No Turtle Island Without The Tribes Of Mexico

“ The issue with denying and refusing to see Indigenous People, despite their color, is not about my personal feelings. It is that Indigenous people are dying. If you erase our Indigenous identity. Then you are literally erasing the same struggles you are fighting up North for Land Back, for water, for culture, for language and everything. You are literally denying that. “ These are the words of Tais, a Nahua Two Spirit originally from Xochimilco, (Field Of Flowers) Mexico. Tais is an Activist and Historian with a Masters in Refugee Studies. Today, on the day of Indigenous People’s Day, formerly a tainted day known as Columbus Day - Indigenous people in America mourn the genocide that began in 1492. For Native people, we have long known Columbus as the one who brought in “ The Long Winter “ that is responsible for millions of deaths of our people. We are lucky that any of us have survived.

There is a double standard that many of us Natives near, below or along the border have to endure. It is important to recognize that the Indigenous people of the “ Americas “ were colonized by three different types of Europeans: the French, the Spaniards & the Britanics. Due to colonization, the general consensus among Native people is that if you’re First Nations and speak English/French/Tribal Tongue you’re still Native. If you are in America and speak English/Tribal Tongue you are still Native. However, if you live in Mexico or along the border - if you speak any Spanish language at all, you have your Indigeneity taken from you - you are now referred to as Latin or Hispanic. It is important to recognize that the Spanish language was brutally forced on Native people down south. If speaking English doesn’t make me Britanic, then what makes them Latin or Hispanic? In a similar fashion to African descendants brought to the “ Americas “ from the Slave Trade - Native people also got our last names from our oppressors, from those that murdered us, from those who stole our identity, from those who stole our freedom. In context, you shouldn’t be too surprised by Natives with a Spanish last name if you’re not surprised by Natives with English or French last names. In speaking with Tais, I asked her how that exclusion feels when often times being Indigenous in Mexico and living on your Ancestral Lands - there is still exclusion. “ It is not so much as exclusion. We don’t understand each other’s existence. That’s problematic because it does bring exclusion. It also brings erasure. It brings exclusion in the sense because we were colonized in different ways. The whole continent has experienced colonization very differently. We were colonized in Canada, America, South America, Central America and Mexico. I think the part of Turtle Island that is U.S. and Canada were colonized in a very similar way in which that they experienced ethnic cleansing, blood quantum, the suffering in reservations, residential schools was very different to us. Mexico is a giant open-air reservation without federally recognized tribes. There must be an Emphasis on the colonial borders. By independence Mexico was Mesoamerican borders - countries and divisions are colonial constructs. The education system is still Eurocentric. Tribal people are in extreme poverty - the native identity of the mostly brown folk is erased. Struggles are happening everywhere, land is being taken back and solidarity without borders is needed among all peoples. Yes at a personal level I feel excluded from virtual spaces I’ve tried to create links with to promote solidarity and been accused of appropriating - been mocked or attacked, even though I come from the pueblo originally. All because I migrated to the UK. A lot of it is we don't know about each other but some of it is perpetuating negative stereotypes of savages and colonial lies."

Speaking as a Nednhi band of Chiricahua Apache, I often meet other Natives who are so colonized that like non-native Americans, they believe that Tribal Borders end where colonial borders do. I have even met other Apaches who are unaware that half of our Apache people are in Mexico. Apacheria (home of all Apache) includes parts of Arizona, about half of New Mexico, farwest Texas, most of the state of Chihuahua, Mexico and surrounding areas. I do acknowledge the many other tribes that lived in and around us in their Ancestral Lands as well. It is important as Native People to never erase each other. How come we are allowed to be Apache but our relatives in Mexico are not? So because they speak the colonial language Spanish, they’re not Apache anymore? If they’re not federally recognized in the U.S. they’re no longer Apache because they are on the wrong side of the colonial border? There is much to be said about both the pros and cons of being federally recognized. However, we should never treat Native People who are not Federally recognized like they are not Native. Most of the many reasons some Indigenous People are not Federally recognized is always rooted in colonialism. During the release of a book, I met with other Indigenous People in the area to hear descendants of Crazy Horse about their story of survival. People from many different tribes had come to listen to our Lakota relatives share the truths of their survival. So here we were, Natives from different tribes sharing important information about how we managed to still be alive. I met an Apache Elder from the Bedonkohe band of Chiricahua Apache. He approached me after hearing me introduce myself during the Q&A in our Western Apache Language, also known as Abaachii Miizaa. This Apache Elder shared the story of his family’s survival. His Grandparents lied about who they were and wrote down “ Hispanic “ on the census in order to survive Genocide. All modes of survival in the Native American Holocaust are valid, we should be ecstatic that any of us even survived. This Bedonkohe Elder mentioned that he and his family were not allowed to learn their language, they were instead forced to learn English/Spanish so that they could much more easily camouflage into this Hispanic population. This experience is something many Native people did to survive. Many of us were not allowed to learn our Tribal Tongues, many of us had Grandparents who purposely kept our true identities from us just to ensure our survival. Yet another double standard that Native people experience. Many survivors, particularly the white passing survivors of other Genocides world wide are applauded and praised for the lengths they went through to survive their Genocide. However, that is something that us Native People never experience. So often Non-natives look for reasons to invalidate Native people and to police our Indigeneity, even if we did what we had to in order to survive the Native American Holocaust. Us Apache people are just one of the many tribes cut in half by the colonial border. We are just one of the many tribes that have long lived on their Ancestral Lands in Mexico.

One of the biggest issues that Native people have grown accustomed to is that some of our own communities have become so colonized - some of our own people are doing the colonizing. We see many other Native people stripping the indigeneity of other Indigenous people or even laughing at other Native people for just now learning their language, for learning their ways or having questions about our customs. We don’t just need to Decolonize, we need to Indigenize and not just ourselves. If your Decolonization is not actively including and accepting the Indigenous People of " The Americas " without including the mind frame of Ancestral Lands precolonial borders - then you are not pro Turtle Island, you are then only fighting for the Indigenous rights of federally recognized Natives in the U.S. and Canada. Our ancestors were not Federally recognized before 1492. Being federally recognized does help our people, primarily with Treaty Rights for Native People who are enrolled in a Sovereign Tribal Nation but we harm other Native people by excluding them because they are not federally recognized. Do remember there are still tribes in America that are currently fighting to get federally recognized as we celebrate another Indigenous People’s Day. What use is it to speak of the prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor if you are not recognizing that the tribes of Mexico are also a part of The Eagle, we must also not forget that it is not just The Eagle and The Condor. It is The Eagle, The Quetzal and The Condor. “ Unless we all three parts unite, the prophecy will never come true “ said Tais. “ The Genocides of the many Indigenous peoples of what is now the ‘ The Americas ‘ from Alaska to Argentina. It has never been recognized for the 530 years of cultural and physical genocide. It has been colonization and the problem with that is there are many other genocides that have also not been recognized in the world. Obviously the reason for that is racial theory, colonization, land and the identities. Some historians say that the colonization of Native people was not the bad. It is treated like it is a civilizing enterprise, like it is benevolent “ said Tais. “ The whole idea of erasing the Indigenous identity in Latin America is genocide. They call us Mestizos - we are born and educated to believe that we are Mesitzos/mixed races. They teach us to think that we are not Indigenous but aspiring to be white “ said Tais. We must keep in mind in the intricate conniving ways that colonialism has taken place, Native people come in different shades and with different hair textures. We don’t need to just embrace the light skin Native people working to save our people, to be a part of our culture - we also need to include our Afro-Indigenous relatives who are also working to ensure our future and to be a part of our culture. I had asked Tais about the double standards that make Natives south of the border feel excluded. They responded “ because you had to register. You know what tribe you’re from. In Mexico we totally lost that, we are told that we are all Mestizos. “ It is absolutely true, Native people throughout the “ Americas “ and Carribeans have experienced colonization differently, hence why it is conniving. “ Probably the reason people in Canada and America think we’re not Native is because the people of Mexico and South America who are brown have no idea who they are. You have to relearn your culture if you’re not born in an Indigenous setting or into the culture. The conversation about race is always black and white. For us, we are brown but we are expected to go one way or the other. There is so no space for different shades of brown. We are raised to believe that it is not colonization but just an encounter of two cultures. I was born in America because America is a continent. It is not our fault that it is actually Turtle Island. It is something I thought I would never have experienced when trying to connect with Indigenous people everywhere. The sense of having to explain my whole life about my family, my ancestors and my land. It is like they give you imposter’s syndrome. They make you feel like you are not real and that you have to prove it. What we should focus on is the actual struggles of the Indigenous peoples, not just in the U.S. and Canada but everywhere. “

You know it’s ironic, even the terms NDN Taco and just Tacos. All tacos are Indigenous. Native people created the bread known as Tortillas. Our original Tortillas were first made from Corn, a common Sacred vegetable that plays a pivotal role in many creation stories. Corn for us is Sacred. You may not have realized it but the reason most Native people love Mexican food is because most Mexican food is Native. The root of the word Mexican is the term Mexica, that was the original name of the Aztec Tribe prior to being renamed Aztecs by the Conquistadors. “ Indigeneity is not what the colonizers say. It’s what we know we are. Most importantly there are Indigenous people fighting all over the ‘ Americas ‘ right now. We need to support each other and many don’t even have access to the internet “ said Tais. We are more than just friends but siblings and colleagues. As you can imagine, Tais and I can talk for hours. She’s a valuable mind with so much wisdom to share. Tais has so much to offer in terms of not just Decolonization but Re-Indigenizing. So as we move forward with Indigenous People’s Day, remember to include all Indigenous People and not just the ones with a Tribal Card.

by Marcy Angeles: Artist, Writer, Musician, Journalist & Public Speaker