Hispanics Native Americans

1
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
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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

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At first, Aztecs 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

4
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

5
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)

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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.

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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 youre 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.

8
Mexican INALI

• In 1948, and then later in 2003, Mexicos
  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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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 cant buy Indian Land
• Laid out relationship between Feds and Indians

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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

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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

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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
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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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So, Whats 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

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Problems with HispanicCensus 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 persons 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.

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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