Figure 1.--This Rarámuri boy of the Sierra Tarahumara in northern Mexico was probably photographed in the 1950s. He is wearing traditionasl clothing. He ptobanly lived on a ejido. Children attended a local Catholic mission school. |
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The principal Mexican minority groups are Indian communitirs located throughout the country. Mexicans use the term indios or indigenas. There are many different tribes in Mexico. The only tribe which HBC has worked on at this time is the Aztecs which dominated central Mexico at the time of the Conquest. Native Americans are a bit different than the United States where Native Ameican groups are a very small part of the population. Native Americans in fact make up a major part of the Mexivan population in that most Mexicans have both Spanish and Native American ancestors. The Indian minorities are generally pure blood individuals living in communities that are culturally destinct from the overall Mexican national culture. Many of these Native American cultures still speak indigenous languages. Many lived on ejidos, communal organizations created during the Revolution. The ejidos have declined in recent years as a result of poor management and Government market reforms. Native American groups in Oaxaca have staged a rebellion from the authoity of the national Government.
The principal Mexican minority groups are Indian communitirs located throughout the country. Mexicans use the term indios or indigenas. There are many different tribes in Mexico. Native Americans are a bit different than the United States where Native Ameican groups are a very small part of the population if you count the mestiços as such. Native Americans in fact make up a major part of the Mexican population in that most Mexicans have both Spanish and Native American ancestors. Thus the natives Americans are more a minority in the cultural sence.
The two best knoewn Mexican Native Amerrican civilizations are Aztecs which dominated central Mexico at the time of the Conquest and the Maya which dominated the south. The Maya of course also inhabited areas of Central America, especially modern Guatemala. These were just the two most important civilizations. Mexico also has a large number of less well known tribes of various sizes and importance. One of the most important historically are the Olmec which appear to be the ancestors of the Maya. Some of the most difficult tribes to cinquer were in northern Mexico. A factor here is that morthern Mexico is arid. This meant that unlike central Mexico, the gricultural value was much more limited. Thus Spanish/Mexican sttlers were less interested in the land. One of the northern tribes was the Rarámuri/Tarahumara found in the Upper Sierra of northern Mexico. Another was the Apache whose labds straddle the border with the United States. The tribes which resisted most fiercely was the Yaqui. Fighting was limited untilnsilver was discovered in the Yaqui Valley (18th century). The Spanish/Mexican were forced to fight the Yaqui Wars for 400 years.
The Indian minorities are generally pure blood individuals living in communities that are culturally destinct from the overall Mexican national culture. Many of these Native American cultures still speak indigenous languages. Many lived on ejidos, communal organizations created during the Revolution. The ejidos have declined in recent years as a result of poor management and Government market reforms. Native American groups in Oaxaca have staged a rebellion from the authoity of the national Government.
Both the government and private organizations are actively promoting the native culture. A HBC reader writes, "In Creel we visited a bookshop that sells religious and general educational books most of which have been translated into the Tarahumara language by father Luis Verplancken, a Mexican of Flemish descent. An example of a government initiative is the Instituto Chihuahuaense de la Cultura who are posting Tarahumara poetry in public places which appears to be an excellent method to boast these peoples' self-esteem.
One aspect of the Native american culture is destinctive clothing and especially weaving. As far as we know there is no destinctive styles for children. Boys and girls simply wear smaller versions of the clothes worn by their parents. There were variations from tribe to tribe. The Mexican tribes were gebnerally conquered in the 16th century, three centuries before the tribes in the United States. Many were brought together in missions or reduced to serfs working as encomienda labor. Gradually the encomiendas were converted to haciendas. The Native Americans were thus very strongly indluenced by Spanish culture. This included religion and many other mstters included clothing. Thus even when we see Mexican native Americans in ethbic clothing, we are not entirely sure how accurately it reflercts pre-conquest clothing. There are records from the Spanish colonial era describing native dress, but this varies widely from tribe to tribe. The most extensive records are from the Aztec and Maya because of their importance and existence of written records.
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