The Use of Racial and Ethnic Terms in America: Management by Manipulation Author(S): Jack D

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The Use of Racial and Ethnic Terms in America: Management by Manipulation Author(s): Jack D. Forbes Reviewed work(s): Source: Wicazo Sa Review, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Autumn, 1995), pp. 53-65 Published by: University of Minnesota Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1409097 . Accessed: 06/01/2013 23:45

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This content downloaded on Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:45:03 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The Use of Racial and Ethnic Terms in America: Management by Manipulation

by JackD. Forbes

The continentof America,also known as the Middle Alberico rather than Amerigo. It may well be that the Continentor the WesternHemisphere is subdividedinto nameAmerica is not derivedfrom his name,but we know North America,Central America and South America. for sure that it was first applied to South America or Indigenouspeoples have a bit of a problem,however, CentralAmerica and not to the areaof the United States. in that:(1) the United Statesand its dominant European- From the early 1500s until the mid-1700s, the only origin citizens have attempted to pre-empt the terms people called Americans were American First Nations Americaand American;and (2) there has been a strong People.Similarly the people called Mexicans,Canadians, tendency,especially since the 1780s,to deny to Indigenous Brazilians,Peruvians, etc., were all our own NativePeople. Americansthe right to use the name of their own land. In 1578, for example,George Best of Britainwrote about As a matterof fact,there is a strongtendency to also deny "thoseAmericans and Indians"by which he referredto Native People the use of the name of any land within our NativeAmerican ancestors as Americansand the peo- America,such as being Brazilian,Mexican, Canadian, and ple of India and Indonesia as Indians. In 1650 a Dutch so on, unless the term "Indian"is also attached, as in work referredto the Algonkiansof the Manhattanarea as "BrazilianIndian" (as "AmericanIndian" is used instead "theAmericans or Natives".In 1771 a Dutch dictionary of "American"). noted that "the Americansare red in their skins"and so Some people believe that America as a name stems on. As late as 1845another Dutch dictionarydefined mes- from the mountain rangeknown as Ameriquelocated in tizos (metis) as being children of a "European"and an Nicaragua.Others believe that it stems from a word com- "American"parent. mon to severalAmerican languages of the Caribbeanand English usage is very little different.John WVesley,in South America, namely Maraca (pronounced maraca, 1747, referredto FirstNations People of Georgiaas "the maraca,and mbaraca).This word, meaning rattle or gourd, Americans."The Quakertraveler, William Bartram,after is found as a place name in Venezuela (Maracapana, a lengthy tour among the Creeks, Cherokees, and Maracay,Maracaibo), Trinidad (Maracas), Puerto Rico Choctawsin the 1770s,refers to them as "theAmericans." (Maracayu,etc.), Brazil (Maraca, Itamaraca) and elsewhere. Samuel Johnson's Dictionary (1827 edition) has: Manyvery earlymaps of the Caribbeanregion show "American [from America]. An aboriginal native of an island located to the northwest of Venezuela (where America;an inhabitantof America."The dictionarythen Nicaraguais actuallylocated) called "tamaraque"which quotes Milton ("Such of late/Columbus found the has been interpretedas t. amaraquestanding for tierraor American/so girt/with feather'd cincture...."), and terra (land) of Amaraque.All of this is before America Addisonfrom the Spectator("The Americans believe that first appearedas a name on the mainland roughly in the all creatureshave souls, not only men and women, but areaof Venezuela. brutes,vegetables, ... stones"). Most of us have probablybeen taught that America In 1875 CharlesMaclaren in a British encyclopedia as a name is derived from that of Amerigo Vespucci, a wroteof "theAmerican race," "the color of the Americans," notorious liar and enslaverof Native people. Strangely "theAmerican natives" and "theAmericans" by which he enough, Vespucci'sfirst name is more often recordedas meant"the Americans of indigenousraces." More recent-

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This content downloaded on Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:45:03 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ly (1986), the Chronicleof Higher Educationnoted that are also Indiansby virtue of being derivedfrom pre-1948 "ScientistsFind Evidence of EarliestAmericans" in north- India.If this trendcontinues, the numberof "realIndians" easternBrazil (32,000 years old). Clearlythese Hearliest will catch up with the Bureau of the Census' figures for Americans"were not United Statesians! U.S.-derived"American Indians" sometime between 2000 Nonetheless, beginning in the 1740s-1780s British and 2010. (By 1980 Asian Indians alreadyoutnumbered newspapersalso began to referto theirBritish subjects on Native Americansin the northeasternU.S.) Largenum- the Atlanticseaboard as Americansin the sense of Britons bers of "RealIndians" are also migratingto Canadaand living in America or, as they often put it, in North havebeen presentin Trinidad,Guyana and other partsof America.After the United Statesbecame independentin the Caribbean for years. Many of these Caribbean the 1780s,its new citizensbegan to referto themselvesas "Indians"are also moving north to the U.S. and Canada. Americans,trying perhapsto identifywith the land and In any case,the "wildIndian" of the San Franciscoad severtheir connections with Europe. was certainlynot a Lakota,not a Delaware! It is not correct to refer to the United States as Who are the "real"Indians then? Ironically, the immi- America.The USA is "of America,"and that is different. grationof a million or so AsianIndians to North America Nonetheless,USA governmentpropaganda and popular comes at the precise time when some indigenous people usagehave promotedthe use of "American"as belonging are trying to deny "Indian"status to personswho are not exclusivelyto the people of the United States,and espe- recognizedas such by a United Statesfederally-recognized ciallyto the European-derivedpeople. Very often persons tribal or band governmentor who lack some document of African, Asian, and indigenous ancestry have been which identifiesthem as being "Indian." known as Negroes, Colored, Blacks, Indians, Savages, But are any of us (who are of indigenousAmerican Redskins,or other "nicknames"or by hyphenatedterms descent) really Indians anyway?Should we fight over a such as Chinese-Americans,etc. The word"American" has name which is claimed by the more than 700,000,000 been used, in short, as a racial-ideological weapon people of India,by their government,and by millions of designedto give priorityto White personsand peripher- Indians living overseasfrom SouthAfrica to Britain? al (and "foreign")status to non-Whites.' The name "Indian"is derivedfrom "India"which in Of course, the Spaniards in 1492 and thereafter turn comes from "Indos,"an ancient Greekand Roman thought of America by the name India and a few maps name for the area now known as Pakistan and India. referto it as Nova India afterits separationfrom the real "Indos"comes from"Indus," the name of the mightyriver India was realized.So long as Americawas thought of as of western India (now Pakistan). India it was perhapslegitimate to referto the native peo- When Columbussailed westward from Spainin 1492 ple as "Indians"but that became less proper once the it was his intentionto reachIndia and especiallythat east- name Americabecame dominant in usage. ern part of Indiawhich he called"India extra gangem" or Laterstill "Indian" tended to becomea negativecaste- India east of the GangesRiver. This vast region included like term ("indio"in Spanish and Portuguesezones) or SoutheastAsia, the EastIndies, China and Japan.So when the equivalentof wild, savage,brutish, or alien enemy in Columbus reachedthe Bahamashe began to call our rel- most parts of America. Now the continued use of atives"indios" in Spanishand "indos"in Latin.This name "Indian"for FirstAmericans has become very problem- became "Indiani"in Italianand "Indian"in English. atic, becauseof a largemigration from India. But the Spaniardsfor severalcenturies believed that A San Francisco newspaper ran an advertisement "India"or "the Indies"included the entire area from the with big letters:"Wild Indian discovered in downtown mid-Atlanticwestward to old India and the ArabianSea. San Francisco."I felt like calling up the advertiser,(the Thus Filipinos, Hawaiians, Polynesians, Chinese and New Delhi restaurant)to complainabout the ad'sstereo- Japanesewere all "indios"to the Spaniardsand to the type. But then it occurred to me that these were "real Portugueseas well. The Inuit peoples of the north were Indians"from India poking fun at "Indians." every bit as much "Indians"as were any other peoples of In 1980there were 361,544 Indiansfrom Indiain the Nova India (New India) or WestIndia, alternative names United States.By 1990 their numbershad mushroomed for America. to 815,447, an increase of 126%,and these numbers do Many Europeanwriters simply called our ancestors not include Pakistanisand Bangladeshis,both of whom "Americans"as well as indigenas(indigenous people), nat-

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This content downloaded on Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:45:03 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions urales(natural people) and autoctonos(autochthonous Unfortunately the Native People, along with other people), as well as using obnoxious names such as sav- groups, have often been known by caste names or racial ages, tawnies, redskins,etc. More recentlywhite writers names basedupon theirposition in racialgrading systems have tried to baptize us with names such as "American developed under colonialism. Although Europeanper- Indians"and with such concoctionsas "Amerindians"and sons were sometimes known by racial names, (such as "Amerinds." "white"or "blanco,")such names usuallydenoted a high "Amerindian"is popular with British writers who status and were generallyself-imposed. deal with the easternCaribbean and Guyana,because of Tragically,the imposition of racial names upon the large numbers of Asian Indians living there. Native Americansand Africans has resulted in a loss of "Amerind"to my mind is an especially ugly acronym. personal autonomy and self-determination.In part, this Following this precedent we should, of course, refer to is because the imposition of such names was almost Eurams (European-Americans), Spanams (Spanish- alwayspart of a process of envelopment,inferiorization Americans),Angcans (Anglo-Canadians), etc. and proletarianization under the aegis of exploitative The problem with all of the combinations of colonial systems.As I state in an article: "American"and "Indian"is that an increasingproportion of the Asian Indiansliving in the Americasare now born It is preciselythe lossof nationalityand the here and are, therefore,also entitled to use some combi- assumptionof a casteposition which marks the nation of the two names.The "realIndian" community in successfullyproletarianized, colonialized, the U.S. seemsto be using"Indian", "Indo-American" and envelopedperson.2 "IndianAmerican," the latter in the tradition of Italian American,German American, and so on. What are the caste terms which havebeen appliedto IndigenousAmericans have been trying to come up Original American peoples? There are many, the most with betternames for themselvesfor a long time, as when importantbeing negro-black-swart,loro, mulatto,mesti- the people who use peyote in religiousceremonies incor- zo-metis-mustee, ladino, zambo-sambo,pardo, colored, poratedas the NativeAmerican Church early in this cen- cafuso,caboclo, mamaluco (mameluco), half-breed, half- tury. More recently terms such as "aboriginal," blood and half-caste.Let us reviewa few of these,briefly, so "indigenous"and "native"are being increasingly used, as to understandthe breadthand scope of usage. along with new and somewhatcumbersome names such In 1719, South Carolinadecided who should be an as "First Nations People" and "Sovereign American "Indian"for tax purposes since American slaves were NationsPeople." Also common now are"First Americans," taxed at a lesserrate than Africanslaves. The act stated: "EarlyAmericans" and, of course, Native Americans. Many South Americannative people are also using Abya Andfor preventingall doubtsand scruplesthat Yala,a Cuna name for America.Thus AbyaYala People may arisewhat oughtto be ratedon mustees, can also be heardat indigenousgatherings. mulattoes,etc. all suchslaves as are not entirely Facedwith the continuing immigration from Asia, Indianshall be accountedas negro.3 and facedwith the need to become mastersof their own identity by overthrowingthe nomenclatureof colonial- This is an extremely significant passage because it ism, the original peoples of the Americaswill ultimately clearlyasserts that "mustees"and "mulattoes"were per- find an answerto this problem.In the meantime,howev- sons of partAmerican ancestry. My own judgment (to be er,we are in a confusingperiod where Original Americans discussed later) is that a mustee was primarily part- are using a varietyof nameswhile still being calledindios, African and American and that a mulatto was usually indigenas,Amerindians, and Indiansby others.Of course, part-Europeanand American.The act is also significant NativeAmericans also use their own particularnational because it asserts that part-Americanswith or without names (such as Cree,Lakota, Quiche, etc) as well as lan- Africanancestry could be countedas Negroes,thus having guage family names (such as Maya or Mayan, Pomo, an implication for all later slavecensuses. Yokuts,Algonkian, etc). Manyof these namesare not their The term "negro"was to be used in South Carolina own "real"names but are nicknames or foreign names for Native Americans of mixed race, but in many other (e.g., Delawareinstead of Lenape). regions "negro"and its equivalent (black, swart, Moor,

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This content downloaded on Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:45:03 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions etc) was used for unmixed Americans,especially if their cegenationin the colonies and the need for a generalterm status was that of a slave."Tawny Moor" was a variation which could embraceall of the differentkinds of mixed- on this, in Englishcolonial usage.The criticalpoint is, of bloods and "peopleof color"whose ancestrycould almost course, that in the slave system many Native Americans neverbe accuratelydescribed. Loro, for reasonswhich are and Africans(and Asian Indians as well) lost theirnation- not clear,died out as a color term and did not fulfill this al identitiesunder such sobriquetsas Negro. In turn, the function. Mestizo itself, especially in Mexico, ladino in term was usually derogatory,relating as it did both to a partsof CentralAmerica, and perhapscholo in Peru,came slavestatus and a non-White color. to be used, eventually,as almost the equivalentof pardo.4 During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, The term mulatto had its origins in the Arabized "negro"was a termused almostexclusively for darkerpeo- romance language of Iberia, between about 1317 and ple of Africandescent except in the United Stateswhere 1500. I believe it evolved from either muwallad(convert it came to be used for virtuallyall personsof even remote to Islam,or today,mixed blood) or maula (servant,hav- Africanancestry. Naturally many of the "negroes"of both ing a feudal relationship)or from both, into Portuguese kinds were of NativeAmerican ancestry as well. malado and Castillian muellad or mualad. In any case, The Spanishand Portugueseintroduced many color mulattowas carried to the Americas in colonial legisla- terms to the rest of the world as a resultof their contacts tion which sought to restrictthe rightsof certainpersons, with Africa,India and America.Initially color terms such in this casepersons mostly of Americanand Africaninter- as loroand pardowere used to referto personswhose color mixture. Explicit definitions of the term mulatto in was intermediatebetween "black" and "white"'primarily Spanishwritings are as follows: to identifyrunaway slaves in Iberiaitself. A sequencedevel- oped in which the Iberiansfirst began with very general 1568: Royalorder defines a mulatoas a childof negro color terms (loro, pardo, baco, etc.); second, when they and india. coined many more color terms (membrillo cocido, 1574: ViceroyEnriquez of Mexicostates that mulatosare moreno,etc.); thirdly, when theyinvented or adoptedterms not sons of Spaniards. for various mixed bloods as mixed-bloods (mamaluco, 1574: Lopezde Velascostates that mulatosare childrenof mestizo,mulatto, zambo, etc.); fourth, when they attempt- negrosand indias and, muchless commonly, of ed by meansof such termsto individuallycategorize most Spaniardsand negras. types of mixed-bloods;and, fifth, when it all became so 1583: CabelloBalboa uses mulatofor American-Africans very complicated that they fell back upon very general in Ecuador. termssuch as pardoor made ones like mestizovery nebu- 1592: Royalorder states that mulatos(Venezuela) are lous.All of this is verysignificant because there is, of course, "hijosdeindias." a considerabledifference between the descriptiveuse of loro 1599: MixedAfrican-American Chieftains from and the laterprescriptive use of mestizo or mulatto.Loros Esmeraldascalled mulatos. werenever subject to specificlegal limits on theirbehavior, as lorosin Spain.The same was true for most other color- From the characterof these definitions we can say descriptiveterms. that mulatto seems to have meant half-BlackAfrican and, The colonialdesignation of personsas mestizos,mulat- ordinarily,half Americanbut with the half-Africanpart tos,and later,pardos was an entirelydifferent matter. The being apparentlyessential. We must add to this, "or one use of these termsin the Americaswas designedto identi- who looks half-African." fy and to limit,to controland, by and large,to exclude. Interestingly,John Minsheu's English-Spanish dictio- In general,I thinkwe can saythat the appearanceand nary ( 1599, 1626) states for mulato,mulatta: "The son (or evolution of the term mestizo in both the Spanish and daughter)of a blackmooreand one of anothernation." Portuguese empires reflect the kind of caste-like and In 1602 Garcilasode la Vega, the half-Incascholar, racialistsocial orders which evolvedin the colonies.Terms aftertraveling widely (in Europeas well as America)and such as loroand pardowere too generalto meet the needs afterinterviewing old Spanishsoldiers wrote: of castesocieties. That ultimatelypardo survived and came to be wide- "Inall of the WestIndies, those of us who are ly used is a reflectionof the extensiveand complex mis- bornof a Spanishfather and an Indianmother

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This content downloaded on Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:45:03 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions are calledmestizos, just as in Spain thosewho Thus zambaigos and mestizos who were sons of are bornof a Negrofather and an Indian mother Americanmothers, born among Americansand entitled or vice versaare calledmulatos." to inherit property,were exemptedfrom the prohibition, because it would be cruel to separate them from their In 1613,after many decades of researchand travelin parents. Peru,Huaman Poma, (a QuechuaIndian), wrote: In generalthen, the Spanishauthorities tried to keep Africans, mulattos and mestizos away from American Whenmulattoes-a mixtureof negroand communities,even though they were almost alwayshalf- Indian-produce quadroonchildren, these chil- American, only making an exception for those actually dren loseall physicaltrace of theirnegro origin born into a community.This can be seen as an important exceptfor the ear,which still gives themaway by step in the development of castes, deprivingthe mixed- its shapeand size. bloods born in the Spanish-controlledmines, plantations and cities from being able to settle in the parent's or One of the firsttwo largegroups of caste-personsto grandparent'scommunity. Retention of languageand cul- be created in the Spanishand Portuguese empires were tural elements might be interruptedand transformation the mulattos, a result of the preponderance of males into a ladino(assimilated person) speeded up. among the incoming Africans(2 to 1 over females ordi- In the nineteenth-century, "Sambo"was used on narily)and the loss of Americanmales due to warfareand Trinidadas a term for African-Americanmixtures (with harsh exploitation, leaving in many areas a surplus of mustee being used for European-American mixed- women. Many of the descendants of these American- bloods). African allianceswere "free"(because the mothers were The Spanish-Portugueseterm mulatto passed into not slaves) and this was also a motivation for African many other languages,usually being used to referto half- males to seek such a relationship(guaranteeing free chil- African persons. However,in English and Frenchit was dren). The freepeople of color in the SpanishPortuguese also used for American-Europeanmixtures. In English, empiresgenerally stem from this class,as it subsequently mulatto became the only term used for a mixed person mixed with mestizos.On the otherhand, many Americans until mustee and half-breed appeared in the mid eigh- were held as slaves throughout the colonial period and teenth-century. Thus, it is not surprising that both their progeny remained within the increasingly American-Europeanand American-Africanpersons were Africanizedslave population. known as mulattos,(at least until 1785 for the former). In South America (Columbia-Venezuela through In 1705,Virginia prohibited any "negro,mulatto, or Peru) a special type of mulatto appeared,the Zambaigo. Indian"from holding any public office. The act further Zaimbdigosor zambos(sambos in the British-Caribbean stated: later) were American-Africanmixed bloods born largely of free Americanmothers and raised somewhat beyond "...and for clearingall mannerof doubtswhich Spanish control (often in free villages). The Spaniards hereaftermay happento ariseupon the con- regardedthem as an especiallydangerous variety of per- structionof this act, or any otheract, who shall son, perhapsbecause of a tendencytowards armed resis- be accounteda mulatto:Be [etc.], that the child tance.In Mexicoand farthernorth other termswere used of an Indian,and the child,grandchild, or great such as mulatopardo (literally gray mulato), lobo (wolf), grandchildof a negroshall be deemed,account- and de colorquebrado, among others.In 1563 the Spanish ed, held,and takento be a mulatto." Crownprohibited "negros, mulatos o mestizos"from liv- in American ing communitiesbut In otherwords, an American-Europeanmixed-blood was defined as a mulatto, along with all part-Africansto en quantoa los Mestizos,y Zambaigos,que the 1/8 degree.This statuteapparently remained unmod- son hijosde Indias,nacidos entre ellos, y han ified until 1785when it was enactedthat all personswith de heredarsus casas,y haziendas,porque parece "one-fourth or more Negro blood shall ...be deemed a cosa durasepararlos de suspadres, se podra dis- mulatto."This remained the legal definition until 1866 pensar. when it was modified:

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This content downloaded on Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:45:03 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Everyperson having one-fourth or moreNegro In Brazil a vast array of racial terms appear, the bloodshall be deemeda coloredperson, and majorityof which can embracepersons of part-American everyperson not a coloredperson having one- ancestry,such as cafuzo(cara fusco, American-African), fourth or moreIndian bloodshall be deemedan cabra (American-African),cabore (American-African), Indian. mamaluco(American-European), curiboca (American- European), mulatto (any mixture of a medium brown This use of "coloredperson" must be considered in color,but usuallypart-African), caboclo (NativeBrazilian relationto an 1860 statuteusing "mulatto"for persons of or a person living like an indigenousor ruralperson), etc. one-fourth African descent and making "negro"and One also sees such combinations as mulato atapuiado "mulatto"equivalent in all statutes. (Tupuyamulatto, i.e., partAmerican). It would appear,then, that from 1705 until 1866 the The term"mustee" was used in the Britishcolonies of only legal definitionapplying to mixed NativeAmericans the Caribbeanand the southern United States.Based on (exceptingthose havingone-fourth or moreAfrican ances- the evidence,we can say that mustee was a term used for try) was that of the formeryears. Thus we might at first part-Americanpersons (usually slaves) who were either glance construe that a mixed American-Europeanwas mixed with European or African or both. In South legallya mulatto if of one-half or more Americanblood Carolina, where the term was most common, mustee until that statuteof 1866 makingsuch persons"Indians". seemsto havecome to referto a personof yellow-brownor All American-Africanmixed-bloods remained mulattoes darker color who exhibited either American or part- throughoutthe period,unless having less than 1/8 African Africanfeatures, while mulatto seems to have been used ancestry (1705-1785) or less than 1/4 African ancestry for lighter, part-European looking mixed bloods of (1785-1910). After 1910Virginia reclassified large num- Americanbackground. On the islandof Trinidad,mustee bers of persons by extending the "colored"category to seems to have referredto an American-Europeanperson. includepeople with minute amountsof Africanancestry. Persons of Native American descent have also been For a time at least, French also utilized the term classifiedbroadly as "people of color"in North America mulatre to refer to European-Americanpersons in the and as pardos, loros, and other general terms in Latin Biloxi-Louisianaregion. Nonetheless, metisbecame the America. In North Carolina, for example, free colored more common term in Canadafor such individuals.5 persons were often of Americanancestry, as opposed to In the Spanishcolonies the term mestizobegan to be African. Severalscholars have noted that the Indians of used in royalproclamations in 1533.At first,mestizo was North Carolinawere often classifiedas "peopleof color." the equivalentof hibrida,(both culturaland genetic),but Court cases make this quite clear also. In 1821 one John in America it seems to have been used primarily for Locklier was called "a coloured man,"while the name American-Europeanpersons, although later in Mexico Locklier is confined to the Indians of Robeson County the term could also embraceAmerican-European African and surroundingareas. In 1841-43 one WilliamP. Waters persons. In Brazil,on the other hand, mestizo seems to claimedthat he was not a "manof color"because "he was have always remained a general term for all classes of descended from Portuguese, and not from Negro or mixed persons. Indian ancestors..."In 1853,a Locklierwas judged to be Ladino,now widely used in Guatemalaand Chiapas a free person of color incapable of carrying arms. In as an equivalent of mestizo, was in the early colonial 1857, a William Chavers (also a Lumbee or Robeson period alwaysan adjectivemeaning "Spanish-speaking" County Indian name) was charged "as a free person of or "assimilated"as opposed to bozal,meaning unassim- color"with carryinga shotgun. Chaverswas able to win ilated.Thus one often sees referencesto "negrosladinos" his case eventually and doubtless the ladinos of Guatemala and Chiapas originated not in race mixture primarilybut in assimi- becausehe is chargedas "afree person of color" lation to Hispanic culture. Tragically,the ladinos of whereas... the act ... makesit penalfor any today consider themselvessuperior, apparently, to their "freenegro" to carryarms... Freepersons of Maya and Pipil relatives.In the Andean region cholo is colormay be ... personscolored by Indian blood. used in a somewhatanalagous way, but is more of a neg- The indictmentcannot be sustained. ative term it seems.

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This content downloaded on Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:45:03 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The SupremeCourt held specificallythat "free negro" their childrenwould probablybe known by a castedesig- and"free person" of color"were not legallyidentical terms. nation.The majorityof their descendantstoday are prob- The 1800, 1810, 1820, and 1830 United States cen- ably considered to be negros, African Americans, susesuse the "freeperson of color"category for most non- Mexicans, Brazilians,pardos, etc., depending upon the whites, including Indians. Thus the Native families of context and country.7 Robeson County,North Carolina,and all Virginiacoun- What is truly remarkable,and a testimony to the ties are always classified as "colored"persons. Carter effectivenessof Spanishracial propaganda, is the fact that Woodson's THEFREE NEGRO HEADS OF FAMILIESIN THE many LatinAmerican states have today,as their national UNITEDSTATES IN 1830...being an indexing of the "free ideology, the idea of being "mestizo"or at least that colored" (not "freenegro") population, includes many becoming "mestizo"is a national culturalideal and that thousands of Indians.For example,the entire Cherokee all indigenous groups must eventually give way. The Indian population of Carroll County, Georgia, was Nativepeople, it is said, must give up their languagesand included as colored persons, with names such as traditionalidentities in favorof becoming ladinos,cholos, Rattlesnake,Ekoah, Watta, Tah-ne-cul-le-hee, Wasotta, or (more properlyspeaking) mestizos. Keecha,Widow Swimmer,Pumkinpile, Charles Vann, etc. The Mexican elite, for example, asserts the superi- One also finds people like Stephen Jumper in ority of the mestizo over the indigena and as the very RockinghamCounty, North Carolina,Charles Moose in essence of the post-1821 Mexican society. This is, of the same county,and "IndianBill" of WestchesterCounty, course, a shocking testimony to the effectiveness of New York,classified as peopleof color,along with the gen- Spanish colonial indoctrination. It is as if the French eral Indian population in county aftercounty. must always be considered as metis because of their Needless to state, countless persons of Native Gallo- Roman-Frankishmixture, or the Englishmust be Americanancestry lost theirspecific national identities by consideredas mulattoes because of their British-Anglo- being reclassifiedas mestizos,mulattos, pardos or colored Saxon-Norman-French mixture. The Spaniards, of persons.Of course,indigenous nations often were able to course,are far more mestizo than are the Mexicanssince absorbmixed personsas well as foreigners,but therewas the Mexicans of today are perhaps as much as 80% alwaysa strongtendency in colonialsituations for the colo- indigenous genetically and their culture and language nial power to attempt to prevent the strengthening of includes a vast native element. The Spaniards,on the potentiallyrebellious conquered nations. Thus, mixed per- other hand, possess IberianCarthaginian-Greek-Roman- sons wereoften reclassified and separatedfrom their mater- Germanic-Arab-Berber-Jewish-Africanand other ances- nal (or paternal)nationality and languages.This process try and a culture and languagealmost wholly borrowed was greatlyaided by the slavesystem and by the proletari- (except for the Basques). anizationof marginalbut technically"free" workers. Who then are the realmestizos? Why must Mexicans, Many Americans were enslaved, not only by the Costa Ricans, Venezuelans, Colombians, Peruvians, Spaniardsand Portuguesebut also by the Dutch, French etcetera, eternally deny their indigenous continuity in and British.In the young UnitedStates, Native Americans favorof mixturewhile Spaniards,Turks, Italians, Britons could still be held as slavesin spite of the new constitu- and other very,very mixed peoplespossess a unifiedsense tion with its Bill of Rights.For example, we readof a slave of themselves?8 who ran awayin 1790 in Virginiafrom Southampton: In the mid-1970s, the Nixon-Ford regime in the United Statessucceeded in havinga bureaucraticrule pro- a lad about 18 or 19 yearsof age calledBen mulgated which requiresthat "AmericanIndians" shall Whitehead,being of the Indian breedand almost only be counted in any statisticalsurvey or census if they white,has coarsestraight hair of a darkbrown are derived from North America. South America and colourand blackeyes... is a carpenter...and he Mesoamerica are to be given over entirely to the term can read.6 "hispanic"(or its census equivalent "SpanishOrigin"), except that Brazilians,Guyanans, etc. are excluded.The The Americanswho becameslaves, whether in Brazil term"hispanic" is to also include all peninsularSpaniards or Virginia,Surinam or Louisiana,Sonora or Cuba,were and any personsderived from any formerSpanish colony likelyto lose theirnationality over time and most certainly in the Pacificor Africa(e.g., Guam,the FilipinoRepublic,

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This content downloaded on Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:45:03 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Spanish Sahara, etc.). This concoction was designed, In any case,the shift from raceor casteto some sort of apparently, to create an artificial political bloc for bureaucraticmanagement criteria (official recognition) still RepublicanParty purposes as well as to obscurethe rela- leaves Native People without the use of their traditional tionship of race to poverty in the United States(by mix- ethnic/kinship systems. Such traditional systems may ing Europeansand Pacificpeoples with Cubans,Sephardic emphasizethe father'sancestry line only (rare,I believe), Jews,African-Americans and indigenouspersons derived the maternalline primarily,a totemicor "mythical"proto- from Mexico southwards). ancestor,clan membership,or ancestrybased upon a spir- "Hispanic"apparently appeals to some upwardly- ituallink with a particularland or place.Religion or other mobile Latin Americans since it would seem to allow aspectsof sharedculture may also be emphasized. them to escape into a "Spanish"(white) status insteadof Among many traditionalNative American cultures, being thought of as brown Mexicans. It is also a step persons are descended in the female line from a "first" towardsassimilation into Anglo-Americanidentity since ancestor,"usually a being with an animal or plant name. no actual"hispanic" nationality exists (outsideof Spain).9 If, for example,one is a member of the "turtle"matrilin- Many Mexicans and other Latin Americans in the eal lineage one might find this situation:500 generations United Stateshave rejected"hispanic" and instead favor ago the first"turtle" woman lived,and in each subsequent the use of"latino,"But, of course,Latino is a veryambigu- generation her female descendants had to marry men ous name which refersessentially to a formerItalian lan- who were non-turtles, i.e., with other lineages in their guage and to a community of languages.What "Latino" female lines. A modern-day"turtle" person, then, might may be, functionally,is another escape from being "mes- well be, in quantitativeterms, 1/500 turtle and 499/500 tizo"or, more accurately,indio. "Latino" implies, subjec- non-"turtle"and yet, at the same time, be completelyand tively,a light brown skin color and semi-Europeanfacial totally a turtle person. features.In a sense, then, Latino is functionallya form of The significanceof "place"is also, or can be, very sig- ladino, i.e., a denial of autocthonous identity. nificant.Among Indians,it is said, the place of birth was In any case,throughout the Americas"race" became a of extremesignificance in a spiritualand evocativesense. fundamentalconcept applied by the colonizers to non- Thus Americans born in a Spanish mission setting in European populations, replacing gradually the idea of Californiamight be existentiallyvery differentfrom their nationality. Free Native nations were able to absorb or biological parents born elsewhere. The relocation of assimilatepersons of African,European or mixed ances- groupsof people, in short, can lead to a new definitionof try,but when brought under direct colonial administra- self-identityfor future children,provided that the social tion thisbecame difficult if not impossible.For example, in system allows for it, or even in spite of the social system the UnitedStates the enrollmentof NativePeople from the (as with California-bornJapanese-Americans perhaps). 1880sonward almost always required the recordingof the Most Dineh (Navajo) clans have names adapted from a "degreeof Indianblood." Thus an elaboratesystem com- particularplace in Navajocountry or nearby. menced, keepingtrack of each variantfraction of Native There are also peoples who believe that ancestralor ancestry.A new racial caste of persons of one-fourth or other souls take root in the human egg and that a human more indigenousancestry was soon created(but the one being may be a reincarnationof some previous person. quarterindigenous ancestry could only be fromtribes offi- This of course,vitally affects definitions of self-identityand ciallyrecognized by the U.S.authorities). Caste determined ethnicity. But, of course, such perspectives,are frowned whether a person was competent ( a mixed-blood of 1/4 upon in Westernthinking as being"unscientific" as well as quantum)or incompetent(a so-called"fullblood"), etc. "non-Christian."Nonetheless, since identity is an existential Today this system is being replaced in the United phenomenon and ethnicitya social concept,we must not States by one based upon tribal membership as deter- be tied to "biological"or bureaucraticcriteria alone. mined by the tribal governments,however, many tribes There are, of course, many other ways of reckoning still havea blood-quantumrequirement of from 1/4 to 1/8 ethnicity,not the least interestingof which is the process or even 1/16 indigenous ancestry. Ironically, many of "naturalization"(i.e. "nativization")whereby virtually Mexicansand Guatemalansliving in the U.S.are not being all states can absorb aliens and bestow citizenship. But recognizedas "Indians"even though they are of relatively "naturalization"harks back to the days, it seems to me, unmixedancestry and speaktheir indigenouslanguages. when "adoption"into an alien group was not only possi-

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This content downloaded on Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:45:03 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ble but involveda spiritual-existentialchange of profound larger communities (towns, pueblos, bands, "triblets"), significance. To be "adopted"into an Indian nation or and nations or confederationsof bands and/or commu- community meant to become a native with them and to nities. Eachof these levels providesa type of identityand shed previousidentities. Perhaps it meant the same thing all are important. But we cannot stop with the "nation" in other societies as well. because native people also had alliances comprised of It is also necessaryto reflect upon the fact that the closely-linkedgroups speakingdifferent languages (such modern classificatorymind has evolved the notion of as the Quechan and the Hamakhava of the Colorado absolute identities, a notion which has caused so much River,or the Maricopaand the O'odhamof the GilaRiver, pain in recenttimes. By this I referto the notion thata per- the VerdeValley Yavapai and the VerdeValley Apache, and son must be either "French"or "German",either "Swiss" so on). Manyof these allianceshave been bonded togeth- or "Italian,"either "Indian" or "non Indian,"etc. The mod- er by mythic traditions or by longtime sharing of cere- ern state has made an exclusiveclaim to our loyaltiesbut monies,gifts, marriage partners, clans, etc. Thus,although this claim has also been furtheredby a kind of either-or, usually unnamed, such bondings are very real and pro- this or that,logic fosteredby Christianand othermessianic vide a sense of belonging. Bilingualismis usuallya char- religious denominations and by a kind of "black"or acteristicof such bonded groups. "white"tendency to oversimplifyhuman experience. "Identity,"then, is reallya seriesof concentriccircles, For Native Americans, of course, things have not with many layersof importance.No single level can ade- alwaysbeen this way.Scholarship and especiallypopular quatelydescribe or encompass identity.Moreover, in the writinghas createdthe impressionthat one must be either case of native clans, they run outwardthrough all of the a Comanche or a Kiowa, etc., but even the term concentriccircles and even extend into "alien"groups. "Comanche"is a foreignword, applied by outsidersto a Todayall of this has been modified somewhat,prin- group of people with five geographical divisions who cipallyby the pressuresof colonialism."Membership" is blendedinto the relatedShoshone (beforebecoming sep- now often determined by white people's rules or by the arated) and who mixed frequentlywith other so-called pressurescreated by land and resource shortages. Still, tribesas close friends,camp mates, and marriagepartners. however,Indians have multiple identities. To understandNative American identity one must, I Forexample, a hypotheticalperson who is half-Zuni think, begin with the extended family,a kinship unit of and half-Siouxmight not be able to be a full member at the utmost importance.In fact, the family is the key ele- Zuni Pueblo,especially if he was raisedelsewhere or if the ment in all nativesocial, economic, and politicallife. Very Zuni ancestrycame through his father(although in some often these familiesare not localized,but by meansof clan pueblos the matrilineal reckoning is being replacedby relationshipsextend outward, sometimes to groupsspeak- patrilinealemphasis insofar as membershipis concerned). ing totally different languages, and sometimes even to Zuni relativeswill recognize him as a part of the family "enemy"groups. but if he was never ceremoniallyincorporated and if he For many Native Americans, then, identity begins does not speak Zuni he may not be considered a "real" with a familyidentity. Often this is expressedin a bilater- Zuni at Zuni Pueblo. In Denver,where he lives, however, al way althoughmatrilineal or patrilinealdescent may be he will be recognized by other Native Americans as an emphasized. The family in the larger sense may often Indianand be fullyaccepted as a Zuni, a Sioux,or a Zuni- embracewithin its folds personswho belong to different Sioux (whicheverhe chooses to emphasize). "tribes,"or, after 1500,belong to differentraces. Thus such a person may belong to a Zuni family,may But nativepeople also "belong" to manyother group- be legally a Zuni (from the white government's view- ings including"societies," (men's organizations, for exam- point), may be a non-Zuni, may be a Zuni-Sioux,may be ple, and in modern times these include pow-wow drum a Sioux, may be an "Indian"all at the same time. groups,"clubs" et cetera),religious groups (includingcer- Suchexamples are numerousand sometimesinvolve emony-givingassociations, the NativeAmerican Church, personsdescended from four or five"tribes" who may also "sun-dancers",etc.), and groups of "friends"(who have be part-French,part-Filipino, part-Hawaiian, and so on. adopted each other, sometimes in a ceremonial way). And to furthercomplicate matters, such personsmay also Moreover,of course, native people belong to local com- identifyas citizens of the United Sates (or Mexico,etc.) munities (villages, camps, outfits, hunting bands, etc.), It is easy to see, then, that one could have a mixed

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This content downloaded on Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:45:03 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions AmericanAfrican family whose kinship ties run in both essential sovereignty of the local group. This was the directions. Thus one could have a Nanticoke person in essential characteristicof all of the great confederacies New Jersey married to a Mohegan from Connecticut, such as those of the Powhatan,the Iroquois,the Lenape- both of whom actually possess variable proportions of Delaware, the Creek-Muscogee, the Cherokee, the different tribal and racial backgrounds(e.g. Nanticoke, Choctaw,the Lakota-Dakota-Nakota(Sioux), etc. But that Pocomoke, Wicomico, black African and white on the form of political genius is unacceptableto the colonial Nanticokeside and Mohegan,Pequot, Narragansett, black state which requirescentralization, bureaucratic control, Africanand white on the Moheganside). Still furtherthe and quick and unambiguous lines of responsibilityand two families include relatives who are living in decision-making. Philadelphia,Camden, Boston, Princeton,etc., who have Thus NativeAmerican identity has been badly shat- intermarriedwith other "Indians"or with "blacks." tered and then rebuilt, as it were, along new (and often Some of the "cousins"will likely be in the "blackH false) lines. Now we are stuck with a variety of imposed community, some are active "Indians,"while still others concepts, from the very idea of being "Indian"to being may lead a dual life, sometimes being one thing, some- "descendantsof the Mayas"(rather than "real"Mayas) to times another. They may, for example, attend a "black" being membersof tribesor nations whose very existence churchwhere they do not publiclyannounce any Indian depends upon the recognition of the bureaucraticagen- identity,and yet they may be Indian when visiting rela- cies of the U. S., Canadian,and other governments. tives or attending a pow-wow function. These multiple Similarly,Americans of Africanorigin havehad their associationsmay not be easy,of course. original nationalitiesalmost completelydestroyed. They The aboveanalysis may, however, sound very strange were then sculpted by colonialism as negros or Negroes to one accustomedto the usualU. S. government(or even ("slaves")and then ground out as casteswith an incredi- anthropological)notions about "tribes"and "nations."I ble variety of terms being used. Moreover,a system of think it likely, however, that many of our "tribes"were denigrationresulted in the internalization,very often, of createdby colonial authorities in order to have suitable negative self-images and of the actualizationof a color- political entities with which to negotiatefor land cession shaped status hierarchywhich has survived slaveryand purposes or to have a suitable entity available for con- direct European colonialism. To a significant degree quest. Havingmilitarily defeated a large"tribe," the colo- African-Americanscontrol themselves, as it were,because nial power could claim jurisdiction over all of the internallythey operatewith casteand classrelations while territory ascribed to that unit, or at least could force a sometimes (in the U. S. particularly)presenting outsiders large land cession from it. More recently, the need for with the appearanceof being a united ethnic community. contractsfor oil and mineralexploration has spurredthe Facingsuch dilemmassome African-Americanshave creation of land-owning large tribes, such as the Hopi opted out of America(such as the Rastafariansof Jamaica and Navajonations. and other groups desiringa returnto Africa),while oth- But what if the Hopi are actuallydivided into several ers have sought to createnew Africannations (within the independent"pueblos" (community-republics), each of territoryof the United Statesfor example),while still oth- which is sovereignand land-owning?But now, of course, ers have sought to achieve "equality" as Brazilians, the U. S. governmenthas createda Hopi TribalCouncil to Cubans, Trinidadians,Jamaicans, North Americans, et speakfor all of the communitiesand to have the right to cetera.Easy answers are not forthcoming,but it is worth engagein land strugglewith the neighboringNavajo. stressing that Africans were the first settlers of North Similarly,the U. S. has ascribedland-owning author- America (after the indigenousAmericans), long preced- ity to the Navajo Nation, but what if the traditional ing Europeans (from the 1520s to 1565, in South Navajolocal "outfits"or groups (including local "clans" Carolina)as well as the firstnonindigenous settlers of the or bands) had the actual control over land use? What if mainland of Latin America (being in Panama when the Navajowere only a very loose confederationof fun- Balboaarrived, 1513). damentallyindependent local groups? African-Americansare also of partial indigenous Perhapsone of the greatestpolitical achievements of Americanancestry. Thus from severalpoints of view they Native North Americanswas the ability to develop con- should feel very much at home in Americaand should be federationsof friendlylocal republicswithout losing the accordedthe respectof being earlyarrivals (not to men-

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This content downloaded on Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:45:03 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions tion possible ancientAfrican or Afro Polynesiancontacts "brainwashed"as "peasants"and by "patriotic"state (and with Mesoamerica). army) propaganda,come to think of themselves merely Racism, which still thrives in North and South as a caste (indios or campesinos) who just happen to America,must be seen as a majorlimitation placedupon speak Quechua,or Aymara,or Mixtec,or Nahuatl,and if the full participationof personsof Africanand American they could only learn to speak Spanish, or move to the physical features in the state-based nationalities of the city, or attend a university, they could stop being an continent, not to mention the complicationsof econom- "Indian"and become a full Peruvian,Bolivian, Mexican, ic statusand culturaldifferences. Race, in effect,is a pow- or Canadian.In other words, the concept of nationhood erful determinantof existentialnationality (as opposed or an indigenousnationality does not exist for them.They to mere citizenship)in the Americas. are simply"un grupo etnica." There is a great deal of confusion today about In point of fact,however, we must here challengethe whethergroups such as African-Americansconstitute an idea that nationhood must be achievedsolely by creating "ethnicity"or a "nationality."The two terms essentially an independent "tribal"or indigenous state apparatus meant the same thing until a few decades ago (ethniki modeled after European states. Quite the contrary, being the Greek word for national). But now it would Americannations could well be structuredin an entirely appearthat ethnicity refersto "groupness"while nation- different way, a decentralist, confederationist, localist, alityrefers to "groupnessdemanding a territoryand a sov- completely democratic way. (Of course, such a nation ereign or autonomous self-determination." The might find it hard to exist in the midst of centralized Navajo-Dinehare, then, both an ethnicity and a nation- aggressivestates such as currentlydominate the world.) ality. They possess territoryand they aspire to self-rule; There is an old story about a Pawnee warrior who they seek collectivesovereignty. was on a horse-stealingexpedition against the Comanche, On the other hand, Polish-Americanshave "group- many hundredsof miles away from home. While on the ness"but they probablylack any territory(except for a few raid he was able to observea young Comanchegirl in her neighborhoods sharedwith other Slavicand non-Slavic tipi at night,and he fell in love with her.He returnedwith groups) and certainly do not aspire to collective sover- horses to Pawneecountry but ultimatelyfelt impelled to eignty.They alreadypossess a sovereignstate, Poland,to go back by himself to that same Comanche village. To which they can returnif they wish to live as a Pole exclu- make a long story short, he crawledinto her tipi at night sively with other Poles in a Polish homeland. It is and when the family awokethey found an enemy sitting absolutelycrucial that any people who wish to aspire to quietlyin their midst. He told them why he was thereand nationhood must, these days,avoid allowing themselves eventuallythey acceptedhim and he marriedthe love of to be referredto as an "ethnicgroup" ( or as a "popula- his life. For many yearshe lived as a Comancheand only tion").They must insist on the use of the term "apeople" was able to returnto the Pawnee country for a visit after or "a nation."What this means is that governments(and peace had been made. He took his Comanche father-in- certain scholarsas well) have found that they can down- law along on the visit. gradethe claimsof some of their subjectsif the lattercan This story illustrateshow ridiculous it is to think of be classifiedas "ethnics."The dominant population is, of NativeAmerican nations as ant-likesocial hives where wild course,never "ethnic." Only "minorities" are "ethnic" and, warriorsacted out anti-foreignphobias and insistedupon therefore,shall we say,abnormal. More cruciallythey will absolute social loyalty.Yet that is the derogatoryway in alwaysremain mere enclaveswithout any hope of terri- which the term "tribalism"is often used, to referto some tory or self-determination. sort of hyper-nationalismof an especially"primitive" sort. Perhapsthis is why the "BlackMuslims" in the United The fact of the matter is, as I have alreadystressed, States call their group the "Nationof Islam"rather than that Native Americanswere united acrossinter-commu- the "IslamicEthnic Group"and why they also seem to nal boundariesby networksof ceremony-sharing,kinship avoid mergerwith orthodoxMuslims (who are heteroge- ties, friendships,trade, clan relationshipsand many other neous as to nationalityor ethnicity). culturalfeatures. Most NativeAmericans appear to have In any case, the struggleover nationalityversus eth- been bilingualor multilingualand the use of the sign lan- nicity is crucialfor NativeAmericans everywhere. In every guagefrom Texasnorthwards throughout the GreatPlains American state some indigenous peoples, after being and the use of trade jargons in many areas (such as the

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This content downloaded on Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:45:03 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ChinookJargon of the North PacificCoast or the Mobilian cept of "society"from a noun to a verb, "associating,"a Jargonof the Alabama-Mississippiregion) contributedto dynamicrather than a static condition.We do not possess a sense of sharedlife acrosseven languagelines. fixed "societies"but rather we associate, we interact, in Unity also existed across hostile inter-communal slowlychanging (or rapidlychanging) ways but alwaysas boundariesbecause kinship often existedacross such lines a part of a process. (due to the frequentcapture of women as marriagepart- It is importantto stressthat NativeAmerican "asso- ners as well as becauseof captivechildren being raisedto ciatings"always include the animals, plants, waters,the be full membersof their adoptedcommunity) and many earth with its mountains and valleys, the sky, clouds, customs might mitigate hostility (such as being on a thunder,and so on. In short, all of the phenomenacalled vision-quest or pilgrimage,being a religious"holy" per- "nature"by Europeansare partof us, arerelated to us, and son, etc.). form part of our identity.We are literallyall childrenof Warfarewas not a business of the state,among most MotherEarth, brothers and sisters,relatives. Many, many NativeAmericans, and thereforesome familiesmight not centuries ago White Buffalo Woman visited the Lakota be hostiletowards a groupor villagewhich was the object people, and gave them a special pipe. She said: of enmity by others.Apparently one was not expectedto fight one's own kin or one's own clan relations, even if "Withthis pipe you will be boundto all yourrel- they were associated with a hostile group. In North atives:Your Grandfather and Father[the Great Americaat least, leadersdid not ordinarilypossess coer- Spirit],your Grandmotherand Motherthe cive control over anyone else and could not force anyone Earth... and alsoyou must alwaysremember to go to war. that the two-leggedsand the otherpeople who I believethat most nationalitiestoday are actuallyof stand upon this earthare sacredand shouldbe similarcharacter to the above except that they have been treatedas such." molded into their present shape (or have been created) by state bureaucracies, state propaganda, and state There is also an old Lenape prayerwhich refers to rewards(which accompanycitizenship, et cetera). "ourgrandfathers, the trees"and "our Grandfather,fire" Certainly most boundaries are quite artificial and and a Zuni prayerwhich states: have been subject, in any case, to a great deal of move- ment in recorded history. Are the Limburger-speaking Whenour earthmother is repletewith people to be considered to be Germans, Dutch, or livingwaters, Belgians?Almost everywherewe find the same confusion Whenspring comes, in border zones, a confusion which often extends over The sourceof ourflesh, largeareas as well. I have advocatedthat we find ways to All the differentkinds of corn, create cross-boundary limited authority sub-states to Weshall lay to restin theground accommodate"peoples" divided by internationalbound- with the earthmother's living waters... aries such as Limburgers,Alsatians, Frisians, Basques, Samis, and numerous others. Why can't, for example, Over and over again the Native People give out this Limburgerscontrol their own universities and schools messageof kinshipand onenesswith other formsof life."I and local affairs,while perhapsleaving foreign affairs and If the earth is to surviveas a viablehome for humans defenseto Belgium,Germany, and Nederland?Of course, and non-humans it would seem that we will need to in a unifiedEurope, it may be that eventuallyLimburgers adopt the world-view of indigenous peoples in order,at could have their own state within the EuropeanUnion, least, to include "all of our relations"as a part of the but the cross-boundarysubstate offers an intermediate nationwith which we identify.We live in an "earthocean," position applicablein other partsof the world as well. 10 a sea of air which we must come to understandas a kind Allow me to conclude by returningto my interpre- of aquarium stretched around the surface of the earth, tation of the Native American concept of identity as a and an aquariumcommon to all of us. If part of us pol- seriesof concentriccircles extending from one'sown fam- lutes it, then eventually we all have to suffer the conse- ily outwardto all human beings and beyond. quences.12 From this perspectivewe must transform our con- The dominant concepts of absolute states and

64 WicazoSa Review Fall 1995

This content downloaded on Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:45:03 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 4 absolute,fixed nationalities embracing only humanbeings J.D.Forbes, "The Manipulationof Race,Caste and Identity: ClassifyingAfroamericans, Native Americans, and Red-Black and a must to a different possessedterritory give way way People,"JOURNAL OF ETHNICSTUDIES 17(4) Winter 1990, 1-5. of seeing the world. 5 Forbes,BLACK AFRICANS AND NATIVE AMERICANS, 177-178. JackD. Forbesis a in and Chair the Native professor of 6 Forbes,BLACK AFRICANS AND NATIVE AMERICANS, 208. AmericanStudies Department at the Universityof California-Davis. 7 See Forbes,"Envelopment..., JOURNALOF ETHNICSTUDIES 18(4), for a fuller discussion of envelopmentand proletarianization.

8 See JackD. Forbes,"The Mestizo Concept"in AZTECASDEL NORTE: THECHICANOS OFAZTLAN. (Greenwich, CT.:Fawcett, 1973), Footnotes 178-204. Also published as "ElConcepto Mestizo Metis," 1 NOVEDADESDE BAIA CALIFORNIA (Mexicali), 1(29) Nov. 20, 1982 and See J.D.Forbes, "The Historian and the Indian,"THE AMERICAS: onto 1 Academyof AmericanFranciscan History, XIX(4) April 1963;J.D. (41). Forbes,"Frontiers in AmericanHistory,;' JOURNAL OF THE WEST, (1) 9 See D. "The Politicsand July 1962, 63-73 and "TheIndian in the West,;'ARIZONA AND THE Jack Forbes, Hispanic Spin-Party Governmental of Ethnic LATIN WEST,(3) Autumn 1959. Manipulation Identity," AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES19(4) Fall 1992, 59 78. 2 J.D.Forbes, "Envelopment, Proletarianization and Inferiorization: 10 See D. Aspects of Colonialism'sImpact Upon NativeAmericans and Jack Forbes,"Limited Authority Cross-Boundary PLURALSOCIETIES, in Brecher Other People of Color in EasternNorth America,"JOURNAL OF Substates," Spring 1985, reprinted J. ETHNICSTUDIES 18(4), 95-122. ETAL, GLOBAL VISIONS: BEYOND THE NEW WORLD ORDER (Boston: South End Press, 1993). 3 J.D.Forbes, BLACK AFRICANS AND NATIVE AMERICANS (Oxford: 11 D. Blackwell,1988) 87. The subsequentdiscussion is based partlyon Jack Forbes,COLUMBUS AND OTHER CANNIBALS: THE WETIKO this work. This book has been reprintedin a revised edition as DISEASEOF EXPLOITATION. IMPERIALISM AND TERRORISM (Brooklyn: 30. AFRICANSAND NATIVE AMERICANS. (Champaign, IL: University of Autonomedia,1992) 28, Illinois Press, 1993). 12 See variouspoems by J.D.Forbes, including "Beneath the Waves," "Kinshipis the Basic Principleof Philosophy,""The Universe is Our Holy Book,""In the Presenceof Oxygen and MotherEarth," and "Inthe Dunes."

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