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
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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
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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
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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 
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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
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“Mexicans” are the only ethnic group other than
American Indians to have their land removed by
conquest, and to have treaty rights.
Mexican Revolution 1910Constitution 1917
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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
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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
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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
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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 languages
The Top Fifteen
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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
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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.
Oregon Native Language Speakers
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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
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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’
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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
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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
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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
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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
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s
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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
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 Gives
Natives Suffrage Rights
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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?
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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 selfidentified ‘
Problems with ‘Hispanic’
Census reporting
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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
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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
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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
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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