this1ndnchic

Ive seen American and Canadians flags go in at grand entry but have have yet to see a Mexican one. Has any? And what are your views about Mexicans? Are they native? I believe that they are closely related to the the southern natives. so hmm...just out of curiousity.

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skaroreh

Of course the Mexicans are Indigenous! About 95% of the Mexicanos are near full-blood Indigenous. And there's definitely WAYYY more Indian blood in Mexico than here in the states and Canada combined!

The ironic thing is the majority of Mexicans have virtually no concept of any of the traditional Indian language, ways, etc.... they can thank the Spaniards and their government for that, however everywhere you look in Mexico everyone is brown, brown, brown. The fact that racially they're all Indian is no big deal to them. The main difference between them and the TRADITIONAL Indians of Mexico such as the Tarahumara or the Huichol is that the "modern" Mexicans don't live in isolated groups anymore and most of them are now Catholic and speak primarily Spanish, where the traditional ones tend to still speak their NATIVE language and are unfortunately, often living in even worse poverty conditions than the general population just due to the fact that they isolate themselves from the general population.

In the United States, we make up just 2% of the total population or something like that, but a lot of us hang on to what we do know of anything traditional as if our lives depended on it.

It is so incredibly aggrivating to me when Indian people here in the states are so quick to love and embrace natives from Canada but turn their noses up at Mexicans. We're all natives and the sooner we can stop backstabbing each other and start acting supportive and unified, the better off we'll all be. Who knows if that day of unity will ever come....

Let's remember that before the U.S. came about, that border wasn't there and the Indians down there were Indians just like the rest of us... just with different ways... just as all of our tribes have had different ways.

My husband is a beautiful, beautiful, brown Mexican Indian. It makes me extraordinarily proud to know that our baby boy has strong indigenous roots from BOTH sides of that new border they put up. ;)

Kool Breeze

Skaroreh... I've read a few of your posts before and although I dont think you mean to be offensive to anyone... you really know how to put things in a way that can be taken as offensive.

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Tom Iron Eagle

Nice post Skaroreh.

I have seen the Mexican National Flag used in a few Grand Entries across the U.S. but not in Canada.

I have found in my many years that most do not associate Mexicans with being Native Americans because of the heavy Spanish Culture that conqured and dominated that part of North America just as Skaroreh mentions.

And it is really sad since most of what we call Mexican Culture really is Native American Culture with Spanish names.

Kiwehnzii

Ann Arbor, Mi. powwow had a Mexican flag in GE.

WhoMe

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this1nc:

There are more Native peoples south of the United States border than there are north of the border.

The reality is that these south of the border Natives have not incorporated powwows into their countries yet. Not only is there a huge group on Natives in Mexico, but the South American "AmerIndians" also represent a large population of non-powwow Natives.

There are many Aztecs that participate in powwows in North America. It would seem logical that their countrie's flag should come in during a grand entry where they are participants.

I have powwowed in the southwestern states of Cali, AZ, NM and Texas. I have yet to see the Mexican flag preceeded by the eagle staff.



This is one question that makes you go ... hmmmmm?

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"Today, recognizing and respecting the origins of powwow aids in our Cultural Survival. If enough people break the rules because they are not satisfied...."We will have no culture."

WhoMe

kiyaanii mom

Hey this1ndnchick

Good question. I never thought about it. So I'm glad you brought it up. The Southwest is where I am from and Nope, I have never seen a Mexican Flag during Grand Entry. But I suspect it is as Whome said, the Mexican Natives haven't really adopted the powwow ways.

I just go to powwows and have fun. I'm not looking for who should to shouldn't be represented. Or who should or shouldn't be there. Just another sheep waiting to be led.

this1ndnchic

good post skaroreh.... i just kinda wondered about that cuz Mexicans are over looked andconsidered just that, well in the general eye. After all its just a border...that wasnt there before.

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SaltRiver Cheyennes

I would like to know why you feel this way when you said ''It is so aggrevating to me when indian people here in the states are so quick to love and embrace natives from Canada but turn their noses up at mexicans'' its not like most mexicans come out and make a big deal about being loved by us. Most Mexicans I know seem mixed up about what they truely want to be called . For example , mexicans,chicanos,latinos,hispanics,aztecs etc .etc. Mexicans in the U.S. don't want to seem native in the first place . I know this way to much being from the AZ . They have their ways which have no similarities what so ever to North American Indian Tribes at all. Are you saying that they should be like us or what? May be your aggrevated that they are not federally recognized like us? And most tribes inthe northern plains have relatives in Canada . With strong alliances just across the border . Thats why there is so much love to the canuck peeps. just what do you mean bout dat? most natives especially in the southwest don't even look down on mexicans in there heart. maybe you haven't any interaction with us canadian loving southwest natives. Ha Ha! just playing Skaroreh

skaroreh

Well Salt River...

When I say it's aggrivating to me, it's not because of what the Mexicans expect or don't expect from us.

What's aggrivating to me is when we as native people look down on other native people-- and you might not see it, but I see it a lot. I've seen the reactions people have when they hear I'm married to a Mexican... and if I use the term Mexica or Azteca-- watch out. People get all high and mighty and start rolling their eyes and all that. It's this attitude of superiority and it just seems so hypocritical to me.

These very same U.S. Indians who seem to look down on the natives of Mexico don't blink an eye when it comes to Canadian natives.

My view is that we must be forgetting that the white people are the ones that established the borders.

For example, why is it that Indians in the U.S. and Canada have special border-passing rights that were protected by the Jay Treaty, however Mexican natives have never had those same rights? I think it's discriminatory and unfair.

My opinion is just that if Mexican natives try to get involved with or take interest in our powwows and things of that nature up here, we have no business rolling our eyes at them or treating them any differently than we would other natives from the U.S. or Canada. They might be new to some of that, but let's face it, a good portion of the U.S. that now powwows is new to it... meaning it's something they've just picked up in the last several decades.

You said...

I don't think they're mixed up. I think what it is is that they recognize and embrace the fact that they are more than just Mexicans... more than just Latinos... more than just Aztecs... etc. In other words, they see themselves as having this indigenous heritage... but they realize that to the world at large they are Mexicans or Latinos. They can be all of those things. Just like I can be Tuscarora and I can be American and I can also be called Mestiza because I'm mixed. I don't have to pigeonhole myself into just one category. I am all of the above. (And by the way... Chicano is for someone born in the states to Mexican parent(s). Someone born in Mexico doesn't typically refer to themself as "Chicano". Not trying to be nit-picky... just wanted those people who aren't familiar with these terms to know the deal.)

As for Mexicans in the U.S. not wanting to be seen as native in the first place... well... in terms of not being confused with the natives from here, that's one thing. Their traditions are different than ours... just as there are traditions that are different all over north and south America. However I've not yet met a Mexican who doesn't wish people would realize that they are just as entitled to travel freely on this continent as anyone else is... why? Because they're indigenous to it. They ARE native to it.

I have seen growing numbers of Mexicans-- at least around here-- who have taken some interest in going to powwows and checking out the local Indian communities. From what I gather, they tend to do this for different reasons. Some are just curious... while others are interested in developing friendships and relationships within these communities-- because something about them reminds them of home. Despite some linguistic and/or cultural differences. In a lot of ways, it also inspires some of them to take greater pride in their own native heritage... that pride being something that the Spaniards wasted no time and energy trying to take away from them.... just as some of the white people here did with us and our ancestors.

I understand what you're saying about some of us here in the states having strong alliances with natives up north. I'm Tuscarora, after all, and even though I don't spend much time up north, the Tuscarora are the 6th Nation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) and we are spread out from down here in the south all the way up to Canada.

But has anyone stopped to ask themselves why we have more alliances with the Indian people up north than down south?

Is it because we here in the states and the ones up north are better than the ones down south of the border?

No.

Is it because during colonization, the vast majority of us here in the states and Canada suffered at the hands of English-speaking conquerers while the ones down in Mexico suffered at the hands of Spanish-speaking conquerers? Hmmm... that just might have something to do with it.

Just because we've been divided the last hundred and fifty years or so by a border does that mean we should always look at ourselves as divided and so different? I don't think so. I think it's good to embrace our native cousins from anywhere-- north or south.

I know in a lot of ways this might be making a mountain out of a molehill... after all, like you said, for the most part you don't even see Mexicans getting involved with us a whole lot here... I'm just saying that when they do, we should be nice and welcoming and not snobby and condescending.

I just hope my son doesn't experience what I've seen my husband and other Mexican friends of mine experience simply because he has a spanish surname. Boy... I could tell you some stories you wouldn't believe about things I've heard people say, making excuses for how they want to exclude Indians not from the U.S. or Canada... whether it's as powwow vendors (like Quichua Indians from Ecuador) or wanting to be involved in things in some other way.

Oh well... I've been standing on this soap box so long. I guess it's time for me to step down and take rest. :D

I appreciate the thoughts in your post, though, Salt River. :) I guess you gave me a good opportunity to explain myself some more. LOL

cutemia

I have also seen the Mexican Flag in one or two powwows, and i know a lot of natives from Mexico who don't like to be put in categories like, Latinos, Hispanics and such. They like to be known as natives or Aztecs,Zapotecs, or what ever their tribal affiliation is.

I know that many kept their native tong and culture its just not heard of as much in the US. They have something similar to a powwow in the southern states once a year ...forgot what it's called...but hundreds of natives join together and share there different styles of dancing and regalia. I would like to see some dancers from here go down and share our songs and dances too, that would be so cool. Some here in California are very supportive of our issues and struggles, they respect our traditions. i know some are just not as in toon with powwows and all, at the end we all need to be open minded and remember how we all are steel ajusting to the society we live in.

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Wojapi4Me

Man, look at all the PC responses LOL :)

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Kiwehnzii

Maybe it's because we put some jammin' powwows on up here, homes.

La + * Mom