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Afro-indigenous people in Central and South American countries seem to be poorly represented; information about their presence is difficult to find. Although certain sources indicate that indigenous Latin Americans historically intermingled with Africans and people of African descent who were brought to the region as slaves, indigenous people seem to exist in their own category apart from Afro-Latin Americans. Additionally, although the terms mestizo (person of European and indigenous heritage) and mulatto (person of mixed European and African descent) are often used in scholarship and literature, there doesn’t seems to be a common or evident term for people with mixed Afro-indigenous heritage.
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As a result, the existence people of this racial makeup is mostly disregarded or ignored. This limitation on the exploration of mixed-race people indicates the control of white people in society, as people are only relevant if they are white in some aspect. Even so, only people who are completely white are valued and treated with respect. This ignorance of the presence of black people in and related to indigenous communities is especially evident in the context of Central and South America. In general, scholarship about any type of relationships that exist between people of African descent and indigenous people explores this concept in North American tribal communities. However, this information can potentially apply to similar interactions in the context of Latin America, revealing more about race dynamics and the presence of minority groups in that region.
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In his article Dangerous Decolonizing: Indians and Blacks in the Legacy of Jim Crow, author Brian Klopotek explores the presence of blackness in Indian communities, specifically in the Choctaw tribe, as well as the general relationships between black people and Native Americans. He discusses how existing indigenous methodologies limit research in certain ways. The author mentions that U.S. indigenous studies only explore interracial relationships as they exist between Indians and whites. This indicates that U.S. society is very white dominated, because the existence of Native Americans (and other minority groups) is only discussed as it relates to white people. The same limitations seem to exist in scholarship about indigenous Latin Americans, most likely because in this context, a lot of history of indigenous people was written by Europeans. As a result, more modern research about indigenous communities and cultures, especially that created by members of these tribes, often ignore relationships they have with any other racial groups, seeking instead to share the story of indigenous people because they have been silenced for so long. Similarly, Klopotek mentions, the commonalities indigenous people share with other racial minorities are often ignored because research tries to set Indians apart from other people of color. However, as members of relatively diverse communities who experience oppression and marginalization, Native Americans and scholarship about them should explore how they fit into greater society.
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“certain Native Americans have ‘at times reproduced systems of oppression from the colonizers within [their] own communities.’”
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Unfortunately, Klopotek’s exploration of the manifestations of racial prejudice within indigenous communities demonstrates negative aspects of the relationships that exist between Native Americans and other minority groups. Because this article examines a tribe that lives in the southeastern part of the United States, aspects of the surrounding areas, specifically antiblack racism, have infiltrated this indigenous community. Interestingly, the author mentions how, when interacting with other minority groups, certain Native Americans have “at times reproduced systems of oppression from the colonizers within [their] own communities.” [2] This represents the dynamic that often occurs among minority groups in that they seek to be the least oppressed rather than work together for a common cause against the primary oppressor: white people. Additionally, the schisms that develop between different minority groups weakens them and allows white people to gain even more control, further solidifying their position as the dominant race in society.
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[1] Nicolás León, Cuadro De Castas Coloniales, 1924, Las Castas Del México Colonial o Nueva España, Museo Nacional Del Virreinato, Tepotzotlán, México.
[2] Brian Klopotek, “Dangerous Decolonizing: Indians and Blacks and the Legacy of Jim Crow,” ed. Florencia E. Mallon, in Decolonizing Native Histories: Collaboration, Knowledge, and Language in the Americas, VII (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2012), 180, accessed May 14, 2019.
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