respuestas published

How does Indigenous
Erasure IMPACT
Latines?
BY TOMMY CORREA
12
Saludos, amiguis. To know who you are is to know where you come from. However, over the centuries,
Europeans have done so much to obscure the Indigenous presence on these continents, and now much of our oral
and family histories have been hidden away from us. For Latines with at least some Indigenous
ancestry, tracing our lineages back is like trying to map the stars, but the further you venture back, the more
pollution there is blocking them out. The obscurity from our ancestries leads to a plethora of
questions.
When it comes to understanding one’s Indigenous roots, there is a spectrum of sorts. On one end, there are those
that deny their Indigenous roots, and on the other, those who hold strongly to their Indigenous roots with any other
mindset imaginable in between. Now, let’s hear what questions and answers other
Indigenous Latines at UCLA have to share along this spectrum.
Dr. Lauren Guerra, professor
Dr. Lauren Guerra, a lecturer here in the Chicanx and Central American Studies Department, is Guatemalan and
Ecuadorian. She reveals one part of this spectrum as she is aware of her Indigenous roots but
“unfortunately has been rather disconnected from” them and does not know which tribe her family is from. Although
she had limited exposure to Indigenous traditions growing up, Dr. Guerra notes that Indigenous practices have
carried on through her syncretic faith of curandería and brujería. When asked if being
unaware of her Indigenous roots has ever created any questions for her, Dr. Guerra answered, “The best way to
describe myself is that I don’t fit perfectly in a box. I embrace the complexity!”
José María, second-year Cucapá
Conversely, José María, a second-year student, knows of their Cucapá roots in Baja California. José María traces
their lineage back to their grandmother. They tell us, “My grandmother (who was the only one who knew our
mother tongue) didn’t teach my aunts so they wouldn’t be discriminated against in school. My grandmother took
care of me growing up from time to time so she tried to teach me our language.” Their story is an example of the
tragic yet common reason Indigenous languages die out. It is either abandon one’s Indigenous culture, or keep it at
risk of discrimination.
Being Indigenous to this continent but not to the United States created questions for José María growing up. Under
the impression that “American Indian” was for Natives of the U.S. alone rather than the whole
continent, they were rather unsure of how to answer when asked about their race on documents after
coming to the U.S.