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:00,960
Speaker 1: wants to show us some of the new divilments around town.

577
00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:03,839
Speaker 2: So we leave his office and pop into his car.

578
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,600
Speaker 7: So we have had booms and busts before from the

579
00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:10,719
Speaker 7: oil industry. In the fifties there is a boom and

580
00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:13,279
Speaker 7: then a bust, and then in the seventies there is

581
00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:15,800
Speaker 7: a boom and then a bust. So there's people that

582
00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:18,160
Speaker 7: still have those memories in their minds that we've been

583
00:38:18,239 --> 00:38:21,680
Speaker 7: burned by oil development before in terms of yeah, they

584
00:38:21,719 --> 00:38:24,759
Speaker 7: all want you to build up all of your infrastructure

585
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:27,040
Speaker 7: and then boom, the price oil goes down, and then

586
00:38:27,239 --> 00:38:30,600
Speaker 7: the community is left holding the bag kind of of

587
00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:32,920
Speaker 7: all of this infrastructure that's been built out.

588
00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:36,839
Speaker 1: Daniel drives around and points out a new park. They're

589
00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:42,080
Speaker 1: freshly built law enforcement center that is huge, by the way,

590
00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,400
Speaker 1: lots of new restaurants that have opened on main Street,

591
00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:49,720
Speaker 1: and he says, this latest boom is going to be different.

592
00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:52,520
Speaker 7: It's not just people who are coming here for two

593
00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:55,520
Speaker 7: weeks for a job and then going back home. People

594
00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:59,160
Speaker 7: are moving their families here, and so we've realized that, Okay, nope,

595
00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:01,520
Speaker 7: now we have to do permanent infrastructure.

596
00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:06,120
Speaker 1: So remember there used to be man camps everywhere around here.

597
00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:09,960
Speaker 1: Now the county has more than doubled its total count

598
00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:14,440
Speaker 1: of actual housing units between twenty ten and the year

599
00:39:14,520 --> 00:39:15,240
Speaker 1: twenty twenty.

600
00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:17,759
Speaker 7: Kind of the first that got built out were more

601
00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:20,239
Speaker 7: hotel rooms, then more apartments.

602
00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:23,640
Speaker 2: These are apartments, correct, And how old are these?

603
00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:26,880
Speaker 7: Yeah, they're probably twenty fourteen or so.

604
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:30,640
Speaker 2: So as a result of the oil oh, definitely, definitely, okay.

605
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:36,239
Speaker 1: Mackenzie County gets most of its revenue from taxes on

606
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:40,959
Speaker 1: oil and gas production. In twenty eighteen, the county raked

607
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:45,120
Speaker 1: in more than sixty six million dollars of revenue from

608
00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:48,520
Speaker 1: that tax out of its total revenue of eighty five

609
00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:53,319
Speaker 1: million dollars of taxes for that year. Man camps are

610
00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:58,960
Speaker 1: not conducive to building communities, but something began to change

611
00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:03,520
Speaker 1: and those first workers gradually began to bring their families,

612
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:08,560
Speaker 1: so the county switched their focus to building more single

613
00:40:08,719 --> 00:40:09,560
Speaker 1: family homes.

614
00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:12,200
Speaker 7: The difference between a person who lives in a house

615
00:40:12,239 --> 00:40:14,160
Speaker 7: who owns their own house and someone who's living in

616
00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:16,880
Speaker 7: an apartment, they're much more likely to remain in the

617
00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:19,839
Speaker 7: community if they're in a house that they own, as

618
00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:21,360
Speaker 7: opposed to an apartment where.

619
00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:22,279
Speaker 3: They can leave.

620
00:40:23,239 --> 00:40:26,920
Speaker 2: And then Daniel takes us to show us the diamond here.

621
00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:30,920
Speaker 1: It's the rough Rider Center, which is a state of

622
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:35,200
Speaker 1: the art multipurpose facility. You're going to find an aquatic center,

623
00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:40,600
Speaker 1: a running track, gorgeous areas to just be with your family,

624
00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:49,839
Speaker 1: indoors with huge windows overlooking massive green spaces. So when

625
00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:53,879
Speaker 1: you think about your ancestors from Norway and how much

626
00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:57,560
Speaker 1: this part of the country has changed, and you're thinking, wow,

627
00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:03,080
Speaker 1: ten twenty years from now, McKenzie County, Watford City, Williston,

628
00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:05,719
Speaker 1: all of it, it's going to look like.

629
00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:07,480
Speaker 2: What in a decade or two.

630
00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:11,640
Speaker 7: If we can have people like Yolanda in our community

631
00:41:11,719 --> 00:41:14,959
Speaker 7: who want to put down roots and then share share

632
00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:18,439
Speaker 7: their experiences with others, I think that's going to help

633
00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:20,839
Speaker 7: us be a vibrant community as well.

634
00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:22,640
Speaker 2: I guess the final thing I'll say is that.

635
00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:29,920
Speaker 1: And the resistance and the people who say too many Latinos,

636
00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:34,680
Speaker 1: too much, demographic change, too much, cultural change, too fast,

637
00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:38,680
Speaker 1: and to those people you say yeah.

638
00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:41,040
Speaker 7: I mean I think you're You will definitely find some

639
00:41:41,120 --> 00:41:43,399
Speaker 7: people that will say, yeah, there's there's just too much

640
00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:45,799
Speaker 7: happening and we're going to lose who we are as

641
00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:51,680
Speaker 7: a community. But I think if you look at, you know,

642
00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:54,160
Speaker 7: what we were as a community one hundred years ago,

643
00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:58,120
Speaker 7: fifty years ago and now, I think we've had a

644
00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:00,439
Speaker 7: lot of change since then, and I think that there's

645
00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:03,279
Speaker 7: more change to come, and I think it's in our

646
00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:05,800
Speaker 7: hands to make this community who we want it to be.

647
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:10,480
Speaker 7: Change is inevitable. People don't necessarily fear change, they fear loss.

648
00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:18,560
Speaker 1: Coming up on Latino USA, we follow up with Jolana

649
00:42:18,640 --> 00:42:22,040
Speaker 1: Rojas about her plans to stay in North Dakota and

650
00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:25,640
Speaker 1: her ambition to help create the future she wants to.

651
00:42:25,719 --> 00:43:26,359
Speaker 2: See in the state. Stay with us, not by yes, Hey,

652
00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:26,839
Speaker 2: we're back.

653
00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:30,520
Speaker 1: Before the break, we met Yolanda Rojas and a group

654
00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:34,440
Speaker 1: of other women volunteers. We're trying to get other Latinos

655
00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:36,640
Speaker 1: and Latinas to call North Dakota.

656
00:43:36,520 --> 00:43:39,960
Speaker 2: Home, and we learned about how the county is also.

657
00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:42,000
Speaker 1: Trying to get people to stay for the long haul.

658
00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:46,880
Speaker 1: Let's get back to the story. We're now with Yolanda

659
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:50,040
Speaker 1: Rojas driving out of Watford City.

660
00:43:50,680 --> 00:43:54,359
Speaker 4: So here, well, we're on Highway eighty five approaching going

661
00:43:54,560 --> 00:43:58,360
Speaker 4: south and as you can see we're leaving town. There's

662
00:43:58,840 --> 00:44:02,960
Speaker 4: this is where my restaurant used to be. We closed

663
00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:04,600
Speaker 4: it down last month.

664
00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:09,719
Speaker 1: Remember, Yolanda and her husband had opened their restaurant Los Aguados,

665
00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:14,400
Speaker 1: but well, they've experienced some setbacks in recent months. They

666
00:44:14,520 --> 00:44:18,160
Speaker 1: opened right when the pandemic started and now they've had

667
00:44:18,200 --> 00:44:22,040
Speaker 1: to close its doors just this summer. But Yolanda is

668
00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:24,719
Speaker 1: grateful that they took the risk of opening their own

669
00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:26,960
Speaker 1: business in North Dakota, she says.

670
00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:29,520
Speaker 2: Now she and her husband are saving to buy their

671
00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:30,040
Speaker 2: own home.

672
00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:30,279
Speaker 3: Here.

673
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:34,320
Speaker 1: Now, Yolanda is taking us to one of her favorite

674
00:44:34,360 --> 00:44:36,480
Speaker 1: spots of all in McKenzie County.

675
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:38,919
Speaker 2: It's the Roosevelt National Park.

676
00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:42,960
Speaker 4: So here you'll encounter maybe wildlife. If you were lucky,

677
00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:43,920
Speaker 4: you will see bison.

678
00:44:44,960 --> 00:44:50,799
Speaker 1: North Dakota after a bountiful summer is gorgeous, and we're

679
00:44:50,880 --> 00:44:55,200
Speaker 1: driving up a long winding road going through beautiful rocky

680
00:44:55,320 --> 00:44:59,239
Speaker 1: mountains and in the distance here in the National Park,

681
00:44:59,640 --> 00:45:03,120
Speaker 1: we see this huge majestic bison roaming around.

682
00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:05,640
Speaker 2: Okay, I've never seen a bison like that.

683
00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:07,239
Speaker 4: Well you might see him up close, so.

684
00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:12,080
Speaker 1: But like maybe you see them gray seeing afar, but

685
00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:15,680
Speaker 1: this was like he was right in the elements and

686
00:45:16,239 --> 00:45:17,880
Speaker 1: just looks so beautiful.

687
00:45:18,400 --> 00:45:22,279
Speaker 2: Uh stoic. Oh, yeah, that's so beautiful.

688
00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:30,880
Speaker 1: The nature is extraordinary, the rocky formations, the dreamy landscape,

689
00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:34,040
Speaker 1: all of this makes me think too a decade ago

690
00:45:34,120 --> 00:45:37,200
Speaker 1: when I was here in November and it was cold

691
00:45:37,680 --> 00:45:41,400
Speaker 1: and brown and dark, and look at the different colors

692
00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:46,160
Speaker 1: you're seeing, the light green, the orange, the yellow, the purple,

693
00:45:46,280 --> 00:45:50,360
Speaker 1: the dark red, the colors of just green that go

694
00:45:50,520 --> 00:45:51,160
Speaker 1: on forever.

695
00:45:51,440 --> 00:45:55,360
Speaker 2: And the blue sky. Oh my god, it's just so gorgeous.

696
00:45:55,480 --> 00:45:59,920
Speaker 2: It really, it's so healing. You don't have to say anything,

697
00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:01,239
Speaker 2: you just have to be looking at it.

698
00:46:01,560 --> 00:46:03,320
Speaker 4: And then you go look on this side and you

699
00:46:03,440 --> 00:46:08,000
Speaker 4: see all the dark green and the hills and or relations.

700
00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:09,600
Speaker 3: It's just it's beautiful.

701
00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:15,000
Speaker 2: As we drive around, Yolanda reflects on her life and

702
00:46:15,160 --> 00:46:19,000
Speaker 2: on her children and the challenges of keeping their Latino

703
00:46:19,160 --> 00:46:20,439
Speaker 2: identity alive here.

704
00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:23,879
Speaker 4: After we moved here. I'm like, I'm pulling my kids

705
00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:27,400
Speaker 4: away from my culture, from being erased, and you know,

706
00:46:27,640 --> 00:46:31,840
Speaker 4: like knowing about Mexican what we do traditionally what we

707
00:46:31,960 --> 00:46:36,080
Speaker 4: do every year, and I'm just like thinking, I'm alienating

708
00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:39,160
Speaker 4: them from that, and I want them to preserve this,

709
00:46:39,440 --> 00:46:43,920
Speaker 4: to say, my mom thought for us to preserve our culture,

710
00:46:44,120 --> 00:46:46,839
Speaker 4: to know about it, to embrace it, and love who

711
00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:50,560
Speaker 4: we are. You know, we're Mexicanos. And I tell them,

712
00:46:51,200 --> 00:46:54,760
Speaker 4: I'll say this outside that door, it's the United States.

713
00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:58,480
Speaker 4: You come in through this door, it's Mexico.

714
00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:02,239
Speaker 1: We drive in the park for about thirty minutes and

715
00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:05,319
Speaker 1: then we make it to her favorite spot in the park.

716
00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:09,879
Speaker 4: We are at the top of the Theodore rose About

717
00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:14,000
Speaker 4: National Park, the North units. We're right at the top

718
00:47:14,840 --> 00:47:19,759
Speaker 4: and we are going up this hill where we will

719
00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:22,960
Speaker 4: be able to see just get an overview of the

720
00:47:23,280 --> 00:47:27,280
Speaker 4: entire National Park unit. It's breath taking.

721
00:47:33,280 --> 00:47:37,320
Speaker 1: The fresh North Dakotain air hits your face and fills

722
00:47:37,480 --> 00:47:42,080
Speaker 1: your lungs. It's extraordinary to see this landscape. It's remained

723
00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:46,400
Speaker 1: unchanged for millennia. But I look out and I wonder

724
00:47:46,480 --> 00:47:49,680
Speaker 1: what's going to happen to the land outside of this

725
00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:53,719
Speaker 1: National Park that's protected. All of it could be in

726
00:47:53,840 --> 00:47:57,360
Speaker 1: danger as the oil and gas industry keeps on drilling

727
00:47:57,880 --> 00:47:58,840
Speaker 1: and expanding.

728
00:48:01,360 --> 00:48:07,319
Speaker 4: So You'll see the Missouri River dividing the park here,

729
00:48:08,480 --> 00:48:11,120
Speaker 4: and you see a lot of trees around the river,

730
00:48:12,719 --> 00:48:16,759
Speaker 4: small hills close to the near the river. Also, they're

731
00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:20,720
Speaker 4: very rocky and they have a lot of formations.

732
00:48:21,719 --> 00:48:23,960
Speaker 1: This spot is special to Yolanda. It's one of the

733
00:48:24,040 --> 00:48:26,440
Speaker 1: first places she brought her kids.

734
00:48:26,800 --> 00:48:28,800
Speaker 2: When did you discover this place and what was it

735
00:48:28,960 --> 00:48:29,400
Speaker 2: for you to.

736
00:48:30,080 --> 00:48:34,000
Speaker 4: I discovered it, I would say about four months after

737
00:48:34,080 --> 00:48:36,880
Speaker 4: I moved here. I started asking people, so, is there

738
00:48:36,920 --> 00:48:40,480
Speaker 4: anything I can do with my kids or because when

739
00:48:40,520 --> 00:48:44,120
Speaker 4: I moved to Watford, I was so discouraged. I was thinking,

740
00:48:44,200 --> 00:48:47,520
Speaker 4: you know, big city Tucson. I'm thinking that I'm coming

741
00:48:47,600 --> 00:48:51,879
Speaker 4: to something similar, and like there was a Walmart, there's

742
00:48:52,280 --> 00:48:56,320
Speaker 4: a small or Target, you know, Starbucks. I'm just thinking

743
00:48:56,440 --> 00:49:00,520
Speaker 4: my big city amenities would be here. And when I

744
00:49:00,600 --> 00:49:03,640
Speaker 4: came here and I crossed the town in like five minutes,

745
00:49:04,320 --> 00:49:08,800
Speaker 4: literally the downtown area, I was so discouraged, like, oh goodness,

746
00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:10,759
Speaker 4: there's hardly anything here.

747
00:49:11,080 --> 00:49:12,280
Speaker 2: It looks boring.

748
00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:14,120
Speaker 4: What am I going to do?

749
00:49:14,800 --> 00:49:17,520
Speaker 2: Then one of our coworkers suggested the National Park.

750
00:49:17,840 --> 00:49:20,359
Speaker 4: We did come and it was fine. They burnt out

751
00:49:20,400 --> 00:49:23,800
Speaker 4: a lot of energy, came home hungry and tired, and

752
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:28,360
Speaker 4: it was successful, and it was just breathtaking, just to

753
00:49:28,440 --> 00:49:31,239
Speaker 4: see the beauty of you know, I don't know I

754
00:49:31,400 --> 00:49:33,360
Speaker 4: had this in my backyard. Literally.

755
00:49:37,880 --> 00:49:42,359
Speaker 1: I wonder about Yolanda's children, what will they inherit if

756
00:49:42,520 --> 00:49:46,600
Speaker 1: this nature isn't protected. More than sixteen thousand wells have

757
00:49:46,719 --> 00:49:50,960
Speaker 1: been drilled in western North Dakota since two thousand and seven,

758
00:49:51,600 --> 00:49:55,719
Speaker 1: and the reserves are estimated to last for only some

759
00:49:55,960 --> 00:49:59,400
Speaker 1: forty years. So what's going to happen when the oil

760
00:49:59,560 --> 00:50:03,960
Speaker 1: reserve try up? What will all of this landscape look like?

761
00:50:05,040 --> 00:50:08,000
Speaker 2: When you're here, you do feel small in the midst

762
00:50:08,040 --> 00:50:12,000
Speaker 2: of such extraordinary nature. But what do you feel when

763
00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:14,480
Speaker 2: you come here? You're an activist, you want to change

764
00:50:15,040 --> 00:50:17,880
Speaker 2: a lot of things in North Dakota, So when you

765
00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:19,399
Speaker 2: come here, what do you feel?

766
00:50:20,360 --> 00:50:23,480
Speaker 4: I feel invincible coming here, and I look at these

767
00:50:23,560 --> 00:50:25,839
Speaker 4: rocks and I kind of identify with them and say,

768
00:50:26,320 --> 00:50:28,960
Speaker 4: you have been here thousands and thousands of years and

769
00:50:29,040 --> 00:50:33,880
Speaker 4: you're still you have survived the elements of the weather,

770
00:50:35,160 --> 00:50:39,320
Speaker 4: anything that came your way. You're still standing strong and beautiful.

771
00:50:39,400 --> 00:50:41,640
Speaker 4: And I resonate with that, and I say, I am

772
00:50:42,200 --> 00:50:45,440
Speaker 4: just like a rock formation. I'm here to form something,

773
00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:49,440
Speaker 4: to create something, to build something that's going to stand

774
00:50:50,360 --> 00:50:54,560
Speaker 4: the width of adversity, time and change, and it's going

775
00:50:54,640 --> 00:50:57,320
Speaker 4: to stay be here for others to fall back on

776
00:50:57,440 --> 00:51:00,439
Speaker 4: and have that way after I'm long, you know, gone.

777
00:51:00,640 --> 00:51:03,640
Speaker 4: So that's how I see I resemble a lot with

778
00:51:03,880 --> 00:51:07,400
Speaker 4: nature in that sense. It's saying that we two have

779
00:51:07,680 --> 00:51:10,880
Speaker 4: that force too, inner strength to do the things that

780
00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:12,360
Speaker 4: we set our mind to.

781
00:51:12,840 --> 00:51:16,040
Speaker 2: That's like such a deep philosophical perspective, and it has

782
00:51:16,120 --> 00:51:18,960
Speaker 2: to do with your commitment to North Dakota.

783
00:51:19,320 --> 00:51:22,000
Speaker 4: I really love this state. I feel like this state

784
00:51:22,160 --> 00:51:26,239
Speaker 4: has been the tipping point of where I am now

785
00:51:26,360 --> 00:51:28,479
Speaker 4: and then the reason why I'm here because I feel

786
00:51:28,520 --> 00:51:31,759
Speaker 4: like I've learned so much. I've heard it before, and

787
00:51:31,840 --> 00:51:34,000
Speaker 4: I think it's true that they say North Dakota is

788
00:51:34,080 --> 00:51:36,759
Speaker 4: not for the faint of heart. It really takes a

789
00:51:36,800 --> 00:51:42,080
Speaker 4: strong person to really discover the beauty of this state.

790
00:51:42,800 --> 00:51:46,680
Speaker 4: So it's just so many elements that make you say, oh,

791
00:51:46,760 --> 00:51:50,040
Speaker 4: I don't want to live here. It's just horrible. There's

792
00:51:50,200 --> 00:51:52,320
Speaker 4: nothing for me to do. But I feel like it

793
00:51:52,440 --> 00:51:56,360
Speaker 4: helps you really discover your purpose.

794
00:51:56,640 --> 00:51:59,080
Speaker 1: And part of that self discovery is a realization that

795
00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:02,840
Speaker 1: Yolanda can see running for a seat in local government

796
00:52:03,280 --> 00:52:04,560
Speaker 1: sometime in the near future.

797
00:52:05,680 --> 00:52:08,080
Speaker 4: I feel like I need to educate myself a lot

798
00:52:08,160 --> 00:52:12,279
Speaker 4: more in the politic realm, just so that I'm not

799
00:52:12,480 --> 00:52:15,279
Speaker 4: just an ignorant person trying to run for politics. But

800
00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:18,959
Speaker 4: I want to have a trail history of my work

801
00:52:19,239 --> 00:52:22,400
Speaker 4: that really says I'm a public sermon because a politician

802
00:52:22,520 --> 00:52:25,960
Speaker 4: should be a public servant, so I can show I

803
00:52:26,080 --> 00:52:29,480
Speaker 4: have proof facts following me saying I'm walking the dog.

804
00:52:29,560 --> 00:52:32,360
Speaker 4: I'm not a cookie cutter politician who says all this

805
00:52:32,600 --> 00:52:36,320
Speaker 4: and you know, and doesn't back anything with actions.

806
00:52:40,960 --> 00:52:43,759
Speaker 1: Do you feel like there's a possibility in a state

807
00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:51,080
Speaker 1: like this that you'll bring a new kind of kind

808
00:52:51,080 --> 00:52:54,000
Speaker 1: of political activism that is infused by in fact, you're

809
00:52:54,080 --> 00:52:57,000
Speaker 1: Latin Ita, your Hispanic self. Do you feel like that

810
00:52:57,880 --> 00:52:59,839
Speaker 1: that might be something that starts happening in the state

811
00:52:59,880 --> 00:53:00,560
Speaker 1: of North Dakota.

812
00:53:00,920 --> 00:53:04,279
Speaker 4: Absolutely, I do see it. My next step is a

813
00:53:04,400 --> 00:53:08,000
Speaker 4: county commissioner, and I was like, Mackenzie County County. I

814
00:53:08,080 --> 00:53:09,080
Speaker 4: already envision it.

815
00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:20,000
Speaker 1: North Dakota has changed Yolanda. She says she never would

816
00:53:20,040 --> 00:53:23,240
Speaker 1: have undergone her own personal growth if she had stayed

817
00:53:23,320 --> 00:53:26,839
Speaker 1: in Arizona and now she wants to help change North

818
00:53:26,920 --> 00:53:31,480
Speaker 1: Dakota with her own vision. This state, for many is

819
00:53:31,880 --> 00:53:34,040
Speaker 1: just a place to come and try to get ahead

820
00:53:34,040 --> 00:53:36,960
Speaker 1: in life, but it comes with a lot of sacrifices

821
00:53:37,040 --> 00:53:41,439
Speaker 1: and hardships. Nevertheless, the Latinos and Latinas who have moved

822
00:53:41,480 --> 00:53:44,520
Speaker 1: here are having an impact and are now part of

823
00:53:44,600 --> 00:53:49,120
Speaker 1: the fabric of the state's economic and demographic boom. But

824
00:53:49,719 --> 00:53:53,080
Speaker 1: for those who've tried to do something different from the

825
00:53:53,200 --> 00:53:57,280
Speaker 1: black hole that the oil industry is, well, it keeps

826
00:53:57,400 --> 00:54:01,759
Speaker 1: on sucking them back Inanda's husband will now have to

827
00:54:01,840 --> 00:54:05,160
Speaker 1: go back to working in the oil fields, and Yolanda

828
00:54:05,560 --> 00:54:09,880
Speaker 1: recently started a job at a coal factory. Despite the

829
00:54:10,000 --> 00:54:13,280
Speaker 1: wealth many people gain when they're part of the oil

830
00:54:13,400 --> 00:54:17,560
Speaker 1: and gas industry, the entire community is also impacted by

831
00:54:17,560 --> 00:54:21,880
Speaker 1: the consequences of how this money's made. And that's because

832
00:54:21,920 --> 00:54:27,040
Speaker 1: there is irrefutable and irreversible environmental damage because of the drilling,

833
00:54:27,680 --> 00:54:30,239
Speaker 1: and many indigenous peoples of these lands.

834
00:54:30,200 --> 00:54:32,560
Speaker 2: Feel disregarded and unprotected.

835
00:54:34,280 --> 00:54:38,520
Speaker 1: There's a clear clash happening on North Dakota's idyllic rolling

836
00:54:38,680 --> 00:54:43,440
Speaker 1: hills and gorgeous, colorful landscape It's between those who are

837
00:54:43,520 --> 00:54:48,920
Speaker 1: prioritizing their most immediate needs and economic prospects and the

838
00:54:49,040 --> 00:54:52,320
Speaker 1: people who are worried about what's beyond and what was

839
00:54:52,400 --> 00:54:58,319
Speaker 1: here before the oil boom, the environment. There isn't one

840
00:54:58,640 --> 00:55:03,080
Speaker 1: answer and response to these conflicting tensions. But in the end,

841
00:55:03,480 --> 00:55:07,800
Speaker 1: when the oil is gone, the land will remain, and

842
00:55:07,880 --> 00:55:10,160
Speaker 1: then the question is what's going to happen to the

843
00:55:10,239 --> 00:55:12,160
Speaker 1: Latinos and Latinas who have moved here.

844
00:55:12,719 --> 00:55:14,319
Speaker 2: Will they stay here as well?

845
00:55:14,960 --> 00:55:18,360
Speaker 1: Leaving their permanent mark on the legacy of Latinos in

846
00:55:18,440 --> 00:55:34,360
Speaker 1: North Dakota. This episode was produced by Renaldo Leanos Junior

847
00:55:34,440 --> 00:55:38,200
Speaker 1: and edited by Marta Martinez. It was mixed by Stefani Lebaux,

848
00:55:38,400 --> 00:55:42,520
Speaker 1: Julia Caruso, and Gabriel Abias. Research and fact checking for

849
00:55:42,600 --> 00:55:46,640
Speaker 1: this episode by Elizabeth Loenthal Torres. The Latino USA team

850
00:55:46,719 --> 00:55:51,960
Speaker 1: includes Andrea Lopez Crusado, Daisy Contredra's, Mike Sargent, Julieta Martinelli,

851
00:55:52,160 --> 00:55:56,920
Speaker 1: Victoria Strada, Alejandra Salasad, Patricia s Ulbran, and Julia Rocha,

852
00:55:57,120 --> 00:56:01,040
Speaker 1: with help from Raul Perees. Our editorial director is Bernanda Santos.

853
00:56:01,400 --> 00:56:05,320
Speaker 1: Our associate engineer is jj Carubin. Our marketing manager is

854
00:56:05,440 --> 00:56:09,120
Speaker 1: Res Luna. Our theme music was composed by Sania Rubinos.

855
00:56:09,320 --> 00:56:12,440
Speaker 1: I'm your host and executive producer mariguh No Rosa. Join

856
00:56:12,560 --> 00:56:14,560
Speaker 1: us again on our next episode and in the meantime

857
00:56:14,840 --> 00:56:18,360
Speaker 1: look for us on social media and remember note Mayes.

858
00:56:18,920 --> 00:56:26,880
Speaker 10: Joao Latino USA is made possible in part by the

859
00:56:27,000 --> 00:56:31,160
Speaker 10: John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Ford Foundation,

860
00:56:31,800 --> 00:56:35,719
Speaker 10: working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide,

861
00:56:36,600 --> 00:56:38,960
Speaker 10: and Hispanics in philanthropy.