Hispanics Native Americans – Mexicans, and Indians

What role does language play in defining these groups?

Alvin Benjamin Cota

Darci Monroe

Oregon Council for the Social Studies

March 2, 2013

Three issues to deal with

The general history of Mexicans and their languages

The general history of American Indians, and their languages

How does this history affect the modern-day ‘definitions’ of these groups

At first, Aztec’s Nahuatl, was Second Official Language of New Spain

Shortly after 1521 conquest of Tenochtitlan, Nahuatl used by Spanish conquerers to communicate with Native soldiers

Latinized and written version of Nahuatl developed by Spaniards

Books, official documents, plays written in Latinized Nahuatl

1570 King Philip of Spain declares Nahuatl “official language of New Spain and colonies”

Later, Nahuatl and other languages supressed

1696 King Charles II bans the use of any language other than Spanish throughout the Spanish Empire.

1700 All indigenous languages banned

Mexican War, 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo -

Ceded more than half Mexican land to US

Had specific provisions to protect Mexico from Apache and Comanche attacks

Was first time US offered citizenship to non-whites (Mexicans now living in the US)

Parallel to American Indians

“Mexicans” are the only ethnic group other than American Indians to have their land removed by conquest, and to have treaty rights.

Mexican Revolution 1910- Constitution 1917

Revolutionary Constitution of 1917 recognized rights of Natives, bilingualism, rights to ‘communities,’

Defines ‘Indian-ness’ .. If you live in an Indian community, and obey its laws, customs, and language… you’re Indian

Aside: if you can only read one other Constitution besides the US, this one also lists labor rights, severely limits the power and property rights of religions, etc.

Of course, seldom enforced.

Mexican INALI

In 1948, and then later in 2003, Mexico’s Congress created the INALI, or Indigenous Language Institute

Operates over 1,000 boarding school facilities, operates 20 Native Language radio stations, documents and supports Native languages

Speakers of Mexican Indian Languages

Nahuatl - 1,376,026 Maya - 759,000 Mixteco – 423,216 Zapoteco - 410,901 Tzeltal - 371,730 Plus 63 other

languages for a total of 6.5 million

American Indian Languages Scarce

Today, very few American Indians speak Native languages.

Only 365,000 American Indians speak their native language

2010 US Census indicates 2.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives

Language is important, but not necessary

US Indian languagesThe Top Fifteen

8,000 Ojibwa, EasternMichigan 6,413 Zuni, New Mexico 6,213 Muskogee, Oklahoma; Alabama;

Florida 6,000 Lakota, Nebraska; Minnesota;

North Dakota; South Dakota; Montana 5,264 Hopi, Arizona; Utah; New

Mexico 4,580 Keres, Eastern New Mexico 4,280 Crow, Montana

TOTAL US Native Language speakers 363, 995 - B. Grimes (1996). Ethnologue: Languages of the world.

148,530 NavajoArizona; Utah; New Mexico; Utah

35,000 Ojibwa, WesternMontana; Lake Superior; North Dakota

20,355 Dakota, Nebraska; Minnesota; North Dakota; South Dakota; Montana

17,890 Choctaw, Oklahoma 12,693Apache, WesternArizona 11,905 Cherokee Oklahoma; North

Carolina 11,819 Papago-Pima, Arizona 10,000 Yupik, CentralAlaska

Oregon Native Language Speakers

Kalapuya 1 Coos 1 Tolowa 5 Chetco 5 Tutuni 10 Chinook Wawa 17 Nez Perce 20 Umatilla 50 Wasco-Wishram 69 Klamath-Modoc 88 Sahaptian 100 Walla Walla 100 Tenino 200 TOTAL (Unesco) – 661

American Indians Earn First Reservation, after French-Indian War

1763 Treaty of Paris ends the French-Indian War in favor of Britain

King George III signs the Proclamation of 1763 reserving land west of the Allegheny Mountains for Indians.

1787 US Constitution Declares Indians ‘Domestic Dependent Nations’

Gives Congress, not President authority over American Indians

Does not define “Indian-ness’ nor does it mention language

States that the Federal Government has the ‘duty to protect’ the tribes

Triple Threat – Marshall Trilogy 1823 -32

Three court decisions establish and solidify the ideas that:

Only Federal Government, not States, can rule over tribes

Private citizens can’t buy Indian Land Laid out relationship between Feds and

Indians

Dawes Act Distributes land, starts ‘Indianness’ division

Inspired by Homestead Act, gives male Indian head of family 160 acres to farm.

The leftover land is sold as ‘surplus’ to White settlers, farmers.

Oklahoma Land Rush best example, ‘Sooners’ Created lists of Tribal members.. ‘Dawes Rolls’ for

eligibility.. Even White Europeans wanted to get on, for benefits

Did not start ‘blood quantum’ .. That was first created in 1705, when Virginia wanted to limit some Indian rights

1887 Dawes Act Goals

breaking up of tribes as a social unit ((assimilation as farmers))

encouraging individual initiatives

furthering the progress of native farmers

reducing the cost of native administration

securing parts of the reservations as Indian land

opening the remainder of the land to white settlers for profit

ALL Goals will repeat in 1954 Indian Termination Acts

Dawes Act Results

Land owned by Indians decreased from 138 million acres (560,000 km2) in 1887 to 48 million acres

About 90,000 Native Americans were made landless

Created registry rolls that Tribes still refer to

acres

Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 Gives Natives Suffrage Rights

Because Constitutionally, American Indians are part of a ‘foreign nation,’ not every Indian was technically a US citizen

Paths to citizenship included assimilation, giving up rights to land, intermarriage etc.

1924 Act gave voting rights to about 130,00 Natives

1934 Indian Reorganization Act

Gave Natives Rights to form Councils, Govern

Many Tribes developed ‘blood quantum’ rules for membership

Other Tribes used the Dawes Rolls, or other documents to prove membership

1954 Indian Termination Act

Parallels original Dawes Allotment Act In order to reduce cost of administration, to

‘help’ Natives assimilate 100 Tribes are terminated, total Burden falls heaviest on Oregon, where 61

tribes were terminated, starting with the Klamath

Klamath, Western Oregon Tribes Shut Down

Most, but not all Natives were paid for land This payment terminated their Federal

protected status as Natives Goal was to ‘help assimilate’ Natives, push

them into cities to find jobs Like Dawes Act, ‘surplus’ land was sold to

private owners Natives had no official Federal status

Klamath, Coquille Restored

By 1986, some Oregon Tribes fought and won long court battles to restore tribe

Tribal governments found it difficult to ‘find’ all their old members

Termination adversely affected poverty, education, health, and language retention

So, What’s the Deal With Being Hispanic?

Prior to 1970, US Census almost always coded Mexicans or Mexican-Americans as ‘White’

Only exception was the Census of 1930, which included a ‘Mexican’ category

Several attempts at a category included self-identified ‘

Problems with ‘Hispanic’Census reporting

For example, in 2000, 40 percent of the Mexican-origin population in California reported as "white," while 53 percent reported as "other race." In Texas, 60 percent of the same population reported as "white," while only 36 percent reported as "other race." – Migration Policy Institute

1970 - Is this person’s origin or descent—“ and the response categories were: “Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, Other Spanish,” and “No, none of these.”

1980 - “Is this person of Spanish/Hispanic origin or descent?” The possible responses were: “No (not Spanish/Hispanic); Yes, Mexican, Mexican-Amer., Chicano; Yes, Puerto Rican; Yes, Cuban; Yes, other Spanish/Hispanic.”

Conclusions

MEXICO: Indians in Mexico are

Indians by custom, language, and location

If you live in, and are involved in an Indian community, you are Indian

You can officially be both Hispanic and Indian

UNITED STATES: Indians in the United States

are Indians by law Tribal membership is usually

based on blood quantum (or official certificate), direct geneology, or ancestry.

(Grande Ronde only requires 1/16 blood, Arizona Yaqui ¼)

Language plays no formal part in ‘Indian-ness’

If you are American Indian, you are unlikely to call yourself Hispanic