And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: "Frank Blazquez" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Mexika people and the 2000 Census... Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Tiahui, My name is Tekpatltzin (colonized name Frank). I have been receiving your news at my home email address ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) for some time now. I don't want to get into a long introduction at this time but suffice it to say there are many of us Mexika (history books remember us as Aztecs) currently living in the USA that have not lost connection with our indigenous past. The Mexika, Maya, Raramuri, Purepecha, Totonoc, Tlaxkalan, Mixteca, Huasteca, Otomi, Zapoteca, Huichole are but a few of the Nations that exist in Mexico and the US (North America) today. Here in Chicago-Aurora we are also involved with assisting our youths in the large urban areas. This assistance comes basically in the form of support. Whether spiritual, cultural, social or just listening we are there for them as our Elders were there for us. Over 75% of Mexican people are of Native or indigenous blood. Our own people have been assimilated by both the Spaniards and the English to forget our past. In 1521 (August 13) ancient pre-hispanic Mexico was taken over by Cortez. But many of our ancestors never submitted to the "Hispanicization" programming and as a result we the descendants are waking up after a 500 year deep sleep. This is not an anti-Euro movement, as I always point out. We can't change the history, but we can heal ourselves today by taking control of our Destiny. So this is a pro indigenous movement. My home page is: http://home.earthlink.net/~mexicapride We are also working with inmates from all over the country. ........ We are in the planning stages of requesting official recognition, sometime next year. I offer you the following article re: 2000 Census.... Mexika Tiahui Mitakuye Oyasin Tekpatltzin speaker for Kalpulli Yetlanezi-Tolteka 13 (spiritual longhouse-clan) Chicago-Aurora-Teotihuakan Dear Friends and Colleagues: >for your info > >William Velez >DEpartment of Sociology >University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee >P.O. Box 413 >Milwaukee, WI 53201 >Phone:414-229-4809 >From: Midwest Consortium for Latino Research <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: Midwest Consortium for Latino Research <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: 2000 Census Article > >Message distributed by MCLR to multiple listserv subscribers. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >Native Intelligence: >a column by >Jack D. Forbes >Native American Studies >University of California, Davis > > 2000 CENSUS WILL EFFECT > ALL PERSONS OF > PRE-COLUMBIAN AMERICAN > ANCESTRY > >All persons who are descended from the original inhabitants of North, >Central and South America are now required to mark the "American Indian" > >question on the United States Census for 2000, if they maintain >affiliation or "community attachment" to the indigenous world. >The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has officially defined >"American Indian and Alaska Native" as being"a person having origins in >any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central >America), and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment." > >This means that all persons whose ancestry goes back to the Americans >who were living in the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans now >have to tell about their Original American origins. Still further, they >will be asked to give the name of their principal native community or >tribe, such as Kanjobal Maya, Garifuna, Mixtec, Yaqui, Aztec, Cree, or >Mescalero Apache. Or they can name a specific pueblo (community or >municipio), such as Acoma, Hotevila, Acteal or Tepoztlan. >This is a new requirement of the US Government. But the Bureau of the >Census, in its 2000 census questionnaire, may confuse some persons by >not telling the reader that "American Indian" now includes all Mexican >Indians, Canadian Indians, Greenland Natives, South American Indians, and >their descendants. Also the census uses only "tribe" to stand for all >types of communities including pueblos, villages, nations, language >groups, bands, rancherias, and colonies. > >Here is the way the census form may appear: >WHAT IS YOUR RACE? MARK [X] ONE OR MORE RACES >TO INDICATE WHAT YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE: >[ ] WHITE >[ ] BLACK, AFRICAN-AM., OR NEGRO >[ ] AMERICAN INDIAN OR ALASKA NATIVE- print name of > enrolled or principal tribe: > __________________________________________ >[ ] SOME OTHER RACE: > >Under the new rules, persons who come from Spanish-speaking countries or >have a Latin American heritage can mark two places on the census. They >can fill out the Hispanic/Spanish Origin/Latino question if they wish. And >then they also must answer the "American Indian" question in the "Race" >section if they have an attachment or connection to Original American >(indigenous) people. > >If a person does not have indigenous American ancestry or if it is not >important to them, or if they are ashamed of it, then they can ignore >"American Indian" by selecting "White" (which will identify them as "a >person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the >Middle East, or North Africa"). The census form does not reprint the OMB >rule that "white" only refers to Europe or the African-Middle Eastern >region, and not to Ancient American peoples (peoples having origin in the >original peoples of the Americas). >In the same manner, a person who does not want to be counted as >"Hispanic," "Latino" or "Spanish Origin" does not have to mark that >question. Some persons may be of pure American Indigenous ancestry and >they may not want to be counted as "Hispanic." Others may not speak >Spanish even if they are from a Latin American country. Still others, may >not like the terms used (Hispanic, Spanish, Latino). Mexican-Americans or >Chicanos may mark both the Spanish and American Indian boxes if they so >choose, since they can write in Mexica, Xicano or whatever as their >"tribe" under American Indian. (It should be remembered that "Mexican" is >an indigenous name just as much as is Huasteca or Tarahumara, historically >and genetically speaking). On the new census a person can mark more than >one place within the "Race" question. A Puerto Rican, Dominican or Cuban, >for example, who is of mixed African and American (indigenous) races may >want to mark both the African and American Indian boxes, writing in Taino, >Boricua, or Ciboney for one's tribe. Some persons of Mexican origin might >wish to check both the White and American Indian boxes. Other >Mexican-Americans may want to check only the American Indian box, since >the Mexican people have so much more indigenous ancestry than they have of >the European. > >It is no longer necessary to write in mestizo, ladino, or "cholo" under >"Some other race" because one can check both the White and American >Indian boxes to show ones mixed racial status, if that is what one wants >to emphasize. If a persons writes in "mestizo" etc. under "Some other >race" no one will know what mixture is meant. > >When a person knows the name of their pueblo in Mexico, they can look it >up in Manuel Orozco y Berra (Geografia de las Lenguas de Mexico, a book >which lists every pueblo in Mexico in the 1860's and the languages spoken >there). This book will be found only in major libraries. Persons can also >telephone their oldest relatives to locate their specific indigenous community. >They can also consult the maps in Handbook of Middle American Indians or >Handbook of South American Indians (at college libraries) to discover >the tribal names for the regions which they are from. >The 2000 census gives us all a chance to identify ourselves in the >manner in which we wish to be known. >It is very important that we identify ourselves with our indigenous >communities, such as Xicano, Mixtec, Taino, or Apache. We cannot >persuade educators to include us in the textbooks unless they know that we >exist. >So it is for our children, also, that we must reverse the conquest and >recover our heritage as the FIRST AND ORIGINAL AMERICANS! > >[Professor Jack D. Forbes, Powhatan-Delaware, is the author of COLUMBUS >AND OTHER CANNIBALS, RED BLOOD, AFRICANS AND NATIVE AMERICANS, >AZTECAS DEL NORTE and other books.] Phone: (916) 752-3626/3237; Fax: >(916) 752-7097 Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
