respuestas published

Another question that arose for José María was why people were treating their mother with more Cucapá features
differently than those in their family with less Indigenous features. They recall, “...growing up, strangers would often
question if my mom was really my mom simply because she was more Indigenous looking, which I didn’t
understand at the time why, but now I realize they were being colorist and thought there was no way this
Indigenous woman could have a white child.”
Olivia Salazar, second-year Zapotec
Olivia Salazar is a second year student coming from the Zapotecs of Oaxaca. She grew up aware of her Zapotec
roots, learning the stories passed down to her from her grandparents; however, she did not grasp the “richness” of
her roots until high school. It was not until then that Salazar began to push back against Eurocentrism by leaning
into her Zapotec roots.
Knowing about her ancestry and being involved in Indigenous circles, she sees clearly where Indigenous peoples
tend to fall across the various American societies: at the bottom. Despite being toward the bottom of the social
pyramid, she notes that it is oftentimes Indigenous people that “produce the labor that keeps our respective countries
running.” However, with all the knowledge Salazar has gained, she still makes note that “most cultural stories
and language are lost to us.”
Across these three stories, we see some of the different ways that knowledge of our Indigenous ancestries carries
on, or how a lack thereof can lead to issues at times. With so much work to erase Indigenous peoples off of this
continent both in the past and present, it becomes difficult to understand our world now. Even then, Indigenous ways
of life have endured, either through faith or food or some place else. With such beautiful customs and languages, it
is a shame that the view of our Indigenous ancestors and their ways of life have become murky with pollution. We
are left with a handful of stars and dreams of nights past, when they all shimmered across the sky.
Visual by Tommy Correa
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