Haciendo y deshaciendo se va aprendiendo: Transnational reflections on Xicana and Ñuu Savi collaborations
I’m Gastón and I’ll be your storyteller!
For the last 18 years, my human has worked with and for Ñuu Savi (Mixtec) communities in California. She has also taught Chicanx and Native American Studies for 7 years. Today’s reflection is based on numerous conversations with her students about being in solidarity with contemporary Indigenous communities while grappling with their own colonial histories and challenges.
These experiences pushed her to confront her own ties to coloniality.
This meant contending with the tensions between Indigenous, mestize & Xicane communities, listening to our Ñuu Savi, Bene Xhon & Nahua friends, elders, & youth talk about their lived realities & persistent antiIndigenous discrimination both in the US & Mexico. I remember the Mexican kids would make fun of
Before all this, my human grew up & went to school in California & Guerrero. At an early age, was conscious of her multiple subjectivities in each place.
I would like to continue this reflection with some anecdotes demonstrating some challenges when attempting to (re)connect to Indigenous heritages.
Anecdote 1: The tattoo
If I got a Chac Mool tattoo would it be cultural appropriation because I’m not Mayan?
We’llhowdoyouknow you’renotMayan?They hadsuchabiginfluence everywhere.
Oh you ’ re right. And like my dad’s side of the family is from Oaxaca so that’s like kinda close, right?
Yeah totally! You should do a DNA test!
Anecdote 2: How long?
As a Xicana with blurry ties to my Indigeneity, it's crucial not to reduce Indigenous Peoples to the past. Seeing which Indigenous people are in the state your family is from doesn't mean that that identity is now yours, there’s a relational piece missing.
Okay, but how long before I can start identifying as Indigenous?!
Anecdote 3: The
Celebrating Day of the Dead is so important because we honor our Indigenous heritage!
Yes, I agree! I love your blouse. Where did you get it?
itfrom a oaxaq**ta
Phew!Iknow thatwas a lot, butthe examples allude to how we often rely on romanticizedor folkloric versions of Indigeneity detachedfrompresent-day Indigenous Peoples andissues. This makes solidarity efforts incredibly difficult.
First, reconnection cannot be an individualistic journey.
Yalalteca scholar Ariadna Solís argues that we must discuss Indigenous historical continuity rather than just ancestry or roots.
For her, “Indigenous” encompasses genealogical, epistemological, political, and historical contexts, not just an identity.
Second, we must unpack the colonial histories we and our families embody. We can’t for instance, celebrate Indigenous ancestry &, in the same breath, use derogatory terms to refer to Indigenous Peoples.
That’s right! If you romanticize me, you dehumanize me.
Anti-colonialapproaches to education mustinclude our ability to respondto the multiple realities, including the colonialhistories we embody (Calderón, 2014).
As we delve into our histories and build relations with Indigenous relatives, it's vital not to adopt the settler state's narrative of individualism.
It also means recognizing the difference between reclaiming one ’ s history and being claimed by a people (Ybarra, 2023).
Finding unity between Indigenous Peoples of the Global North and South is very important, but we must also respect their unique differences. Recognizing these differences and parallel experiences helps us appreciate the distinct yet interconnected struggles.
By embracing tensions and feedback, we can undo and redo our approaches to better foster a space of possibility that respects diverse Indigenous Peoples' present and futures and reveals the complexities of identification.
I’m nothere to tell you what todo of course! Instead,I offer tools to process.
gMydreamistoengageina rowingdialoguethatmoves beyondidentitypolicing frameworks&insteadforges networksofsolidarity.
These lessons remind me of something my human’s Mami says...
Haciendo y deshaciendo se va aprendiendo.
“Our journeys are distinct and yet braided - and in that difference exists possibility rather than tension. Willingness to learn from each other” (Tachine et al., 2022).
The journey of reconnection has no final destination. It is an ongoing process that must be in relation & in solidarity with contemporary Indigenous Peoples and communities, beyond settler borders.
Thankyou for joining me on this reflective journey.
WGastón! here are you?!
Kovats Sánchez, 2024 Tierray Libertad Gotta go!My human would like to give a shout-out to her friends and thought partners Velma Calvario, Melissa Mesinas & John Alvarado. They have some great things in store for us!
References
Alberto, L. (2012). Topographies of Indigenism: Mexico, decolonial Indigenism, and the Chicana transnational subject in Ana Castillo’s Mixquiahuala letters. In M. B. Castellanos, L. Gutierrez Nájera, & A. J. Aldama (Eds.), Comparative indigeneities of the Américas: Toward a hemispheric approach (pp. 38-52). University of Arizona Press.
Alberto, L. (2016). Nations, nationalisms, and Indígenas: The “Indian” in the Chicano revolutionary imaginary. Critical Ethnic Studies, 2, 107-127.
Calderón, D. (2014). Anticolonial methodologies in education: Embodying land and indigeneity in Chicana feminisms. Journal of Latino/Latin American Studies, 6(2), 81-96.
Chacón, G. E. (2017). Metamestizaje and the narration of political movements from the south. Latino Studies, 15, 182-200.
Gutiérrez Chong, N. (2012). Mitos nacionalistas e identidades étnicas: Los intelectuales indígenas y el estado mexicano. Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales, UNAM.
Kovats Sánchez, G. (2024). Cultivating kinship and refusal in Indigenous diaspora. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 1–16.
Kovats Sánchez, G. (2021). “If we don’t do it, nobody is going to talk about it”: Indigenous Students Disrupting Monolithic Notions of Latinidad at Hispanic Serving Institutions. AERA Open.
Kovats Sánchez, G. (2019). Affirming Indigeneity in Public Spaces: Indigenous Mexican Testimonios About Higher Education (Doctoral dissertation).
Kovats Sánchez, G. (2018). Reaffirming Indigenous Identity: Understanding Experiences of Stigmatization and Marginalization among Mexican Indigenous College Students. Journal of Latinos and Education. 1–14.
Solis Bautista, A. I. (2021). ¿Miradas desde adentro? Dinámicas de representación de mujeres yalaltecas en la actualidad. Revista Digital Universitaria, 22 (3).
Tachine, A. R., Patel, P. R., & Daché, A. Z. (2022). Time-traveling through land and sea: unearthing the past to cultivate seeds of present and future solidarity. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 35(5), 496-509.
Urrieta, L. (2017). Identity, violence, and authenticity: Challenging static conceptions of Indigeneity. Latino Studies, 15, 254-261.
Ybarra, M. (2023). Indigenous to where? Homelands and nation (pueblo) in Indigenous Latinx studies. Latino Studies, 21(1), 22-41.