Hispanics Native Americans – Mexicans, and Indians

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

2. 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

3. At first, Aztec’s 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)

6. “Mexicans” are the only ethnic group other than American Indians to have their land removed by conquest, and to have treaty rights. Parallel to American Indians

7. 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… 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.

8. Mexican INALI • 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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 can’t buy Indian Land • Laid out relationship between Feds and Indians

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. So, What’s 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 ‘

25. 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 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.” Problems with ‘Hispanic’Census reporting

26. 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 Conclusions