CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE

A CHICANA/O DECOLONIAL REMEDY FOR RECLAMATION OF AN INDIGENOUS

IDENTITY: HEALING HISTORICAL TRAUMA WITH INDIGENOUS MEDICAL

PATHWAYS

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

For the degree of Master of Arts in

Chicana and Chicano Studies

By

David Hernandez Jr.

May, 2017

The thesis of David Hernandez is approved:

Yarma Velazquez-Vargas, Ph.D Date

Peter Garcia, Ph.D Date

Lara Medina, Ph.D., Chair Date

California State University, Northridge

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DEDICATION

I dedicate this thesis to my loving and supporting family, ancestors and descendants. To my mother, Maggie, thank you for giving me the gift of life, and for your unconditional love and support. You are everything to me—in this world, and beyond this universe. To David, my father, I am carrying on you and Grandpa Paul‘s legacy in reclaiming and being proud of our

Indigenous identity. To Abel, my second father, the man who raised me to be the man I am today, I love you immensely, and I appreciate your existence in my life. To Olivia and Carol, my beautiful sisters, thank you for the added joy, humor, love and support in my life. To my nephews and nieces (Anthony, Priscilla, Middy, Travis, Joey, Isaiah, Daniel, and Athena), I hope to be a great role model for you all. This is dedicated to my Indigenous ancestors. I am here because of you and will continue the traditional to fight for what is just and right. I dedicate this thesis to my descendant, who will one day live in a brighter future than this. Last, but not least, I dedicate this thesis to my community, and to my Indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere.

For you, I will fight and educate, until my dying breath.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the thesis committee: Lara Medina, Peter Garcia and Yarma

Velazquez-Vargas. I appreciate your great knowledge and support throughout this process. I adore and have the utmost respect for all of you. Thank you for your time, encouragement, and for embarking on this journey with me in my academic career.Thank you for encouraging and always challenging me to push myself in deeper ways. Thank you Lara, for believing in me and being my chair, I appreciate all your efforts. Thank you Peter, for your knowledge, and for encouraging me. Thank you Yarma, this thesis would not be possible without you. I am truly grateful to you.

I would like to acknowledge the people who participated in my thesis. Thank you for sharing your beautiful stories with me, and how you came to your Indigenous identity. Thank you for your time, consideration and trusting me with your stories. Thank you for sharing your knowledge in holistic medicine and your resistance toward Western medicine. Thank you for teaching me that there is a connection to health and identity. Your stories and journeys prove that we have a story to tell when it comes to our identities and it needs to be heard.

I would like to acknowledge my Chicana/o Studies cohort who I was fortunate to get to know and learn from. We share a bond and experience only we can understand. To all the professors that I had the privilege to take courses with and learn, thank you for your wisdom and knowledge. Thank you Amir Rabiyah, for editing my thesis, I appreciate your hard work. Lastly, to my family again for your unconditional love and support— this is for you.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Signature Page………………………………………………………………………………….....ii

Dedication……………………………………………………………………………………...…iii

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………..…..vi

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………...ix

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………...... 1

Significance of Study……………………………………………………………………...7

Issue/Problem………………………………………………………………………....….10

Chapter 1 Literature Review…...... 21

Identity and Mesoamerican Cultures……………...……………………………………..21

Historical Trauma……………………………...... 31

Consequences of Historical Trauma…………………………………………………...... 38

Worldview and Curanderismo………………………………………………...... 51

Chapter 2 Curanderismo in Different Perspectives…………………………………………...…62

Curanderismo as a Healing Modality for Trauma ………………………………...…….62

Expanding Curanderismo………………………………...……….……………….……..67

Indigenous Veganism……….……………………………………………...…….67

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Temazcalli (Sweat lodge)……………………………...………………….……..70

Xochitl in Cuicatl (Poetry)………………………………………………....………….....72

Physical Healing………………….…….……………………………………...... 81

The Brown Body Historical……………….……………………………...... 81

The Brown Body Today Present………………………………………….…………...,,..86

Chapter 3 Methods…………………………………………………………………….....………88

Sample…………………………………………………………………….…….……..…92

Chapter 4 Analysis…………………………………………………………………………….....99

Identity………………………………………………………………………….………..99

Chicana/o Identity……………………………………….……………………..105

Benefits of Reclaiming of Indigenous identity …….…………………………..107

Curanderismo…………………………………………………………………………...109

Healing Practices………………………………….………………...... ……….112

Reasons for Seeking Curanderismo………………………………………….....116

Using Curanderismo to Reinforce Indigenous identity………..……………….118

Indigenous Worldview……………………………………………….……………...... 122

Expanding Curanderismo ―La Cultura Cura‖…………………………….……...... 126

Curanderismo and Enabling healing process………………………….………………..129

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Curanderismo and Oneself……………………………………………..….……………131

Historical Trauma…………………………………………………….…..……...... 133

Current Issues…………………………………………………………….………….….137

Curanderismo as an Agent of Change……………………………………….…………141

Curanderismo and Balance……………………………………………….……...... 144

Healers……………………………………………………………...…………………..146

Identity…………………………………………………………………….…...………146

Chicana/o Identity ……………………………………….……………….……148

Identity and Clients……………………………….…………………..………..149

Connecting their clients to their Indigenous Identity …………………….…....150

Healing Work and Specialty……………………………………………………………151

Healing Effectiveness.…………………….…..……………………………….154

Indigenous Worldview……………………………………..…………………………..154

Historical Trauma…………………………………………………….……...... 155

Current Issues.…………………………………………………………...………...... 156

Chapter 5 Conclusion……………………………………………………………...... …….…...158

Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………...……..161

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Abstract

Healing Historical Trauma with Indigenous Medical Pathways: A Chicana/o Decolonial

Remedy for Reclamation of an Indigenous Identity

By

David Hernandez Jr.

Masters of Arts in Chicana and Chicano Studies

This thesis examines historical trauma as a consequence of the loss of an Indigenous identity among Chicanas/os and explores how holistic healing methods or Curanderismo can aid in the process of reclaiming an Indigenous identity. The research questions that I use to investigate this exploration are: What is the role of historical trauma on the loss of culture and identity? To what extent are Chicanas/os aware of historical trauma? Is Curanderismo an effective healing modality to address the historical trauma impacting many Chicanas/os? Can

Curanderismo be broadly defined to include the temazcalli (sweat lodge), an Indigenous diet, poetry, and the arts to facilitate the recovery and healing of a Chicano/a Indigenous identity?

The methodologies used in this study are qualitative and ethnographic research methods including in-depth interviews, data collection, participatory observation and field notes. The study consists of six subjects; two graduate students, an undergrad, a PhD candidate who participated in holistic healing, and two healers in the community.In my findings, the subjects were aware of historical trauma in their lives. The subjects recognized that Curanderismo could be a useful tool as a healing modality to reclaim their Indigenous identity and heal historical

viii trauma. Also, the subjects were able to broaden the traditional definition of Curanderismo to include other art forms and healing modalities.

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Introduction

Chicanas/os must embrace their Indigenous past ―as a living cultural psychic force that informs and sustains the present‖ (Aldama 199).

As a child, even before I was aware of my own Indigenousiancestry, I was fascinated by

Indigenous cultures. The first time I was exposed to Indigenous culture was when I was seven years old and saw my stepfather perform Danza Azteca in Los Angeles. I became hypnotized by the beat of the drum, the intoxicating smell of copal, the dances, and the bursting colors of the regalia of the performers. While it was the first and only time I saw him dance, the seed was planted. My older sister Carol then introduced me to ―Native Americanii‖ themes, and exposed me to movies and books on the subject. In high school, I started to attend Powwows with a friend who was Cherokee, but I always felt something was missing due to the lack of education at these events. My early exposure to Danza Azteca and Native American culture was the first step toward my current interest in Indigenous history, medicine, and identity. Early exposure to

Curanderismo in my family, such as experiencing my father heal people by massaging them and my mother using herbs to heal us also led me into an interest of my Indigenous identity.

As a third generation Mexican ―Americaniii,‖ I grew up with parents who were born here, but of Mexican descent. As a result, I was confused about my identity and did not know who I truly was in terms of race. Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I became aware of my

Indigenous Mexican (Raramuri and Zacatecatl) and so-called ―Native American‖ (Pala, Apache and Pima) heritage. A recent DNA test confirmed 23 different Indigenous ethnicities from

Alaska all the way down to so called South America and the islands of Puerto Rico and the

Dominican Republic. The DNA test revealed my Californian Indigenous roots such as (Pala,

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Cochimi, Kumiair, Cucupa, Serrano, Miwok, Ohlone), my Southwest roots (Apache and Pima), and my Mexican roots (Raramuri, Huichol, Maya and Mixtec) just to name a few. I also learned of my European (Spanish and French) roots from family discussions and history—which I now know through studying history, involved rape and colonialism.

All my life, I did not feel any connection to my Indigenous roots. The white dominated society we lived in made me feel foreign in my own land. Not unlike some Mexican

―Americans,‖ I felt I was neither this nor that, neither Mexican, nor American. Even after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chicana/o Studies, I had not resolved my identity issues, though I did have a strong affinity to Indigenous cultures and history. It was not until I completed my first year of graduate school was when I started to fully accept my identity as an

Indigenous person. I am thankful to my cohort and mentors, who gave me the confidence to fully accept my Indigenous identity. I also attended cultural events and met people who had similar views when it came to their Indigenous identity. Thus, all these encounters and educational experiences have led me to explore healing historical traumas suffered by Indigenous people, as well as reclaiming my own identity as an Indigenous person.

Currently, I am working through an intellectual, emotional, mental, and physical decolonization process by fully reclaiming myself as an Indigenous person on this continent.

Part of the decolonization process involves learning about traditional medicinal practices and ancestral approaches to healing. In general, Chicana/o communities remain colonized, which is

―the formal and informal methods [behaviors, ideologies, institutions, policies and economies] that maintain the subjugation or exploitation of Indigenous Peoples, lands, and resources‖

(Wilson and Yellow bird 2). Therefore, as a community, we do not see the connection between

Indigenous people and ourselves. Furthermore, Chicana/os, ―Indigenous identity has been

2 repressed by hundreds of years of racism and denied by governmental institutions‖ of oppressions that must be exposed (Blake 261). As a people, Chicanas/os have been ―double colonized‖ by Europeans, a term coined by Laura Gomez who states that the region of the

Southwest was ―colonized twice, first by Spain and then by the United States. Both the Spanish and the American colonial enterprises were grounded in racism—in a system of status inequality built on presumed racial difference‖ (89). As Gomez points out, the system of colonial racism in

Chicanas/os, which are the caste systems of colonial Mexico that divided three groups of people the Indigenous, Africans and European into hundreds of categories of race, with the obsession towards whiteness. Furthermore, the caste system led the Mexican people to suffer from internalized racism, where it is an insult to call a Mexican an ―indio,‖ which also comes from being ignorant of their glorious and beautiful Indigenous history. Walter Mignolo defines

―coloniality‖ as ―an embedded logic that enforces control, domination, and exploitation disguised in the language of salvation, progress, modernization, and being good for everyone‖

(Mignolo 7). Mignolo further expands:

Some would say (mainly before the 9/11 attack on the US) that the US was not an

imperial country because it has no colonies like those of Spain or England. This opinion,

however, confuses ―colonialism‖ with having ―colonies‖ in the sense of maintaining the

physical presence of institutions, administrators, and armies in the colonized country or

region. It also confuses ―colonialism‖ with ―coloniality.‖ Coloniality is the logic of

domination in the modern colonial world, beyond the fact that the imperial/colonial

country was once Spain, then England and now the US. Modern technology, alongside

political and economic restructuring in the second half of the twentieth century, has made

it unnecessary to colonize in the old, more obvious, manner. (7)

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The Western European powers have completely colonized and controlled every aspect of the lives of Chicanas/os and have created new technologies to oppress non-whites, instead of advancing humanity. According to cultural critic Philip G. Altbach, an important term related to this control is ―neocolonialism.‖Altbach defines neocolonialism as ―traditional colonialism involv[ing] the direct political domination of one nation over another area, thus enabling the colonial power to control any and all aspects of the internal and external life of the colony‖

(1995). Altbach further explains neocolonialism as:

Neocolonialism means the impact of advanced nations on developing areas, in this case

with special reference to their educational systems and intellectual life. Modern

neocolonialism differs from traditional colonialism in that it does not involve direct

political control, leaving substantial leeway to the developing country. It is similar

nevertheless, in that some aspects of domination by the advanced nation over the

developing country remain. Neocolonialism is partly a planned policy of advanced

nations to maintain their influence in developing countries, but it is also simply a

continuation of past practices. (452)

However, neocolonialism is not new at all. Colonialism has never stopped, and even though

Western European powers have been less blatant in their colonialism, that does not make it new, revived, or modified—it is currently manifested in the economic and labor exploitation of

Chicanas/os. Even Altbach himself stated, while trying to differentiate between neocolonialism and colonialism, ―it is simply a continuation of past practices‖ (Altbach 452). Since the 1960s and 1970s, Chicanas/os have positioned themselves as a colonized people. Therefore, I argue that colonialism is strong in the ways it has always been, and Chicana/o people must go through a process called ―decolonization, [which] is the intelligent, calculated, and active resistance to the

4 forces of colonialism that perpetuate the subjugation and/or exploitation of [their] minds, bodies, and lands…and is engaged for the ultimate purpose of overturning the colonial structure and realizing Indigenous liberation‖ (Waziyatawin and Yellow bird 2). The process of

―decolonization, or this search for self, is painful,‖ but also a beautiful and ―necessary and enduring process toward healing that we must continue to fight for, not only for ourselves but for future generations. Indigenous identities continue to cry, but they also laugh, they make love, they fight, they hope, they endure, they procreate, they live-we live. Our ancestors live in us, and we will live in our children‖ (Urrieta 333).Decolonizing is essential, but also a ―process designed to shed and recover from the ill effects of colonization‖ (Blake 270). The task of ―decolonization is always a multidimensional process rather than a homogenous achievement and it involves the deformation/reformation of identity,‖ because it was systematically stolen from the Chicanas/os by the Europeans to dehumanize them as a people, as result reclaiming their identity is vital for their existence (Aldama xix). As Indigenous people, Chicanas/os are decolonizing their communities, nations, collective identities, and individual indentities by decolonizing their minds, bodies, and ways of interacting and participating in institutions (Blake 270). Also,

Chicanas/os need to decolonize ―each moment [they] recall the vision of love [they] commit an act of resistance against the oppressor‖ (qtd in Torres 46). Lastly, decolonization of how

Chicanas/os think and what they value will lead to community empowerment, because

―liberation begins with a thought. This thought, followed by action, is the root of the liberation force‖ (Blea 123).Therefore, in this thesis I will explore how a reconnection to an Indigenous holistic approach to healing practices is one way to re-establish a Chicanoivand Indigenous identity for my subjects.

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Curanderismov is an influential and substantial part of my personal family history; it also connects me to my Indigenous roots. Although Curanderismo has colonial influences, due to the

European invasion, it is originally based in Indigenous culture and knowledge. Curanderismo is a holistic approach to health, including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing (Avila

50). As a child I recalled a dream about my paternal grandmother. I remember telling my parents that I had seen my grandmother Piedad in my dreams. I had never met her, because she passed away before I was born. I had never seen any pictures of my grandmother, but I described her perfectly as though I had seen her in person. My sister Carol and I were always praised for having ―magic hands‖ or the gift of touch, but I never knew what that meant until I learned about our family history of people who heal through touch. My grandmother Piedad and my father,

David, were both Sobadores,vi but that link was broken because of the passing of my father. In other words, while I might have the gift of touch to sobar (massage), because my father passed away learning the gift was never cultivated within me.

Through my dream, something lit up inside of me. I felt I was being reborn. Finally, the metaphor of ―magic hands‖ made sense to me. As I reflected on my dream, I came to analyze it as a sign from my grandmother. It seemed that she was trying to tell me something. Do I have a greater purpose in life? Does she want me to continue this legacy of healing? This revelation and my family involvement in Curanderismo led me to this present study as well as to Indigenous medicine as a path to healing through reclamation of indigenity. I am not stating that learning

Curanderismo is a quick fix or singular method to reclaim an Indigenous identity for Chicana/os.

However, it is one way to spark interest in learning Indigenous history, as it did for me.

Everybody has a process that they must go through individually to rediscover their true

Indigenous identity. For the purpose of this current study, I will also expand the concept of

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Curanderismo to include additional Mexican Indigenous healing practices, such as the temazcalli

(sweat lodge), traditional Indigenous veganism, and poetry. I will embark on this journey of decolonization by investigating the following research questions:

1. What is the role of historical trauma on the loss of culture and identity?

2. To what extent are healers and college educated Chicanas/os/Central Americans and

healers are aware of historical trauma?

3. Is Curanderismo an effective healing modality to address the historical trauma

impacting many Chicanas/os?

4. Can Curanderismo be broadly defined to include the temazcalli (sweat lodge), an

Indigenous diet, poetry, and the arts to facilitate the recovery and healing of a

Chicano/a Indigenous identity?

Significance of Study

This study makes a significant contribution to existing literature, because of the examination of historical trauma, which is defined as follows: ―when a group of people suffers a trauma, whether genocide, loss of land, culture, and identity affecting future generations‖ (Sotero

94). Utilizing Curanderismo to reclaim an Indigenous identity after trauma is an important strategy that can inform new ways of restoring dignity and pride into Chicana/o culture and people. This method must of course include a proper study of their Indigenous history.

Researching and writing about the relationship between historical trauma, Curanderismo, and its relationship to reclaiming an Indigenous identity will add to the field of Chicana/o Studies. For

Chicanas/os there is a direct link to trauma and colonialism and how it affects their lives

7 presently. The current issues Chicanas/os face are due to the aftermath of the traumatic experiences of the past and one of those consequences is the loss of their Indigenous identities.

A study by Antonio L. Estrada, entitled Mexican Americans and Historical Trauma

Theory: A Theoretical Perspective, explores the trauma of the Spanish and Anglo colonization, which is the initial trauma for Chicana/os, and how it affects them in every facet of their lives such as physical, mental health, economic, cultural, political, and so forth. As a result,

Chicanas/os need healing from the historical trauma they have faced as a people and that is where Curanderismo could come in. Research on historical trauma already exists pertaining to

Native Americans in the United States, by scholars such as Banke, Blea, Sotero, Braveheart,

Duran and Duran, Adams, Whitbeck, Hoyt, and Chen. However, Chicana/o writers have also expressed in their writings about historical trauma such as Gonzales, Cervantes, Alarcon,

Anzaldúa, Aldama, Gomez-Peña, Batalla, Gasper de Alba, Torres and Sandoval. The United

States government does not label Chicana/os in the United States as Native American, and historical trauma is not often discussed sufficiently enough in regards to the Chicana/o communities (Hartley 53-54 and Gonzales 318). The historical trauma is real unlike the false romanticization of the initial encounters between European and Indigenous people through a

Euro-centric lens (Leon-Portilla 109-111, Urrieta 322 and Contreras 49).

As previously mentioned, many Chicanas/os experience a loss of identity. This loss exists for a variety of reasons, including colonization, inhumane acts of violence, genocide of 95% of

Chicana/os, the European bloodlines mixed into their Indigenous roots by forcible rape, and systematic indoctrination for the last 500 years (Stannard 146). As a result, the loss of identity has affected their health and wellbeing. Researchers such as Bautista, Rodriguez, Maugh II, and

McDonnell have made a direct correlation between acculturation, assimilation, Americanization

8 and the damage it does to their health (Bautista et. al 1-2 and Maugh II 1 et al.).When people lose their culture and identity, whether through imposition or assimilation, it is logical that their health suffers too. Chicanas/os lost their ways of healing the body, their traditional foods, and knowledge that would have otherwise kept them in good health. Chicanas/os can, in terms of health and diet, re-create a pre-invasion world with Indigenous based foods, although this would not be an easy task because their diets are also colonized. One hopeful result of these atrocities done to Chicanas/os is that not all was lost, and their knowledge of medicine has survived in the remnants of what was once a vast scientific knowledge of holistic medicine. Through apprenticeship or workshops, this Indigenous cultural practice and other forms of Indigenous medicinal practices can flourish. Chicanas/os need to heal their communities from the onslaught of colonization and imperialism in every aspect, whether political, social, educational, emotional, religious, cultural or cognitive (Breton and McCaslin 511). Similarly, Gonzales states:

While initially we sought to change the structures, eventually we began to also follow the

lesson of Curanderas, looking for remedies to heal ourselves, our families, and then our

community. Some remedios (remedies) came from the medicine of justice. We have

sought to bring the medicine out of our bodies, our communities, and our histories.

Healing is part of self-governance. (150)

In terms of healing Chicanas/os‘ Indigenous identity, one healer states, ―if your root is sick, the whole of you is going to be sick and I want to heal my root‖ (Mulcahy 4). Additionally, this study will contribute to the cultural continuity of identity, Indigenous medicinal practices, and historical trauma of Chicana/os who have survived despite over the 500 years of colonialism and cultural destruction.

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Identity: Issue/Problem

Identity is a major issue for most Chicano/as in the United States, and reclaiming an

Indigenous identity is political and powerful, because Chicanas/os are about to become the majority in the next 50 years. Chicanas/os, ―Central Americans,‖ ―Native Americans,‖ First

Nations and ―Latin Americans‖ need to be in solidarity with each other to liberate their people from white supremacy on their own continent. However, Chicanas/os must be knowledgeable of their history, identity and current day oppression in order to become powerful—then they will begin to see themselves as not immigrants, but collective owners of this land. Lastly, when

Chicanas/os begin to demand their back land and natural resources as a collective people that have been robbed naked by white supremacy, a transformation towards social justice will occur.

Furthermore, Torres states by resisting the concept that ―we are immigrants, we make a connection between ideological skin color and the soul, and we identify with a specific racialized body‖which comes back to being connected to the land as well(Torres 154). In addition, Avila-

Hernandez expands on Chicana/o liberation and she states:

And from an Indigenous perspective, when you ―doctor‖ someone you, you must know

what you are doctoring in its totality. For a holistic healing to occur, you (we) must take

into account the whole of the body (politics), as well as the mind, the spirit, the heart, the

will. You (we) must take into account the way energy is run, the way it is blocked, and

the kind of energy being perpetuated, (self-)destructive or creative. Are the forces of

oppression of forces of liberation being served (199)?

Once Chicanas/os view themselves as Indigenous and as one (racial groupvii)—people on the same continent—with many manifestations, cultures and ethnicities, they will no longer be

10 separated by borders, countries, or even continents. Recovering Indigenous knowledge and history is a not only a healing act, but political one as well (Gutierrez Najera, Castellanos, and

Aldama 12). Wilson, a Dakota woman, states ―recovering of indigenous knowledge has the potential to restore dignity and health to the Chicana/os, as well will assist them in advancing their political aims against their oppressors…it defies those who have been defining their existence for them and have attempted to make them believe they are incapable of self- determination‖ (qtd in Gutierrez Najera, Castellanos, and Aldama 12). By ―healing from the wounds of colonial trauma‖ Chicanas/os can start to take on ―multiple forms of resistance‖

(Gutierrez Najera, Castellanos, and Aldama 12). The fact is ―we need to avoid extremes and always seek to achieve balance in an emotional and physical sense in our lives, in order to restore our psychological and physical health…we need to start disciplining our lives to toughen up our minds and our bodies‖ in order to combat historical trauma and colonialism (Alfred 86). When

Chicanas/os start to reinforce their Indigenous identity, they are destroying the idea that they are

―foreigners‖ or ―immigrants‖ on their own lands (Contreras 119). As a result, Chicanas/os can start the liberation of their continent and end white supremacy, which is ―the attitudes, ideologies, and politics, associated with blatant forms of European dominance over ‗non-white‘ populations‖ (Almaguer 7).Chicanas/os can end this domination through education and action in the interest of their own history and culture(Tuck and Yang 2).

One manner of accomplishing the end of this dominance could be in form of

Curanderismo. Chicanas/os can heal by reclaiming their Indigenous identity (qtd in Almaguer 7).

A term Sandy Grande calls, ―Whitestream,‖ is another way of describing no longer letting the colonizers define and confuse us as a people (Grande 3). However, Ana Castillo states, ―all this withstanding I am inclined to object to the claim that we are simply in search of identity, but

11 rather asserting it‖ (Castillo 12). Chicanas/os need to reclaim and assert their identity, because if they do not, their identity will always be defined by the dominant culture as the dominant culture sees fit and in the interest of white supremacy. As Chicanas/os who do not possess firsthand knowledge of Indigenous languages, identity nor histories, they have no connection to and have been denied their land and inheritance (Kelsey 34). Chicanas/os fail to see and recognize their own reflection in their Native American brothers‘ and sisters‘ narratives, never realizing that the

US-Mexico border is the polarizing force that shapes two different and oppositional national identities, preventing ―native‖ people who have a common history from seeing themselves as part of pan-Indigenous diasporas‖ (Gonzales 312). As a result, the European rape blood confuses

Chicanas/os, because to be colonized is to be according to Alfred:

Sure enough, secret self-hatred and demonstrating love for the oppressor through

emulation [which] is a common affliction of aboriginals. Ultimately, the aboriginal

comes to see that it is impossible for an Onkwehonwe (Indigenous) to assimilate and be

fully accepted by white society. An attempt to adjust one‘s skin, habits, food and

clothing, living style, and sexual desires to get along in the mainstream results in nothing

but frustration, pathos, shame, rage, and over time, spiritual or physical death (usually at

one‘s own hands). (129)

Even though Alfred is referring to Indigenous people from Canada, it is still applicable to

Chicanas/os as well. For example, the psychological damage Chicanas/os continue to endure as they internalize their self-hate by their love for the oppressors. By trying to assimilate into white society, there is a rejection of self that leads to self-destructive patterns, mental issues and even physical death. Ines Avila-Hernandez identifies that Mexicans/Central and South Americans are not different than so-called Native Americans on how they were colonized by the Europeans

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(194). However, it is ―harder to recognize Native American (whether they are from the US or other parts of Latin America, whether they are full-bloods or mestizos) because this hemisphere is our land base. We have always been from here. We cannot go back where we came from (194-

195). In addition, there is a potential political power on a grand scale for Chicanas/os and the possibility to regain our human rights and liberation as a people. However, there are ―powerful attacks on authentic Indigenous movements, whether it is organized politically around the question of nationhood and the recognition of collective rights based on Indigeneity, or culturally around questions of identity and the responsibilities of being Indigenous‖ that may hinder liberation of self-determination for Chicanas/os (Alfred 132).Through political education and action, Chicanas/os can start reclaiming their identity. They will start to reconnect to and reconstruct the land base. No longer will the United States fall victim to the ―desires of a capitalist state intent on devouring the land‖ (Sande 245).

What are the consequences of reclaiming an Indigenous identity? For Chicanos/as, the consequences of reclaiming identity can have drawbacks from the authorities, social networks, and even family members who are in denial of their roots. What does it mean to ―look‖

Indigenous, but to be in denial or not aware of their own identity? For Chicanas/os who begin to start reclaiming their Indigenous roots and identity, the historical insecurities emanating from colonization start to become dismantled. In some cases, there is a breakthrough and a stronger desire for self-improvement emerges. Scholar Chela Sandoval has developed a decolonial exploration of identity. She asks: ―But what does it mean to say this? How have we gone about disinhibiting, recultivating, and reoccupying who we are, what we have become? How much in control are we of the identities we express? These are the questions to which there are changing answers,‖ (Sandoval 347). There is no easy fix to decolonize an Indigenous identity—it is a

13 process. One must choose to go through the process on one‘s own. Chela Sandoval ―redirect[s] the political discourse [by] asking where do you think we are today in relation to identity to decolonizing the territory of identity, and to performing the politics of identity‖ (Sandoval 357)?

What does it even mean to assert an Indigenous identity? To be Indigenous is a mindset or a state of consciousness (Cervantes 3). Cervantes also writes, ―The Indigenous gives permission to own and discover one‘s ancestral roots and what implications this may prove for one‘s past learning as it provides a focus on informing the present and future‖ (Cervantes 16).

A popular term to describe the Chicanas/os is mestizo (Batalla 78). Mestizo is a Spanish term meaning mix or half Indigenous and Spanish (Camacho 1). Yet that term continuously divides the people, and turns one group against another. Being mestizo, in theory, indicates you are better than the people who are full-blood Indigenous, because you are closer to whiteness

(Forbes: Unpublished Manuscript).The mestizo identity is used ―to affirm white descent. A mestizo (according to the racist caste system) is, after all, not a lowly indio (Indian). He is at least part white, and therefore part-civilized, una persona de razón‖ (a civilized person) (Forbes

202). The term mestizo also allows the colonizer to take away your humanity, because you are neither fully Indigenous, nor accepted by Europeans. Mestizo is a problematic term. It was an imposed identity and perhaps the more prominent issue is that there is an acceptance of the physical rape that was done to the Indigenous people (Camacho 4). Rape does not define, nor take away who the Indigenous people really are. Mestizos did not exist prior to the Spanish invasion, and by labeling people as mestizos their existence is only being validated from the point of European invasion and not before (Contreras 35). There is no way mestizaje or a 50/50 ratio of Spanish and Indigenous blood could have sustained for the last 500 years. Nor is it possible that a few hundred Spaniards were able to populate all of Western Hemisphere, because

14 that is physically impossible (Camacho 4). Mestizo is a ―de-Indianized‖ individual despite biological features of Indigenous traits (Batalla 17). De-Indigenization can be described as:

A historical process in which populations that originally possessed a particular and

distinctive identity, based upon their own culture, and are forced to renounce that

identity, with all the consequent changes in their social organization and culture. De-

Indianization is not the result of biological mixture, but of the pressure of an ethnocide

that ultimately blocks the historical continuity of a people as a culturally differentiated

group. (Batalla 17)

The concept of mestizo is challenged by Avila-Hernandez who states:

The idea of indigenous people as savage and primitive also serves to enforce the

internalized racism that mestizos and mestizas feel toward their own Indianness, allowing

them to set themselves apart from the real Indios and Indias, just as it continues to

undermine native struggles for sovereignty. For native peoples, sovereignty is not what

comes through right of conquest (that is, power over the ostensibly weaker, or the more

vulnerable) but rather signifies empowerment through (individual and collective)

autonomy, self-representation, and self-determination. (195)

Chicanas/os often reject their Indigenous identity and embrace their Spanish roots, but then are rejected in the white mainstream society, because they are ―marked by Indigenous ancestry, which at times announces itself through phenotype and other physical markers‖ (Contreras 33).

This colonial term ―mestizo‖ can promote internalized racism within themselves and their own people, those who are tied to their Indigenous identity (Batalla 18). Batalla states:

15

Discrimination against that which is Indian, it‘s denial as a major part of what we

ourselves are, has much more to do with the rejection of Indian culture that with rejection

of bronzed skin. There is an attempt to hide and ignore the Indian face of Mexico,

because no real connection with Mesoamerican civilization is admitted. The clear and

undeniable evidence of our Indian ancestry is a mirror in which we do not wish to see our

own reflection. (18)

Furthermore, although many people are living under Indigenous identities, institutionally they are living what Batalla calls the ―imaginary Mexico.‖ It is ―the imaginary Mexico,‘ that denies its connection to the Pre-Hispanic world and that segregates itself from the Indian world,‖ which can be applied to other Latin American countries not just as Mexico (Gonzales 315). To further reiterate the mestizo concept Patricia Gonzales states:

In reality, most of the world is mixed blooded, but that does not make a black person

white or a white person black because they carry the other in their blood. Their spirit,

historical conditions, and their elders determine where they belong. The ideology of the

mestizo was created to diminish the power and presence of Indigenous peoples and to

divide us. The mestizo was created to negate the Indian. This is why many who interpret

history have had trouble finding the Indian inside. (206)

I resonated with Gonzales, because mestizo was used to negate away my own Indigenous presence. I did not see the ―nopal en frente‖ (cactus on your forehead)—a Mexican saying when something is evidently Indigenous or Mexican by phenotype features solely. Even after learning about Indigenous cultures, many cannot see or find the Indigenous within, because it has been

―dead‖ for centuries. Avila-Hernandez calls for the mixed bloods to embrace their Indigenous

16 roots in radical steps that are honorable for themselves and their families (200).One radical way will be to use holistic healing to heal Chicanas/os Indigenous identity due to their historical trauma, because it is an approach that is against the mainstream way to heal.

A few other examples of imposed labels are Latino, Hispanic, Raza, Central American, and Latin American, which all have one trait in common; these labels ―obliterate our Indigenous heritage…and recognize only the European, the colonizer‖(Martinez 2). From a historical perspective, the population of Indigenous people on the entire Western Hemisphere numbered over 100 million inhabitants, prior to the European invasion (Batalla 15). The Indigenous population was far larger than the African, European and any other groups that added to the racial infusion in Mexico (Batalla 15). The African slave trade in Mexico flourished in the 1542-

1650 (Menchaca 43). African slaves were valued based on their age or good health, meaning if they were children or not fully able-bodied, they were not counted as a whole person, only healthy adults were counted as one whole person (Menchaca 43). Thus, it is difficult to give an exact number of the amount of slaves in Mexico (Menchaca 43). However, there were approximately 150,000 to 200,000 Africans who were enslaved in Mexico between 1542 and

1650 (Menchaca 43). Therefore, even though there is a small percentage of Chicanas/os that are mixed with African, Asian, or European lineage, the fact that Chicanas/os are mixed blood does not take away from the fact that they are Indigenous.

Although Chicanas/os may not identify as Indigenous, they may still have customs, foods, language, medical practices, and beliefs that are rooted in Indigenous social life (Batalla,

17). However, many are not aware of their Indigenous roots because of the invasion, the colonization, the destruction of culture, or the complete denial of their family‘s culture. For the last five hundred years, they have become a disenfranchised people. Chicanas/os do not

17 recognize these ancient Indigenous civilizations as their own legacy (Batalla 3). The Chicana/o

Indigenous identity is left in ruins, which is why children often grow up confused. In schools, they are taught to read with a Eurocentric lens about their culture and state. For example, ―those were the Indians,‖ in the study of the Indigenous people. They are not given the chance to see their own connection to the history they are learning and reading about from the past to the present (Batalla 3). Batalla forces the so-called mestizo ―recognition of persistence of the

Indigenous in Mexican society, he also attempts to urge modern Mexico to reclaim Indigeneity.

This means, therefore, that all mestizos are potential Indians‖ (Contreras 27). Chicanas/os are given false labels and artificial borders on the North and South American continents to confuse, divide, and diffuse and make invisible Indigenous people.

The anthology, Without Discovery: a Native Response to Columbus edited by Ray

Gonzalez, contains an essay entitled, ―Reclaiming Ourselves, Reclaiming America‖ by Francisco

X. Alarcón, a scholar and poet who argues, ―one of the most pressing changes that needs to happen is our recognition, and celebration of a cultural face of ours that has been suppressed, and denied for so long: our living Mesoamerican heritage‖ (Alarcón 36). The identity of Chicanas/os identity should no longer be suppressed—it should be at the forefront. Alarcón further states that the ―awareness of our Mesoamerican past should be projected into our present and our future in radically new ways‖ (36). Projecting an identity and infusing it with Indigenous healing is one radical way to approach it. Chicanas/os are still here, the Indigenous culture is alive and it

―cannot be reduced to museum artifacts, bones and stones [as] it is found in the flesh and spirit of many contemporary Native and Mestizo peoples‖ (Alarcón 35). Reclaiming an Indigenous identity will also heal the historical insecurities and trauma Chicanas/os have been subjected to as Indigenous people. Not only must the fragmented Indigenous identity be reconstructed, but in

18 turn people must ―de-construct the way one is invented by the dominant culture… [This] implies remembering modes of being in a world denigrated by colonist discourse‖ (Aldama 80).

Jack Forbes, an Indigenous scholar challenged the imposed label and division of the concept of mestizo and Indigenous people by stating: The Aztecs Del Norte composed of the largest single tribe or nation of Anishinabeg (Indigenous) found in the United States today. Like the other Native American groups, the Aztecas de Aztlan is not completely united or a homogenous people (13).Forbes further explains no matter how diverse the Chicano community, the one common factor is ―they all possess Mexican Anishinabeg to some degree‖ (Forbes 29).

To be Indigenous is deeper than a tribal document, or how much Indigenous blood quantum an individual possesses (Aldama 203). Indigenous identity and ―culture belongs to us; it is the one to which we have exclusive access. History has defined who ‗we‘ are by specifying who belongs who does not and when one stops belonging to the social universe that is the heir, depository, and legitimate owner of our own culture‖ (Batalla 21). As so-called mestizos, ―we are surrounded by ruins and severed roots. How can we reconcile ourselves with the past?‖ (Batalla

107) DNA is something that humans are born with, and to be Indigenous is in the souls and hearts of the Chicana/os, and subconsciously their Indigenous identity will never cease to exist.

To reclaim an Indigenous identity is to reinstate your full humanity and state your legitimacy as collective inhabitants, or the original peoples, of this continent. If I am going to reinstate my full humanity, then I must use a collective terminology such as Indigenous, instead of Latino and Hispanic. Indigenous ancestors throughout the continent collectively understood each other before the invasion, that they were one people with distinct yet common cultural traits, which indirectly and directly influenced each other (Batalla 7, 24; Ortiz de Montellano 6).

It is important that the Indigenous label is used in order to define Chicanas/os instead of colonial

19 labels that strip away their true identity. Society has left them fragmented, out of touch with themselves, and out of balance. Chicanos/as have lost touch with who they are and an understanding of their connection to the cosmos, land, animals, and to each to other. If

Chicanas/os disconnect from their Indigenous roots, they are out of balance in their lives

(Brenton and McCaslin 516). Chicanas/os need to be in balance, which means they know who they are and see the connection to the world around them and to themselves once again.

In order for Chicanas/os to regain their sense of pride, dignity, and identity so true healing can begin, they must first reclaim their ancient cultural heritage. Once Chicana/os learn the entire entity of their history from the past to current conditions, it will give them a foundation. It will inspire them to fight for Indigenous rights. When Chicanas/os learn their history, it does not mean they are stuck in the past. The Europeans have ripped apart the roots of

Chicana/os; their own people tear each other down instead of supporting each other. Chicanas/os have suffered what Jack Forbes describes as racial and cultural castration, ―The oppressed peoples of the world are struggling to liberate themselves from both the material and psychological forces of imperialism...Many people are castrated by feelings of racial and cultural inferiority implanted by European colonists and their neocolonist successors‖ (Forbes,

204).Also, Jack Forbes and Roberto Rodriguez, agree with the Mexica identity for Mexicans or

Chicanas/os (Forbes 168 and Rodriguez 55). Lastly, Mexica is suggested as an umbrella term for a collective Chicano Indigenous identity. For Chicanas/os to be able to identify themselves is their choice, and if Chicanas/os who do not know or do know their Indigenous identity chooses not to identify with the Mexica label, it should also be respected, but at the same time those individuals should not disrespect the Mexica or any other Indigenous label as well.

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Chapter One: Literature Review

I will first start with identity and Mesoamerican history as a foundation for this thesis.

Chicanas/os require a great sense of their collective history in order to reclaim their identity.

Then I will go into the background of historical trauma and the Chicana/o Indigenous identity and how it has been destroyed for the last 500 years and the consequences of it as well. For example, how the loss of land, culture, and identity has impacted Chicanas/os and the future generations. Next, I will mention the Indigenous worldview, Curanderismo, health systems of the

Indigenous people, the birth of Curanderismo and the functions today in Chicana/ o culture, as well as different perspectives of Curanderismo. I will dig deeper into Curanderismo and how it is being used to heal trauma in people‘s lives. Furthermore, I will expand the definition of

Curanderismo to include Mesoamerican traditions such as sweat lodge, cuisine and poetry.

Lastly, I will talk about the physical body and how the brown body has been traumatized and the healing it needs.

Mesoamerican History and Identity

In order to reclaim and heal an Indigenous identity and culture[s], it is imperative that

Chicanas/os have a clear understanding of who they were, before the invasion and colonization of their people. The accomplishments of various Indigenous nations, such as the Olmecs, Maya,

Mexica, Inca and the like are compiled in this research, because they have a shared a common legacy as people from the Western Hemisphere. Another reason for such compilation is because since entire cultures were obliterated, many Chicanas/os do not know what specific nations/tribes they descend from. This does not mean they cannot collectively be proud of all the accomplishments achieved by their ancestors throughout the Western Hemisphere, because all

21 these civilizations were derived from each other by influence, have a common basis, and represent Chicana/o cultural heritage and inheritance.

Why is identity important? A presentation on ―Identity and Colonialism‖ presented by

Citlalli C. Anahuac on the importance of identity states:

How we choose to identify ourselves reflects the knowledge and understanding that we

have (or don‘t have) of our history. An identity tells a story, connects you to a culture,

reflects your values, and most importantly [says] how you connect to this world. 519

years of colonialism produces a people who ignorantly label themselves with terms that

benefit the colonizer and the colonial order. After the genocide, comes the ethnocideviii.

Furthermore, without an identity there can be no connection for Chicanas/os to their culture, values and the world. Like a tree without any roots, identity cannot exist without a strong foundation of culture and history because history is identity. No history means no self, but to know history, is to know one‘s self.

The origins of the Indigenous peoples do not start when the Europeans invaded over 500 years ago. In fact, they go back much further than that. The Indigenous people of the Western

Hemisphere were originally thought to have been on the Western Hemisphere approximately

35,000 years. However, new findings push the record of their presence on this land, even further to 70,000 years (Austin- Lopez 8, and Standard 10). The Indigenous people have 7,000 years of civilizations, which is one of three original civilizations such as China with rice and Sumer with wheat, only the Sumerians can compare in age and originality (Mann 20). In Cemanahuac, the foundation of society was based on maize (corn), and it was the only civilization to develop independently without any outside influences (Man 19). Corn is considered by modern scientists

22 to be ―the world‘s greatest achievement in genetic engineering‖ (Mann 13). Corn was scientifically created about 6,000 years ago or around 8000 to 7000 B.C ―in a bold act of biological manipulation‖ (Mann13, 15 and Keoke and Porterfield 69). Corn is a Mexican creation, and in order to exist it needs human intervention. The seeds of corn cannot disperse on their own (Batalla 4 and Keoke and Porterfield 69). Since corn was vital to the existence of the

Indigenous ancestors, it was also connected to their identity as well. The Indigenous people are simultaneously parents and children of corn as it is told in a poetic way in the Mayan ―Book of

Events‖ that they were created from corn (Batalla 4-5 and Mann 20). The milpa, which is a farming technique and an actual field where maize crops are grown, was the most successful method of planting and harvesting corn, because it does not wear out the land (Mann 18 Keoke and Porterfield 175). The cultivation of maize, which occurred around 2000 to 1500B.C, ―was a part of a great explosion of creativity that took place in Mesoamerica at that time (Mann 20). The

Indigenous people engineered effective techniques to feed the population, as a result ―turned to intellectual pursuits‖ (Mann 197). The other two original civilizations that had a similar foundational crop were Asia with rice, and Sumer with wheat; all other civilizations are derived from these early civilizations (Mann 19). To put this in context, while other civilizations were flourishing, Europeans were barely scratching their first cravings in caves (Stannard 11).

The first civilization at the root of the Indigenous people according to recent discoveries by archeologists was in Peru (Mann 8). The Caral civilization in Peru, which is the father and mother culture in Tawantinsuyo (South America), was established in 3500 BC based on radiocarbon dating. This makes Caral the oldest known civilization in Cemanahuac, and second oldest civilization in the world (Mann 7). The next oldest civilization is the Olmecs, and radiocarbon dates it back to 1800BC (Coe 42; Mann 25). The Olmecs are considered the

23

―mother/father culture‖ of Anahuac or North America, because many other cultures evolved from their achievements, through the development of corn (Coe 50; Mann 26). Although

Mesoamerican culture is diverse, there is a pan-Mesoamerican culture with common traits that link the various sub-groups through kinship, art, science, trade, math culture, technology, and identity because of the Olmecs (Coe 1; Batalla 8; Vento 1 and Aldama 164). For example, the cultivation of corn, a complicated calendar system, hieroglyphic writing, books made of bark/deer skin, maps, thirteen as ritual number, extensive knowledge of astronomy, a team sport resembling basketball, well-organized markets, chocolate beans used as money, ceremonial sacrifices, extraordinary complex scientific approach to the Creator and many more cultural components were influenced by the Olmecs (Coe 11; Batalla 8). The Indigenous people were united under a common history because ―Mesoamerican civilization is not the product of the intrusion of foreign elements unknown in the region, but rather, of cumulative development based on local experiences,‖ and therefore are still linked under common accomplishments and current struggles as well (Batalla 8).

The Indigenous ancestors were obsessed and in love with knowledge. That unquenched thirst for knowledge allowed the Indigenous people to be creators and innovators, in multiple fields such as mathematics, medicine, arts, engineering and the sciences. In fact, when the

Spanish ordered the destruction and the burning of hundreds of thousands of books/codices, the

Indigenous people suffered much affliction, seeing centuries of their beloved knowledge lost forever in the ashes—they wanted to jump in the fire with their knowledge as well (Aveni 15).

Indigenous people were the first people in the world to create the concept of zero, which is called by scientists ―one of the greatest single accomplishments of the human race‖ and ―a turning point in mathematics, science and technology‖ (Mann 21 and Keoke and Porterfield 309). The

24 invention of zero allowed the Indigenous people to calculate at high precisions with accuracy of the cycles of Venus, lunar periods, predicting eclipses and many more astronomical events of the universe (Leon-Portilla 3). It is quite evident that Indigenous people were highly skilled and effective sky watchers. The numerical concept of zero allowed computations of time, and allowed the projection of thousands of years into the past and future, computations of space by pin-pointing a chronological reference point in time, and the understanding that time and space is limitless (Leon-Portilla3-4). Unlike Western or European society in which zero is seen as emptiness, for the Mayas it represented completeness of a cyclic nature of time (Aveni 131).

The Mayans achieved some of the most important astronomical breakthroughs between

A.D. 800 and A.D. 1400 (Aveni 131 and Keoke and Porterfield 24). They used a highly sophisticated system of astronomy that was developed independently from the rest of the world

(Aveni 24). Aside from solar eclipses, science was used to create a calendar system based on keen observation cycles of the sun and the moon (Aveni 24). The Mesoamerican calendars were far more accurate than European calendars of the same time period (Mann 405 and Keoke and

Porterfield 45). Observing the sky, the sun, and the constellation Pleiades, were marks of point in agriculture to plant corn (Aveni 24). Astronomy also led to the 45 building of structures or pyramids (Sun and the Moon) throughout the Western Hemisphere that aligned with planets

(especially Venus or the ―morning star‖) and solstices, while others served as observation locations (Keoke and Porterfield 24;Vento 2). Astronomy was related to every aspect of society, such as city plans, military, trade, and specialized workmanship (Aveni 21). Another interesting feat, was how the Indigenous ancestors whether Maya, Mexica, Inca, Lakota, Pima or from another group used astronomy based on scientific observation and wove it into theology, as opposed to having a religion (Aveni 1; Vento 57 and 59). A scientific and mathematical

25 approach to the Creator motivated the knowledge of the cosmos (Aveni 221). Science and theology were fused in a complex way and experts are still trying to decipher it (Aveni 230).

The negative portrayal of Indigenous people is a direct ―reflection of medieval European reality with all of its barbarism, superstition and violence‖ (Vento 80). As a result Europeans did not have the complex scientific knowledge and understanding of the universe that Indigenous people had, and therefore condemned Indigenous knowledge as heretical and made ―medieval witchcraft accusations‖ (Vento 80). In order to even begin to grasp an essence of Indigenous cosmology, it is important to learn the basics of astronomy, physics, chemistry and biology. No other cosmology in the world links the understanding of science to the same extent that indigenous ancestors viewed the Creator.

In addition, the Indigenous people were the first of all humanity to have compulsory education for all sexes and social classes (Coe 198, Keoke and Porterfield 67, Soustelle 173).

The Indigenous ancestors were creators of vast cities, and about 75 million to 100 million were city dwellers. This clearly dispels the ―myths‖ that all were tribal people (Keoke and Porterfield

60). Some of these great cities were Machu Picchu, Tikal, Cahokia, Cholula, Teotihuacan, and

Tenochtitlan (Coe 103, 120, 155194, Mann 27, Keoke and Porterfield 60-61 and Stannard 32).

The last great city before European invasion was Tenochtitlan, (1325 AD) the capital of the

Mexica nation. Surrounded by water, Tenochtitlan contained temples, palaces, universities, hospitals, botanical gardens, zoos, a huge marketplace, and agricultural islands (chinampas)

(Keoke and Porterfield 61). Tenochtitlan was larger than London, Spain or any another European city at the time, and Cortes agreed that ―it was far and away the most beautiful city on Earth‖

(qtd. in Stannard 4). The Spaniards, who were the first to witness the grand city of Tenochtitlan outside of the Indigenous, were in awe, and ―saw things unseen, nor ever dreamed,‖ or ―asked

26 whether the things that they saw were not a dream‖ (qtd in Coe 190). The Spanish were quite impressed with how the Indigenous ancestors, the Mexicas, conducted themselves in a market place. Bernal Diaz Castillo noted ―some of the soldiers among us who had been in many parts of the world, in Constantinople, and all over Italy and Rome, said that so large a marketplace and so full of people, and so well-regulated and arranged, they had never seen before‖ (qtd in Keoke and Porterfield 61-62). Tenochtitlan with its intricate canals reminded the Spanish of Venice, but it was meticulously clean (Stannard 5). Not only were the cities and streets clean and orderly, the inhabitants also had concepts of hygiene before the Europeans (Stannard 5).

The Indigenous ancestors independently created multiple, complex and sophisticated writing systems, without any influences from the outside world, in the forms of pictographs, hieroglyphs, logographs, pictograms, quipu (3D writing forms of knots that resemble CD-

ROMS) and other styles as well (Keoke and Porterfield 304). It was the Mayans who took writing systems to the highest degree of éclat, ―with a mixed semantic-phonetic script in which they apparently could write anything they wished‖ (Coe 61). Other feats of which the Indigenous ancestors were scientific masters in architecture and engineering, especially in the pyramids built around 3000 B.C., before the Egyptians had built theirs (Keoke and Porterfield 220). Another accomplishment made by the Indigenous ancestors, especially the Mexica civilization, was the founding of the first hospital in Cemanahuac, and having it fully staffed with doctors, nurse, and surgeons (Keoke and Porterfield 131). Also, hospitals provided an array of services to the public such as a wide-ranging pharmacy, and treatment of pathologies and disorders (Keoke and

Porterfield 131). The Mexica surgeons performed brain surgery, amputations, and plastic surgeries (Keoke and Porterfield 131). The hospitals also provided dentists, obstetricians, eye doctors, ear doctors, gynecologists and other specialists as well (Keoke and Porterfield 131).

27

The hospitals provided free services to the community, funded by the government (Keoke and

Porterfield 131). Other medical practices that pre-dated the Europeans were holistic medicine, the concept of personal hygiene, hot springs, syringes, therapeutic touch, thoracentesis, traction and countertraction, psychotherapy, aromatherapy, anatomical knowledge, anesthetics, antiasthmatic, antibiotic, antispasmodic and antiviral medications and so many more (Keoke and

Porterfield 12-16,21129,131-132,247,257,263,272).

The Mexica were a moral people with excellent ethics. People who were of high authority, whether it was a tlatoani (public speaker) or rulers, judges, public officials, tax- gathers, ambassadors, and the like were all obliged to uphold the highest form of integrity

(Soustelle 142).The tlatoani, which means ―he who speaks‖ were not chosen by mere chance, but on their ability of elocution and their delivery of figurative speeches, which the Mexica people loved so well (Soustelle 87). The society was very disciplined and strict. If a public official broke the law in any way, they were punished more harshly than a commoner, in a form of the death penalty, because they failed to be exemplary characters to the rest of society (Soustelle 142).

Elderly men and women ―were highly respected and esteemed and had a place in society until their deaths, at which time their lives were celebrated with great joy for having contributed to the greatness of the nation‖ (Vento 79). Public drunkenness was illegal, because it violated the social and cultural wellbeing of the nation (Vento 74). The Indigenous ancestors knew the dangers that alcohol possessed if not controlled, so it was practically banned from society (Vento 74).

Alcohol was, however, only regulated to ceremonies or the elderly (Vento 74). Even war was sacred. There was protocol, formalities and ethical conduct before war was declared (Soustelle

203). War happened ―after long and painful negotiations‖ with quarreling nations (Soustelle

206). All civilizations would not have ―flourished without some type of military defense‖ (Vento

28

1). The Mexica were not only expanding, but were unifying various nations, into one nation

(Soustelle 206). In war, time was given to the opponent to build a defense, and they were even supplied with arms (Soustelle 208). No other behavior has been seen in all of humanity, ―the embassies, speeches and gifts very clearly demonstrate the chivalrous ideal of the warrior in

American antiquity‖ (Soustelle 208). Another trait in conduct of war not seen anywhere else in the world was the purpose of war; it was not to kill their enemies, but to capture them and offer them to the Creator (Soustelle 210; Vento 73). War was not to make the opponents yield by force or create havoc by ―systematic extermination of whole nations, the annihilation of states or overthrow‖ (Soustelle 211-212). After the succession of a new state into the empire, everything was left intact including customs, language, rituals, institutions and the like (Soustelle 212;

Vento 73). Even among their enemies such as the P‘urepecha, Tlaxcala, and a few others, the

Mexica treated with respect and were basically left in peace by the Mexica, unlike Western civilizations‘ practices (Vento 68). The Mexica showed such great chivalry to their enemies in spite of their enemies‘ maltreatment of them. In fact, Vento described the Tlaxcalas as ―the betrayers, allied with Cortes‖ but in reality the Tlaxcala‘s were using the Spanish to go against the Mexica in order to be the next superpower, and not to be under European rule (Vento 67).

In essence men and women had separate roles, but were considered equal and complimentary (Keoke and Porterfield 303). Women in Mexica society were doctors, lawyers, judges, warriors, artisans, priestesses, poets, and politicians (Schroeder, Wood and Haskett 25,

55-58, 82; Vento 22). For the Mexica people, childbirth was a sacred act. If a woman died in childbirth she was honored like a warrior who lost her life in battle (Vento 79). Indigenous women enjoyed rights that were unheard of in Europe, right alongside their male counterparts

(Vento 78-79). This is just a glimpse of thousands years of Indigenous accomplishments. Such

29 progress was suddenly and abruptly brought to an end by the invasion of Europeans who did not conquer the Indigenous people, but infected them with their diseases (Blaut 186). Indigenous intelligence, genius, and innovation were completely destroyed and became stagnant. If left undisturbed, the Indigenous people could have been made further contributions in science, mathematics, technology, literature, art and many other fields. Vento summarizes the ancient

Mexica civilization by stating:

The high principles of these cultures regarding humanity, brotherhood, true harmony and

understanding of the principles of nature, their profound knowledge in the high

mathematics, astronomy, biology, engineering, architecture, agronomy and their creative

genius as exemplified by their profound abstract art and poetry does not fit with the

barbarous model invented by the Spanish. The contradiction has puzzled many

researchers who have tried to rationalize or justify its existence. It does not fit simply

because it is a myth invented like many in the history of invading nations. As one looks at

today‘s world, it is evident that the Western models of institutional politics of the

moment are symptoms of a very long pattern of conflict and denial. The moment is now

upon us to seek as the Aztecs and other Native Americans sought, the Neltiliztli or the

―root and foundations of all things‖ so that we can attain a more profound understanding

of humanity and the cosmos are experienced in a non-linear, multi-dimensional and

interlinking unified reality. (80-81)

The Indigenous people would have been the pride of humanity. As Jacques Soustelle in his closing remarks about the Mexica civilization ―their culture, so suddenly destroyed, is one of those that humanity can be proud of having created‖ (244). As Chicano/as in order to begin the healing of identity due to the historical trauma through the use of Curanderismo the descendants

30 of the Indigenous people must know exactly what to reclaim by knowing their full history presented in a non-Eurocentric manner, because without an identity, true healing cannot begin.

Historical Trauma

This study intertwines the loss of Indigenous identity, and the process of regaining identity through engagement with Curanderismo to heal Chicanas/os from their historical trauma.

For the Indigenous people their trauma began with the European invasion in 1492, which has been described by Ortiz as ―[t]he great and most horrible trauma indigenous people of the

Americas have experienced and endured for hundreds of years since European settlement, colonization, [and] conquest‖ (qtd in Bańka 114). When Europeans stole lands and destroyed

Chicanas/os Indigenous identity it ―triggered a long and complex process of cultural fragmentation‖ which still affects Chicana/o today in a variety of ways (Bańka 114). There is more than one definition for historical trauma. It is ―physical and emotional damage due to prolong periods of abuse‖ (Blea 143). According to Sotero, historical trauma is, ―populations historically subjected to long-term, mass trauma-colonialism, slavery, war, genocide, [and which may] exhibit prevalence of disease, even several generations after the original trauma occurred‖

(93). It is also described as a ―profound sense of intergenerational grief about the historical past:

America's westward expansion and the conquest of Native societies, was followed by land expropriation, forced relocation, and forced assimilation‖ (Sotero 343). Brave Heart defines historical trauma as ―the cumulative and collective psychological and emotional injury sustained over a lifetime and across generations resulting from massive group trauma experiences‖ (qtd in

Sotero 96). Another scholar, Faimon, describes historical trauma in relation to the Dakota nation as a ―indescribable terror and the legacy of terror that remains after 140 years, as evidenced by regression, dissociation, denial, alcoholism, depression, doubt, helplessness and devaluation of

31 self and culture‖ (qtd in Sotero 96). The Aboriginal Healing Foundation explains historical trauma as a ―cluster of traumatic events as a disease itself‖ (Sotero 96).Alternatively, historical trauma is also known as ―unresolved grief,‖ (Braveheart 291). Historical trauma has also been described as a ―soul wound‖ (Sotero 97). The symptoms of historical trauma are ―maladaptive social and behavioral patterns that were created in response to the trauma experience, absorbed into the culture and transmitted as learned behavior from generation to generation‖ (Sotero 96).

The Indigenous people, as a result of such trauma, have feelings of ―unexpressed rage, grief, and distrust which are only partly conscious and they are expressed indirectly in symptoms of mental or behavioral disorders‖ (Duran and Duran 343).

The premise and the conceptualization of historical trauma among the collective experiences of Native Americans in the United States are based on reports of holocaust survivors from WWII, and their families (Adams ET al.120). The earliest studies of historical trauma were in the 1960s, and were written from the perspective of psychoanalysis (Adams et al. 120). These reports were taken from a small sample of clinical case studies (Adams et al. 120). The results showed that there was a pattern among the sample showing enumerating symptoms from the survivors (Adams et al. 120). At first, historical trauma was classified as ―survivor syndrome,‖ and symptoms included denial, depersonalization, isolation, somatization, memory loss, agitation, anxiety, guilt depression, intrusive thoughts, nightmares, psychic numbing, and survivor guilt (Adams et al. 120). The symptoms were affecting parent effectiveness, and the first generation of holocaust survivors showed similar symptoms to their parents (Adam et al.

120).

There is a difference, though, between the trauma experienced by Jewish people in World

War II, and that endured by Native Americans. The Jewish Holocaust of the 1930s and 1940s

32 was confined to a decade or time period, while Native Americans are still suffering catastrophically from circumstances that are ongoing (Adams et al. 120).In terms of measuring historical trauma in Native Americans, Brave Heart and Duran & Duran are few scholars that cover historical trauma, including genocide and ethnic cleansing (Adams et al. 120). Native

Americans from the United States experienced persistent traumas. Forced relocation policies still affect all aspects of their daily lives including hunting, religious practices, and their indigenous languages (Adam ET al120). Also, familial separation, including removal of children into boarding schools for the purpose of assimilation became the norm (Adams et al. 120).

However, these occurrences did not end at the time of the military conquest or once the theft of land was complete, instead it still persists and will continue to impact future generations (Adams et al. 121). These traumas still occur for Native Americans, they are faced with daily reminders of loss which includes: ―reservation living, encroachment of Europeans even on their reservation lands, loss of language, [and] loss of traditional healing practices,‖ (Adams et al 121). Ethnic

―cleansings‖ and these daily struggles persist with consistent discrimination being a key factor to understanding historical trauma among Native Americans (Adams et al 121). So these losses are not ―historical‖ in this sense, because they are still occurring presently in terms of the ―economic conditions of reservation life, discrimination, and a sense of cultural loss‖ (Adams et al. 121).

Some scholars state that we can measure the presence of loss empirically to understand ―the prevalence and impact on the psychological well-being of Indigenous American peoples‖

(Adams 121). Historical trauma in literature, however, is mainly ―theoretical and qualitative in nature‖ (Sotero 97).

Numerous Chicanas/os scholars, writers, and poets, have addressed historical trauma and how it has affected their identity in their literary works—along with the need to restore balance

33 and healing (Cervantes 10). Patrisia Gonzales gives an example of Chicanas/os historical trauma in the hands of the Christian church:

With reducciones, the church could spiritually kill the Indian. Missionaries did this by

settling indigenas into compact villages where they could be Christianized, and therefore,

contained and controlled. Reduce the Indian‘s soul. That process taught indigenous

people to hate themselves and to see all things indigenous as things of the devil. To hate

the Indian (Indigenous), to hate ourselves, this is how they controlled us. The story of

mestizaje is clay fashioned by their hands. This is the susto or trauma of history. Our

faces, our skin color, tell us we are Indian (Indigenous). But it is the not knowing of our

tribes, of our native tongues, that is our historical trauma. Es el susto de lo que fue

desaparecido. (230)

This loss of identity as Indigenous people, led Chicanas and Chicanos to lose themselves.

Francisco X. Alarcón further elaborates on historical trauma that affects identity when he states,

"I am physical proof of the violent transformations suffered by native peoples on this continent in the last 500 years. My face, my body, my soul are in constant turmoil. They don‘t seem to fit any European profile‖ (29). Gloria Anzaldúa states:

As a person, I as a people, we, Chicanos, blame ourselves, hate ourselves, and terrorize

ourselves. Most of this goes on unconsciously; we know that we are hurting; we suspect

that there is something wrong with us, something fundamentally ―wrong.‖ (45)

Aldama further expands on historical insecurities and trauma stating; therefore Chicanas/os must embrace their Indigenous past ―as a living cultural psychic force that informs and sustains the present‖

(199). Another Chicano scholar and performance artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña stated in an interview that

34

Chicanos/as are a ―product of colonial rape and a cultural cesarean eternally condemned to come to terms with this historical trauma‖ (Gómez-Peña 260). Chicanas/os, who have retained remnants of their

Indigenous identity, have a choice to make to live as dignified Indigenous people, or poor imitations of

Europeans. Batalla states:

They can live on the margin of national life, related to it only by the minimal, inevitable

relations between their real worlds and the other, which appears as different and external;

or they can live a double life, also schizophrenic, changing between worlds and cultures

according to circumstances and necessities; or finally they can renounce their identity

from birth and try to be fully accepted in the imaginary Mexico of the minority. (66)

Gasper de Alba refers to historical trauma as a ―cultural schizophrenia [which] is the presence of mutually contradictory or antagonistic beliefs, social forms and material traits in any group whose racial, religious, or social components are a hybrid of two or more cultures (also known as mestizaje)‖ (Gasper de Alba 199). Also, Chicanas/os are in a ―state of colonization‖ the predominant form of ―cultural schizophrenia‖ and in ―conscious perception and negotiation of this state is fundamental to the psychic rite of passage from cultural schizophrenia to border consciousness that we refer to as an identity crisis‖ (Gasper de Alba 199). Gasper de Alba continues: ―the moment of differentiation in which border consciousness becomes aware of itself as not only from, but more importantly resistant to, the hegemonic constructs of race and class and by the politics of assimilation and immigration‖ is when a resistance from the norm develops

(199-200). Irene Blea mentions the current issues Chicanas/os face because of historical trauma, by stating:

Historical trauma is simply the contention that people have been treated in exclusionary

and demanding manners for a very long time. In its most severe manifestation it renders

35

the wounded unable to thrive in her/his society. To a lesser degree it impacts the victim‘s

self-esteem. It manifests as bad health, low education, a lack of political power, and

higher rates of incarceration. These manifestations validate the Anglo culture as the

favorable, true, correct culture and allow privilege and status to those who conform, in

behavior and body type, by subjecting them to less discrimination. This elevates

discriminatory practices into the ongoing institutional and cultural mechanism. When

viewed from the outside, the Chicano may appear to suffer from loss of self-concept and

self-esteem, but when viewed from the inside, Chicanos are seen to be highly motivated

to protect their culture. This motivation incorporates high self-esteem and a concept of

self that connote value, and dominant Americans need to learn to respect this. (144)

Another Chicana scholar Eden E. Torres has also written about historical trauma and unresolved grieving in her book Chicana without Apology. Torres argued that ―Xicanos/as need to mourn the sad and horrific parts of their past to heal, mainly the slavery and genocide that has been perpetrated by Europeans in the last five centuries‖ (15). As a result Chicanas/os need to grieve and reflect from their historical trauma, because they have not being given the time to heal

(Torres 23). The historical trauma that Chicanas/os experienced manifests in different ways such as PTSD, anxiety, personality disorder, acting out, and addictive behaviors (Torres 17).An example of historical trauma is manifested in, ―violent behavior [and] is a sure sign of lost identity a soul screaming out for attention because they need help‖ (Sandoval 137). Sandoval elaborates and says, ―When a person does not know their true roots and culture they will always walk around confused, or act in destructive or violent ways that are difficult to comprehend‖

(Sandoval 137). Dr. Khalid Abdul Muhammad states, ―if you do not have knowledge of yourself, you take your enemies for your friends and your friends for your enemies that you are hard to

36 lead in the right direction and easy to lead in the wrong directions‘‘(Qtd. in Sandoval 137).

Furthermore, the physical and psychological devastation ―of our historic experience is coupled with years of injustice, discrimination, and exclusion‖ among Chicanas/os today (Torres 17).

Torres also mentions that as a people for the last five centuries, Chicanas/os ―[have] endured multiple losses: the loss of life, meaning lands-our physical lives and a psychological sense of wellbeing‖ (Torres 22). Although some remnants of Indigenous cultures has survived the

―American Holocaust, much of their original meaning has been lost or distorted through

Catholic, elite interpreters and recorders such loss inevitably affects our sense of self‖ (Torres

22). The fact that Chicanas/os are Indigenous has made them a target of oppression on their own lands, because the dominant powers want to eliminate them (Torres 22). Torres also makes the correlation in the 1960s, when Chicanos realized, that they had Indigenous origins it gave them a sense of belonging and it ―represented a psychological development as well as a political one in that it was an identity antithetical to the effects of historic trauma‖ (Torres 164). Torres argues that as a people we need to redefine, reclaim and reinvent their true Indigenous identity (Torres

146). Elena Avila, a Chicana scholar and healer also emphasizes that in order for Chicanas/os to heal from historical trauma is to look to their cultural heritage (Torres 38). Avila states:

We are not strangers to trauma, oppression and loss. We…have had to fight long and

hard to preserve our culture. I thank our ancestors for knowing that we have more than a

body…we are also a soul. Our soul is our unique essence, our life force…when our soul

is present, we accept dialyzed and fragmented parts of us as a paradox…we understand

the paradox. We are proud, Chicano people who no longer tolerate the injustice and

oppression of a society that does not recognized the earth wisdom of her indigenous

people. (Qtd in Torres 38)

37

Avila acknowledges that Chicanas/os identifying with their Indigenous roots is more of ―a communal function beyond a romantic longing for postmodern complexity‖ (Torres 39). Lastly,

Patricia Gonzales states, ―trauma undermines the truth. Yet once Chicanas/os acknowledge their trauma, it can become the deepest truth of oppression…Most healing continues for a lifetime‖

(93). There is presently no empirical data to measure or prove that historical trauma does exist.

However, scholars such as these are questioning and further investigating the correlations between historical trauma, the loss of Indigenous identity and one‘s health.

Consequences of Historical Trauma and of Indigenous Identity

For the last five hundred years, Indigenous people have gone through catastrophic changes in regards to identity, which adds to the confusion in the present. As Leon Portilla states:

The deterioration of self-identity, and even more its total loss, brings with them an acute

trauma. They promote the disintegration of the community and place it, in the last

instance, in situations of alienation and of easy subjugation, where it is incapable of

orientating itself sufficiently to act on its own behalf. In this way, while not implying a

negation of the process of change, possession of a sense of identity is an essential

prerequisite for any group to exist and act in its own best interests. This in no way

excludes, but rather renders fully operative, forms of interaction and participation or

collaboration in the context of other, broader, social entities. (9)

For Europeans to destroy the Indigenous people, they had to take away their identity, in order to inculcate the Indigenous cultures with their doctrine of white supremacy that affects them culturally, linguistically, politically, economically and socially. The destruction of Chicanas/os

Indigenous identity started when the first European invaded with Christopher Columbus in 1492

38

(Gutierrez 17). Because Columbus thought he was in India, he named the people indios

(Indians), which is still used by many Indigenous presently (Gutierrez 17). Then when the

Spaniards invaded the Mexican nation (present day Mexico City) in 1519 the Mexica were in a position of power. Hence the Mexica had the ―privilege‖ of being documented by the Spanish, which gives a glimpse of their collective feelings related to the invasion and European domination over their lands in terms of their identity or loss of it. The Nahuatl word Nepantla, which translates to ―in between,‖ and was a concept used by the Mexica to describe their current state ―related to cultural identity that can present themselves in attempts at inducing acculturation‖ or forced domination (Leon-Portilla 10). A Dominican friar, Diego Duran reprimanded a Mexica man on his behavior because he was still practicing his customs (Leon-

Portilla 10). The Mexica wise man responded, ―Father don‘t be afraid, for we are still in

‗nepantla‘—in other words, ‗in the middle‘, or as he later added, ‗we are neutral‘‖ (Leon-Portilla

10). One‘s culture, customs, language, morals affect one‘s identity and because the Mexica were being introduced to what they viewed as ―strange and at times incomprehensible,‖ this affected their Indigenous world and identity (Leon-Portilla 10). The attitudes of the Mexica during this time showcases ―the trauma of nepantlism,‖ going on in their lives (Leon-Portilla 10). The

Nahuatl concept of ―nepantlism‖ is to remain in the middle,‖ and was one of the greatest dangers of cultural contact, ruled by the Spanish desire to impose change, the Spanish invaders‘ imposition of religion, language, laws, customs, and foreign institutions (Leon-Portilla 13-14).

Furthermore, at the same time their obliteration of the entire Indigenous world led to ―many kinds of nepantlism, as they [the Indigenous] are in imminent danger of losing their own identity‖ (Leon-Portilla 13-14). Lara Medina expands on the concept of Nepantla, as ―a liminal space that can confuse its occupants but also has the ability to transform them‖ (256).

39

Numerous children being born to Mexica women and Spanish men greatly affected the identity of those children usually conceived out of rape (Leon-Portilla 109). Rejected and abandoned by the Spanish fathers and stripped away from their Mexica identity of their mothers, resulted in the trauma continuing for generations (Leon-Portilla 111). As one Mexica chronicler noted in the late 1500‘s, about the so-called mestizos, ―mestizas/os do not want to recognize that they have some of our blood, some of our color. Only vainly do they attempt to pass for

Spaniards‖ (Leon-Portilla 111). It is clear that the dehumanization of Indigenous people forces the mixed bloods to forgo their Indigenous identity despite their features and whole-heartedly embrace their European side, because of the privilege it might allow them. The confusion of identity was furthered when the Spanish invaders implemented the ―casta‖ system in the 16th century, a model of classification to label illegitimate children or those born out of rape using over 200 different racial classifications—this continued with the import of African slaves into

Mexico as well (Martinez 31 and qtd in Urrieta 328). This system of race created a form of ―self- hate, an obsession for whiteness and a rejection‖ of an Indigenous identity (Urrieta 328). This attitude toward whiteness developed into an ideology of mejorando la raza (bettering the race), which came out of the ―caste system, the cosmic race mentality, and out of mestizaje‖ (Urrieta

328). The Indigenous people still suffer from this imposed belief system, because the destruction of identity occurred (Urrieta 328). Another system to destroy the Indigenous identity was called

―Limpieza de Sangre‖ (cleansing of one‘s blood) that would allow church records to classify people as Criollo, a European identity (Menchaca 156). As a result of mixing with lighter skinned individuals to eliminate Indigenous identity, families could set up generations to belong to a higher caste, to become a mestizo, and ultimately a European, instead of Indigenous (Urrieta

328). The Spanish caste system was used to take away people‘s Indigenous identity and was a

40 tool of economic and political power for the Spaniards (Martinez 31). These ideological and institutional structures also existed to enforce colonial rule over the Indigenous peoples

(Martinez 31). As Martinez states, ―sistema de castas (caste system) was influenced by political and economic factors (Martinez 31). Such factors included the government‘s interest in dividing the colonial population and in creating a free-wage labor force in order to meet the growing labor demands (aggravated by the decline of the native population) of urban economics, hacienda and mining complexes‖ (Martinez 31).

As mentioned earlier, the concept of mestizo resurfaced in the 1530's, and by the next decade was synonymous with ―illegitimacy,‖ and used to describe different species of animals that mated and produced offspring‘s (Martinez 32). A few terms used such as lobo (wolf),or mulatto (mule), were related to zoological terminology, such as when a Spaniard had children with an Indigenous woman. This gives us a sense of how Europeans perceived mixed children born to non-European women (Martinez 32). One term the Spaniards liked to use to describe those of mixed origins was ―dog,‖ and use phrases such as ―Indian dog‖ or ―dirty dog,‖ which was correlated with ―half-breeds‖ (Gutierrez 181). As a result Spaniards often called ―half- breeds‖ lobos and coyotes (Gutierrez 181). For example, in a letter to the Supreme Council of the

Inquisition in 1576, a Spaniard wrote: ―the descendants of indios, mestizos or castizos, as they are called here, in general are regarded as vile and despicable, restless and vicious liars and unable to keep secrets‖ (Martinez 33). Other classifying terms that were used to confuse and rob

Indigenous people of their identity included mulato, castizo, morisco, zambaigo, lobo, coyote, pardo, moreno, chino, and many others depending on how much Indigenous, African and/or

European blood they had (Martinez 35). The lack of respect the Spanish had for the Indigenous people in their reference to animals and other names to dehumanize the mixed bloods. These

41 kinds of classifications were recorded by the church, and people who were mixed with

Indigenous blood could ―erase‖ their blood, or ―gracias al sacar‖ (take away) for a fee in order to be classified as European, and as a result killing their identity (Deans-Smith and Katzew 8).

The caste systems were regulated up to the 19th century when the Criollo elites gained independence from Spain and faced ―the problem of forging and molding a viable modern nation state and promoting capitalist economic development ―(Deans-Smith and Katzew 10). The elites wanted to unify Mexico with a national identity and abolish the caste system and racial categories in terms of legality (Deans-Smith and Katzew11). On September 17, 1822, it was

―decreed that citizens of Mexico could not be classified in official documents according to their racial origin‖ and Mexicans were classified as ―(ostensibly race- less) citizens‖ (Deans-Smith and Katzew 12). However, anthropologist Claudio Lomnitz argued:

The complex racial dynamics of the colonial period were simplified in the nineteenth

century into a bipolar model (Indian/whites) with an intermediate class of

―mestizos‖…The passage from a caste to a class society therefore entailed a

transformation-but not a complete elimination-of the old ethnic system…the implantation

of liberalism as the official ideology had the net effect of discarding certain aspects of the

colonial racial ideology while it built on others…some of the colonial racial ideas were

simply revamped, especially those that referred to the brutishness of Indians and,

generally to the inferiority of dark skin. Moreover, the nineteenth century also retained

the colonial ideology of whiteness as an attainable status to which many people

aspired…with the abolition of slavery and with the end of legal forms of racial

discrimination, the castas blurred into a single mass which came to be known racially as

―mestizos.‖ (Qtd in Deans-Smith and Katzew12)

42

Furthermore, the early 20th century philosophy of Indigenismo was to counter ―the Indigenous problem‖ and its concepts infused into society the idea of mestizaje, which ―promoted the idea of the mestizo nation‖ meaning the fusion of the Indigenous past and the ―colonial heritage which represents modernity‖ (Deans-Smith and Katzew12-14 and Batalla 115). Indigenismo was not constructed and utilized to restore an Indigenous identity and the dignity of the people, but to deracinate it (Contreras 24). Historian Alan Knight writes, ―[p]ostrevolutionary Indigenismo thus represented yet another white/mestizo construct…part of a long tradition stretching back to the

Conquest‖ (Contreras 26). The writing of Bonfil-Batalla and Knight assure that Indigenismo was the exercise of control over Indigenous communities (Contreras 26). Furthermore, ―Indigenismo did not contradict in any way the national plan that the triumphant Revolution had been crystallizing: to incorporate the Indian, that is, de-Indianize him, to make him lose his cultural and historical uniqueness‖ (Batalla 115-116). The attitude of Indigenismo and towards Indigenity was ―the only good Indian is the mythic Indian‖ and ignored the contemporary issues that they face or cast them as ―obstacles to national development (Contreras 25, Gutiérrez, Nájera, and

Aldama 2). The Mexican anthropologist and according to Batalla, the father of Indigenismo,

Manuel Gamio, writing in the early 20th century had a very clear and precise message:

In order to incorporate the Indian, let us not try to Europeanize him all at once. To the

contrary, let us indianize ourselves a little, to present to him our civilization, diluted in

his. In this way he will not find our civilization exotic, cruel, bitter, and

incomprehensible. Of course, one should not carry closeness with the Indian to

ridiculous extremes. (Batalla 116)

Lastly, the dubious plan behind Indigenismo was the Criollo or European born in Mexico, the elites during the colonial period, who appropriated an Indigenous ―past in order to construct a

43 national identity and provide logic for Creole occupation of Native land‖ by giving Europeans the right to be on Indigenous lands (Contreras 25).

The concept of mestizaje was used to assimilate the Indigenous people and to erase cultural heritage and identity as well as hide their social and political realities. The present condition of those mixed with Indigenous and European blood is directly related to what happened to the Indigenous ancestors, and the reason why Chicanas/os are in the mental state they are in now (Deans-Smith and Katzew15 and Gutierrez, Najera, Castellanos, and Aldama 6, and Alberto 38). National projects, such as mestizaje and Indigenismo were synonymous with a common goal of erasing Indigenous identity (Alberto 38). In Mexico, the ―Mexican-European‖ elite ―sought to unify its indigenous population into the fabric of the nation by converting Indians into mestizos, which Mexican intellectuals idealized as a new ―cosmic race‖ (qtd in Gutierrez,

Najera, Castellanos, and Aldama 6). The term mestizo became a unifying symbol, which implied everybody was equal and mestizo by erasing the Indigenous identity (Urrieta 329 and Bomberry

216). The way Indigenous people kill their Indigenous identity is, ―simply by denying its existence or relegating it to a distant past‖ (Bomberry 216). Mestizaje was a way to integrate any remnants of Indigenous culture and identity into the mainstream, and therefore cause them to disappear for good (Batalla 110). Vasconcelos‘ further spurred the concept of being a mestizo by coining ―Raza Cosmica‖, yet the Indigenous population was virtually ignored while the ancient past of Mexica was glorified (Urrieta 329). Mestizaje, a liberal ideology, ―tended to obscure social and racial inequalities under a guise of equality and multiculturalism (Gutierrez, Najera,

Castellanos, and Aldama 6). The cientifcos (men of science) like Justo Sierra during the Porfirio

Era (1848-1912) worked ―toward the rehabilitation of the mestizo, it was predicated on the need for a continual infusion of European blood which would ―keep the level of civilization …from

44 sinking, which would mean regression, not evolution‖ (Qtd in Deans-Smith and Katzew 15).

Another critic of the mestizo label and mestizaje was Jorge Klor de Alva, who noted the

―problematic application of the concept of mestizaje as both a euphemism for the overwhelming presence of Western influences and as an excuse for eliding/dismissing that which is indigenous‖

(qtd in Deans-Smith and Katzew15). The term mestizaje ―began by taking and raping, or attempting to biologically change the racial composition of the Indigenous population. Later, mestizaje morphed into a dubious, caste-imposed concept based on skin color as opposed to racial mixture‖ (Gonzales 314). The label mestizo became an identity of privilege, however it still does not levitate the ―prejudices, discrimination, and violence targeted against indigenous people‖ (Urrieta 323). Mestizaje forced the Indigenous population to claim Spanish ancestry whether or not they were mixed, in order to destroy their identity (Gonzales 315). As a result of this colonial term of mestizaje, Chicanas/os in the ―United States‖ cannot ―legitimately‖ claim their Indigenous identity (Gonzales 316). Ultimately, ―mestizaje presents itself as the fusion of civilizations, but it‘s simply the guise that allows for the system of colonial dominance to continue‖ (Bomberry 216). Therefore, the term mestizaje is problematic and historically rooted in racism, because of its erasure of Indigenous identity in Chicanas/os (qtd in Urrieta 322).

According to Urrieta, another aspect of mestizaje is the sexual violence against

Indigenous women (323). During the Mexican nationalist period, the mestizo became the

―symbol of the cultural and biological merging of Spanish and indigenous people (322).‖ The reality was an invasion, domination, and rape of Indigenous women and people, and there was no such thing as a beautiful mixture of two cultures (Urrieta 322). The relationship between

Indigenous women and European men was as follows: ―the white man possessed the native woman wherever and whenever he saw fit‖ (qtd in Contreras 58). The sexual assault and

45 terrorism against Indigenous women is comprised of ―a history of sexual violence as a tool of war and conquest, as well as the metaphoric representation of the conquest of the Americas of rape,‖ both are synonymous (Contreras 58). As a result of such a horrendous act against

Indigenous women, mestizos are ―the offspring of these inharmonious and forced unions had none of the advantage of a normal origin‖ (Contreras 58). Indigenous women and their bodies

―were literally conceived as the epicenter of the nation from which would emerge the Mestizo, who would form the cosmic race describe by Jose Vasconcelos‖ (Urrieta 323). Therefore, the whole concept of mestizo was developed in order to conceal the rape of Indigenous women, and the reason why some Chicanas/os have Spanish blood in the first place (Urrieta 323). Mestizaje was fashioned also to exploit the rape of Indigenous women whose ―bodies [were involved] in a nation-building project‖ (Urrieta 323). Indigenous men also endured a form of sexism and sexual violence by becoming ―like women‖ as they [were] subjugated like women and forever consigned to a state of powerlessness‖ (Contreras 59). Not only does mestizo culture eradicate

Indigenous identity; it has no interest in reviving it (Urrieta 323). Mestizos are in this in-between state of the Indigenous and European identities, with hope of escaping out of ―Indianness‖ and into whiteness (Urrieta 323). Being a mixed-blood is tragedy, ―a hopeless [state] borne of the violence that brought about [at] the moment of coition:‖ ―In what spirit have the Spanish and other foreign fathers gotten children of the Indian women‖ (qtd. in Contreras 58). As a result it is an insult to call someone an ―Indio‖ and mixed people often choose to claim a distant European ancestor, as opposed to generations of Indigenous ancestors (Urrieta 324).

In the 1930s, a new identity emerged in the United States; Mexican-American emerged as a way to retain the pride and culture of Mexican origin and to ―express a fundamentally U.S national identity at the same time (Lopez 200). This new category was added to the U.S census

46 and counted all people ―born in Mexico, or having parents born in Mexico, who were definitely not white, Negro, Indian, Chinese, Japanese‖ as Mexicans (qtd in Stern 151).The classification of

Mexican resulted in the loss of the white identity which was previously used in the 1920s (Stern

151 and Katzew 213 and Menchaca 289). This new category in the U.S census made Mexicans non-white foreign and mixed race (Stern 151). Mexican leaders fully embraced the fact that they were racially white, ―and so deserved to be free from discrimination, but simultaneously

Mexican as a matter of group culture, pride, and political mobilization‖ (Lopez 200). Also, in the

1930s, Mexico eliminated all racial categories and instead asked questions in their census about language, culture, and common traits in Indigenous people ―in order to map and quantify

Mexico‘s population of monolingual and bilingual Spanish speakers‖ (Smith-Katzew 17).

Further, the concept of Indigenismo in the 1930s was set in place to assimilate the Indigenous people (Weber and Duarte 192). In the 1940s, however, Mexicans were re-classified as white in the United States census because Mexican-Americans challenged it and had it legally changed

(Deans-Smith and Katzew 20).

During the 1960s in the southwestern United States, the identity of Chicana/os came to existence in order to shift to a more radical political identity (Gutierrez 192). A previous generation of Chicanas/os had identified with their whiteness or Spanish blood, because they did not want to be considered colored and suffer the same discrimination as African Americans

(Gutierrez 192). In the 1960s however, men and women were reclaiming their ―own repressed and forgotten racial and Indigenous ancestry,‖ and rejecting European labels by proclaiming themselves Chicana/o (Gutierrez 192 and Alberto 40). These Chicanas/os identified themselves with Mexica civilization, yet still had a limited knowledge of Aztlan or what is called the

Southwest (Gutierrez 192). The parents and grandparents of these Chicanas/os did not approve of

47 their children‘s choice to identify with that label, because it was considered a derogatory term meaning ―tramp‖ and ―guttersnipe‖ to the older generations (Gutierrez 192). Even though

Chicanas/os were rejecting European labels and acknowledging their Indigenous roots, however, there was still a mestizo mentality of embracing their Spanish and Indigenous origins all at once, proclaiming themselves the ―bronze race‖ (Gutierrez 191-192).Ruben Salazar, a Chicano journalist based in East Los Angeles, wrote to the Los Angeles Times about the Chicano identity—later, a sheriff‘s deputy killed him (Portilla and Shorris 71). Salazar spoke of the

Chicano identity as, ―one who was aware of his Indigenous heritage and who defended it‖

(Portilla and Shorris 71). Chicanas/os were proclaiming that they ―never crossed the border‖ and have been on the US side for a long time (Gutierrez 192). At the end of the Texas Revolt in

1936, the Mexican-American War, which occurred between 1846 and 1848, and with the

Gadsden Purchase in 1853, which separated Mexico and the U.S, the border had physically crossed them (Gutierrez 192). Although it was a start to reclaim their Indigenous identity,

Chicanas/os were just learning about their history—there were limitations on how they identified themselves.

In the 1970s, another label was being promoted that began the destruction of Indigenous identity, which was the term ―Latino.‖ Latino was an ―invention of Cuban-American advertising executives in South Florida and New York in the 1970s and 1980s that were eager to lump together and homogenize small Latin American national group identities into a larger unitary market sector. If they could create a clearly identifiable ‗Latino‘ market they stood to profit enormously‖ (Gutierrez 193). Not only does the Latina/o label deny Chicanas/os of their true identity, but it is used for the colonial order to maximize profits on a people who have little sense of identity, and who readily accept such labels that continue to be confusing. However, Latino

48 goes much further than that. In an 1856 speech by Chilean author Francisco Bilbao, he says that the word Latino grew to reinforce a European identity as the term ―continued to suppress any hint of their countries‘ embarrassing indigenous or African heritages‖ (Fox 13). The Italians in

Argentina, in the 20th century ―identified their civilization with a ‗Mediterranean‘ or ‗Latin‘ people; they imagined this race as timeless…of Rome with the present, and embracing and joining together all peoples of Latin descent wherever they were found‖ (Stepan 141).

Similarly, the terms American Indian and Native American are used to identify

Indigenous people of the United States (Hartley 53-54). Yet, Mexicans, who are Indigenous people living in the United States, are considered neither American Indian nor Native American, thus creating a category that makes the original people foreigners on their own land (Hartley 53-

54).The hegemonic colonial national identities in the U.S and Mexico have caused the

Indigenous people to label themselves ―both for themselves and against one another‖ (Hartley

54). In other words, these Eurocentric labels simultaneously separate those who do identify as

Indigenous from those who do not (Hartley 54). Furthermore, Native Americans often do not acknowledge Chicanas/os as Indigenous people from the United States, but rather from Mexico

(Hartley 54). As Hartley states, ―the original Chican@ trauma, then, stems from their rejection as

American by the dominant European invaders of the Anglo Conquest rather than from their earlier (but ongoing) colonization as indigenous people by the previously dominant Europeans of the Spanish Conquest‖ (54). However, Chicanas/os, have suffered historical trauma in terms of their identity. ―The Mexican community is a pan indigenous community comprised of native peoples of both Mexico and North America. Indigeneity became private and individualized in families. They survived by hiding the indigenous knowledge so deeply that some of us could no longer recognize it.‖ (Qtd in Gonzales 317)

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Thus reclaiming a Indigenous identity as Chicanas/os is quite complex, due to a number

of factors including historical trauma, assumptions that Indigenous people are only from the U.S,

and the United States government lack of acknowledgement of Chicanas/os as

Indigenous(Gonzales 318).Native Americans lost connection to their brothers and sisters from

Anahuac (North America) even though before the European invasion, Mexico and the present

day United States were ―once vibrantly interconnected‖ (Gonzales 318). However, Native

American scholars are starting to recognize Chicano/as as Indigenous. ―[M]ost Chicanos have a

substantial amount of Indian blood, but they have no ties to American Indians, ‗no legal standing

as Indians, or even a desire to be considered ‗Indian‘‖ (qtd in Gonzales 318). As Geary Hobson a

(Cherokee/Quapaw) scholar comments about Chicanas/os in terms of identity and culture ―while

they are undeniably of Indian blood, and genetically Indian, they are nevertheless culturally and

socially Spanish.‖ Essentially, the history of historical trauma has left Chicano/as with no sense

of self (Gonzales 318). Some Chicanas/os are trying to put back Indigenous identity piece by

piece using the ―pre-conquest culture and history from the fragments that escaped Spanish

zealotry‖ (Contreras 165). ―Chicanas/o Indigenism is at times aware of its own paradox, that is

the longing for a pre-colonial that can never be known‖ but it is not all lost and some pieces can

still be recovered (Contreras 165).

Worldview and Curanderismo

In order to comprehend Curanderismo, we must understand its underlying worldview and it is correlation to Chicanas/os health as Indigenous people. Worldview is defined as the

―ensemble of interrelated ideological systems, held together in a relatively consistent form, by which an individual or a social group at a particular moment in history tries to understand the universe‖ (Lopez-Austin 12). Lopez-Austin defines social group as ―any body of people held

50 together by common activities, interests, and purposes‖ and correlates worldview and social group as the ―interests, ambitions, desires, culture and even the degree of estrangement among different social groups‖ (Lopez-Austin 13). A worldview comes from a collected, collaborated

―cultural product‖ (Lopez-Austin 13). Every person in society contributes the creation of a worldview for their people (Lopez-Austin 13). Also, a worldview ―acquires the characteristics of a major conceptional system, which encompasses all others systems, classifies them and positions each one in its proper place‖ (Lopez-Austin 52). Therefore, if we understand how Indigenous ancestors approached health, we can in turn understand aspects of their worldview for the purpose of healing historical trauma.

Curanderismo is a Spanish word derived from the word curar, meaning to heal, which is

used to describe a healing system in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries in the Western

Hemisphere (Chavira & Trotter 1). Some of the research on the topic of Curanderismo refers to

Curanderismo as ―folk‖ medicine (Avila 36). To outsiders or mainstream academia it seems as

though Mexicans suffer from ―folk‖ diseases and therefore, are treated by folk healers (Chavez

131-37).Researchers/scholars such as Chavez, Maduro, and Lozano are discrediting

Curanderismo by giving it such a label. Curanderismo is a post-invasion, (meaning the European

invasion of the Western Hemisphere), healing modality with an Indigenous base and

epistemology. It is infused with different cultures, beliefs, and practices, due to colonization

(Avila 22-30; Viesca Treviño 47 and Gonzales 22). The healers that practice Curanderismo are

known throughout Mesoamerica as Curandera/os, which indicates that these individuals are

healers, and not medical or Western doctors (Viesca Treviño 47). The Curandera/o is the product

of the European invasion in 1492, and therefore emerges from the 16th century, although the

exact origins are obscure, because ―the specific role was not created by a decree or a

51 commemorative act‖ (Viesca Treviño 47). These holistic healers had medicinal knowledge and education prior to the European invasion (Viesca Treviño 48). These ancient doctors would prepare themselves from childhood in different medical specialties for future professions in large cities such as Tenochtitlan, where both males and females would attend the Calmecac

(university), or institutions of higher learning to attain an array of knowledge, including medicine ―in order to solve the problems of their people‖ (Viesca Treviño 48).

The fundamental worldview of Curanderismo are that the body, mind, and soul all need to be in a state of equilibrium in order to maintain overall health (Avila 41; Maduro 868-874;

Clark 38). Patrisia Gonzales adds to this understanding of healing systems of knowledge by stating that we need to ―restore physical, mental, emotional, material, social, communal, and individual well-being‖ (12). This belief evolves from the Nahua civilization and a worldview that assumes human beings and the cosmos are to be in direct relationship. The Creator, ―Ometeotl symbolized the cosmos, and humanity‘s charge was to keep both the cosmos, and the body in a state of balance‖ (Leon 133). To expand on the concept of Ometeotl, Lopez-Austin states ―the universe was thought to be divided by a horizontal plane primarily separating the Great Mother and the Great Father‖ (53). Dualities such as life and death, order and disorder, wet and dry, up and down, male and female, hot and cold, and earth and sky structured the Mesoamerican world

(Leon 133; Lopez- Austin 52; Ortiz de Montellano 38, 55 and Gonzales 24). Ometeotl is also known as ―Yohualli Ehecatl meaning Night and Wind, and by extension Invisible and Intangible, an appellation given also to Ometeotl, [who] was associated with the end sunset and was widely considered to be the Creator of life‖ of the Mexica people (Markman and Markman 66). In essence, Ometeotl is one Creator with many complex manifestations ―of a single source in much

52 the same way that we understand the multiple facets of a person‘s singular personality,‖ and not multiple gods or goddess (Markman and Markman 83; Vento1).

Duality has contributed much of the Mesoamerican cosmology which centers on the thought that the universe is always in a state of flux, and not fixed or static (Marcos 30).

Fluidity, according to the author, is an Indigenous thought. ―[E]verything in the world was perceived on a continuum; everything flowed between opposite poles‖ (Marcos 30). To further expand on the concept of balance and how it correlates with duality, and fluidity, Marcos, elaborates by stating, ―the continuous seeking for balance gives duality a constant plasticity, making it flow and impeding stratification‖ (Marcos 30). Equilibrium and the constant maintenance of it was the moral duty of all the citizens of the community (Marcos 30). The whole notion of duality and keeping-within equilibrium ―required each individual in every circumstance constantly to seek the hub of the cosmos and co-ordinate himself or herself in relation to it,‖ (Marcos 31). Indigenous epistemology ―stress generosity, mutuality, and interdependence which are agreements to live by‖ in accordance to the world around us

(Gonzales 16). Avila speaks of as ―originality‖ or people‘s original relationship with the land, place, and the natural world. Once Chicanas/os understand this relationship, they can understand their responsibilities to creation and each other (Gonzales 41-42). The worldview of duality, fluidity, interdependency and being in balance gave the Mexica people an outline on how to approach the body and health (Lopez-Austin 53).

Western biomedical culture only treats the physical aspect of an illness, and treats the body in isolation. The entire person is not addressed through the incorporation of mental, emotional and spiritual health (Avila 41). Curanderismo includes every aspect of the human body, mind, and spiritual experience, and treats it equally, because each is interconnected with

53 the other (Avila 50). The Mexica ancestors used earth-based medicine to cure the people (Avila

18).This Curanderismo comes out of colonization, because the Mexica people were once doctors, nurses, surgeons, obstetricians, holistic healers, yet most of the knowledge and views on health were displaced due to European invasion (Keoke and Porterfield 131). The ancient medicine survived colonization and is now thriving due to the knowledge of holistic medicine that is infused in Curanderismo (Keoke and Porterfield 129). The Europeans and Africans also brought their knowledge of medicine and integrated it with Mexica practices, which led to the birth of

Curanderismo that is used today (Avila 22-33, Sandstrom 315, Hernandez and Foster 20, 40).

This infusion of Curanderismo is what Avila calls the ―three-headed serpent‖ because of the

Mexica based healing along with African and European influences (15). Avila illustrates that although Curanderismo is an Indigenous health system, it is infused with other cultural ideas and health practices such as those of Africans and Europeans, which must be acknowledged. Lastly, since Chicanas/os communities are suffering from multigenerational trauma, which affects ongoing generations engagement must occur with healing work and that is the role of

Curanderismo (Brenton and McCaslin 517).

Curanderismo is about being in a state of balance or harmony with oneself, the environment, and the cosmos (Maduro, 868-874; Avila 42; Ankli, Et al. 144-160). It is crucial to be in balance, and important for wellbeing and overall health (Maduro 868-874; Avila 64; Ankli,

Sticher and Heinrich 144-160). When the body is in a state of imbalance illnesses occur (Maduro

868-874, Ankli, Sticher and Heinrich 144-160). The concept of being in balance not only with

Chicana/os, but also with everything else is what defines a Mexica cosmology. The Spanish had a similar theory to the Mexica concept of duality, which added to the epistemology of

Curanderismo. The Spanish believed the imbalance of hot and cold substances in the body can

54 cause illness to individuals as well (Maduro 868-874). The ideas of hot and cold come also from the Hippocratic theory, as well as the notion of humors thought to occur when they are not in balance, along with illness (Avila 25; Maduro 868-874; Ankli, Sticher and Heinrich 144-160,

Hernandez and Foster 19-20, Chavira and Trotter 29). The Spanish contributed the Greco-Roman theories of Claudius Galen related to humoral pathology. The theories state that humoral pathology contains four humors or liquids, and this line of thinking was infused with the Mexica knowledge of duality during the time of the European invasion (Avila 25-26; Maduro 868-874;

Keoke and Porterfield 167, Hernandez and Foster 19-20). Each humor is classified: blood, phlegm and black and yellow bile—these are related to eating certain foods. Avila points out that both Mexica and Spanish beliefs of balance and complementary opposites of temperature through related foods were needed to maintain overall health (25).

In addition, the European invasion brought forth the belief of innate ability of individuals who possess the Don or ―gift ―to heal comes from God; or the Judeo-Christian concept of the word ―God‖ which gives the Curanderos an almost divine aspect to them (Clark 38; Crowe, et al

82-86; Reyes 1 and Chavira & Trotter 16). Knowledge is often passed down through the generations creating generations of healers (Garza vol.11: 6).The keepers of knowledge, in this case the knowledge of medicine, are recognized by the community, and are held in high esteem

(Garza vol.11: 6).

Some common diseases that are associated with Curanderismo are empacho (blocked stomach), susto (magical fright,) and mal ojo evil eye (Chavez 31-37; Maduro 868-874; Lozano, p247-247; Ceja-Zamarripa 11-14, Chavira and Trotter 16). Stereotyping of Curanderismo has led some authors to claim that Curanderismo or its techniques are ―folk‖ medicine and therefore less substantial that Western medicine. Similar beliefs may persist in the general consensus about

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Curanderismo in that is viewed as ―witchcraft‖ or ―superstition‖ (Hernandez and Foster 19,

Chavira and Trotter 14). Again, we see the effects of loss of culture and history when

Chicanas/os do not acknowledge the genius of their ancestors. Curanderismo is not folk medicine, but a legitimate medicinal practice by Indigenous people from the past to the present.

Some authors in writing about the subject use terms such as ―superstition,‖ ―magical,‖ ―hexed,‖

―punishment for sins,‖ or cultural diseases susceptible only to Mexicans, which again diminishes the knowledge of Curanderismo. Despite the limited research, Elena Avila, a nurse and a

Curandera, dispels such notions, and gives Curanderismo the acknowledgement it deserves. The art of healing is a fairly universal concept and many cultures have synonymous belief systems.

Additionally, diseases are not prejudiced against race, class, social status or gender; everyone is susceptible to illness. Finally, this notion of Mexicans as being the only people to suffer from

―folk‖ or ―cultural diseases‖ related to Curanderismo is absurd. The approaches to Curanderismo are logically categorized into four categories such as physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual illnesses (Avila 44).

Curanderismo looks at the person‘s mind, body and soul, while dealing with a person's health (Avila 50). The first aspect of Curanderismo is the physical health. The physical aspect of

Curanderismo deals with health issues such as bilis (rage), empacho (block stomach) and mal air

(bad air) (Avila 44). According to Curanderismo, billis is caused by having an excess secretion of bile in your system. This results in rage or what Western culture refers to as ―rage-aholic‖

(Avila 45 and Chavira and Trotter II 91).Bilis causes physical ailments such as digestive problems, which are toxic to the body, especially the liver, stomach and intestines (Avila 44 and

Chavira and Trotter II 91). The Curandera/o cures bilis with massages, prescribes soothing herbs, baths, and by educating their clients on how to properly deal with their anger in a healthy way

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(45). The second common illness that Curandera/os deals with is empacho, or blocked stomach, which is caused by over eating, consuming the wrong foods for your body or hard to digest foods

(Avila 46 and Chavira and Trotter II 91). Avila also mentions that empacho is caused by power of suggestion. Everyone has been affected by this condition in one-way or another (46). The symptoms of empacho are gas, stomach cramps, diarrhea, constipation, loss of appetite and vomiting (46). The treatments for empacho, is usually the Sobadora (masseuse) will massage the stomach and lower back to unblock the person (46). Also, the Sobadora will recommend teas such as chamomile and peppermint to soothe the stomach and recommend a diet for their client

(Avila 46). The last physical illness associated with Curanderismo is called mal aire (bad air), which manifest as earaches or facial paralysis that is caused by being exposed to the night air

(Avila 47).

The second aspect to Curanderismo is mental. It is imperative when Curandero/as are working with mental illness that the Curandero/as must incorporate the whole essence of the person (Avila 50). Mental illnesses are caused by deep trauma or chemical imbalance, and may be due to genetic factors (Avila 50). The ability to generate enough energy in your mind, body, soul and emotions will create a good sense of balance and harmony to withstand whatever affictions may come your way (Maduro 868-874; Avila 51). Avila and Maduro claimed humans as individuals have the potential to sustain overall mental health by using their energies from their entire being (Maduro 868-874; Avila 51). Avila and Maduro continue by stating that by having Chicanas/os bodies, minds, and emotions in balance they will be able to combat any adversity that comes their way (Maduro 868-874; Avila 51). This notion of being able to

―generate energy,‖ in order to be healthy is all psychological, in the sense that if you believe you can stay healthy, or that a treatment is going to work, then it will most likely succeed (Maduro

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868-874; Avila 51). In addition, Chicanas/os minds are mentally colonized, and metaphorically speaking, they are in need of a mental limpia. Paulo Freire said it best when he stated, ―as long as the oppressed remain unaware of the causes of their condition, they fatalistically ‗accept‘ their exploitation‖ (64). Decolonization is the ―therapy needed as the framework for personal healing‖

(Brenton and McCaslin 517). The colonized will not be able to truly and fully heal, unless they unlock the chains, and break free from the mental enslavement that sustains them captivity

(Brenton and McCaslin 517). The first initiations of the decolonizing process is of the mind in order to free it, if Chicanas/os truly want to be healthy and heal the historical trauma in order to reclaim their Indigenous identity, otherwise without this step the others cannot be done.

The third category of Curanderismo is emotional disease. These diseases included envidia

(envy), mal puesto (cursed), mal ojo (evil eye), mala suerte (bad luck) (Avila 51-61). Envidia is when someone is sick from carrying other people‘s energy (Avila 51). When an individual is jealous for another person, according to Curanderismo they can pass their negative energy and make the person sick (Avila 52). Furthermore, because people believe in curses, Curandera/os also deal with people who think someone is trying to hurt them (Avila 52). Often times, when a person is suffering from a mental illness it has been interpreted as hexed by the client or people hexed themselves, because of their unhealthy habits (Avila 53, 57). Another emotional illness that is treated by Curanderismo is mal ojo, which is translated to evil eye, but a more accurate description is ―illness caused by staring‖ (Chavira and Trotter II 91 and Avila 58). Although the concept of evil eye seems to be universal, in Mexican culture it occurs when a child is receiving too much attention from an adult (Avila 60). If the person does not touch the child, it becomes sick; however Curandera/os make sure that it is not a physical illness (Avila 58-61). Finally,

58 mala suerte or bad luck is usually associated with the emotions of low self-esteem, worry, and feeling of helplessness that turns into a cycle of bad luck (Avila 61).

The final categories of diseases that Curandero/as treat are spiritual. It is believed the soul can be separated from the body caused by a fright (Maduro 868-874, Chavira and Trotter II 91 and Avila 58.). In turn, it can lead to an illness called susto or soul loss (Crowe, Tafur and Torres

82-86). It is believed when the body suffers from something so traumatic the soul leaves the body, the soul does not feel safe, and is scared to return (Crowe, Tafur, and Torres 82-86).

According to Ceja-Zamarripa, susto is also referred to as culture bound illness or ―magical fright‖ (Ceja-Zamarripa 11-14). A way to cure susto is by a retrieval to bring the soul back into the body (Avila 66). Avila demonstrates how important having a healthy soul is to Chicanas/os wellbeing. Historical trauma is susto carried on for generations and therefore the souls or essence of Indigenous people is in need of dire healing. In terms of Chicanas/os, their souls are suffering from historical trauma. Hartley states: ―[T]he turn to Curanderismo itself is a decolonizing act, and that decolonization, by healing the wounds of conquest, is a form of Curanderismo‖ (Hartley

137). Curanderos are not just healing people and communities, but the wounds of the invasion and the Indigenous soul.

Furthermore, there are different roles or healers in Curanderismo. For example, there are

Hierbera/o (herbalist), Sobadora/o (masseur), Partera/o (mid-wife), Consejera (Counselor),

Espiritualista/o (trance medium), and Huesero (chiropractor or bonesetter). To expand on the different types of Curandera/os, first is the Hierbero (Herbalist), which is someone who uses plants or herbs, as a main source of healing (Avila 69, Huber 1, Paul and McMabon 243 and

Chavira II & Trotter 9). The Hierbero does not only use herbs for healing, but also in limpias, rituals, and temazcalli (Avila 69). Another basic healing for humans is touch. That is where the

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Sobadora/o comes in (Avila 71, Trotter and Chavira II 55,Treviño 63). Sobadora/os do not only use massage to heal and relax the patient physically, but also heals the patient emotionally as well (Avila 74, Trotter and Chavira II 9). Also, massage is also use to treat empacho and susto

(Avila 71). Usually, Sobadora/os pass down their knowledge from parent to child for generations or have the don or gift (Avila 73, Trotter and Chavira II 55). A partera or midwife, or what the

Spanish called in the Nahuatl language ticitl are female doctors who provided prenatal and postnatal care for the females in their communities (Avila 74, Trotter and Chavira II 9, Huber

1Treviño 62-63). Counsejera/o or Counselors, counsel their clients in everything they want to talk about (Avila 76, Huber 1, and Chavira & Trotter 165). What distinguishes Consejera/os from doctors is that they do not rush the client, and let them take all the time they need, which make Consejera/os or great counselors (Avila 76). An Espirtualista/o or Trance Medium is someone who claims to communicate with the spirit realm (Avila 81, Trotter and Chavira II 103,

Huber 1). Trotter and Chavira II describes that it ―…revolve[s] around the belief in spirit beings who inhabit another plane of existence, but who are interested in making periodic contacts with the world, the Curandera/o learns to become a link, a direct line of communication between this and the other world‖ (102). A Huesera/o or a bonesetter, which is similar to a chiropractor, is

―someone who does adjustments and sets dislocated joints ―and as well as setting bones, sprains and muscle pulls (Avila 83, Trotter and Chavira II 55). The last category of Curandera/os is the

Curandero Total, who is a healer who represents all four levels of medicine such as education, bodywork, medicine and sacred tools (Avila 84).

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Chapter Two: Curanderismo in Different Perspectives

Curanderismo as a Healing Modality for Trauma

Western medicine and American professionals such as counselors, psychologists and psychiatrists are now turning to Curanderismo to deal with trauma (Mohr-Almedia 63). Part of the reason why infusing Curanderismo into treatments has become more prevalent is because

Curanderismo addresses mind, body, spiritual healing within the support of the community, which is essential for patients to maintain and achieve balance (Mohr-Almedia 63).

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Furthermore, Curanderismo ―produces and protects a holistic relationship between the individual and his total environment‖(Trotter and Chaveria 29-30). The healing modalities that are used to treat trauma are generally rituals, spiritual cleansings, and temazcallies (sweat lodges) (Mohr-

Almedia 65). Susto in the Western world is called post-traumatic stress syndrome (Mohr-

Almedia 67). When a person suffers a traumatic event it affects their tonalliix and as a result, it makes the individual fragmented and incomplete (Mohr-Almedia 67).The temazcalli is used for religious purposes, which are then utilized to treat trauma, and the practice can be accompanied with a massage (qtd in Mohr-Almedia 71).

In addition, other rituals in Curanderismo can be utilized to treat trauma (Mohr-Almedia

72). Rituals may incorporate the use of an egg for cleansings (qtd. in Mohr-Almedia 72). Other forms of these limpias (cleansings) include sweeping bundles, herbs, or an eagle feather to remove any negativity from the patient‘s body or overall life (Mohr-Almedia 72). Religious maternal, chanting and drumming are also used to cleanse, and are preventive and reactive as well (Mohr-Almedia 72). In rituals that include limpias, the use of corn kernels and copal (tree resin) are sometimes used (Mohr-Almedia 72). The positive intention of the Curandera/o makes the healers highly effective in their healing work (qtd. in Mohr-Almedia 72-73). Finally, other treatments for trauma such as susto, or post-traumatic stress syndrome, are prayer, herbology, massage, the application of cold, reestablishments of tonalli through ―spiritual‖ cleansings and rituals (Mohr-Almedia 73).

There are some commonalities between American treatments and Curanderismo that involve dealing with trauma. When a patient suffers a trauma, the goal of both Western

American medicine and Curanderismo is to bring back the person‘s state of consciousness, because it has been damaged (Mohr-Almedia 74). During their trauma the individual state of

62 consciousness was altered, which allowed the person to survive it in the first place (Mohr-

Almedia 74). In Curanderismo, the surrender of spirit is similar to the concept of susto. When the soul fragments due to trauma, it goes away from the body of the individual (Mohr-Almedia 74).

The Western American traumatologist perspective, understands the fight, flight, or freeze response, but it does not acknowledge the loss of the soul (Mohr-Almedia 74). Curanderismo attempts to assign meaning to the traumatic event by giving voice to the individual in order for them to come to terms with it (Mohr-Almedia 75). To give the individual voice, there are a series of pláticas (heart to heart conversation), community involvements, and rituals (Mohr-Almedia

75). In Curanderismo, the whole aspect of the individual needs to be addressed and the patient has to acknowledge the trauma, usually through ritual (Mohr-Almedia 76).

Other forms of Curanderismo are shamanism, in which the shamans go into shamanic trance induced by psychoactive plants, such as salvia divinorum, to treat trauma (Mohr-Almedia

80). Allopathic plants are not utilized by Western medicine, because pharmaceutical companies cannot get a patent on them (Mohr-Almedia 80). Also, it is difficult to measure the quality and dosage of plants in allopathic medicine (Mohr-Almedia 80). Curandera/os on the contrary have a profound relationship with plants, because of their close interaction and constant monitoring of them (Mohr-Almedia 80). Herbal teas made from healing plants are used to treat acute shock

(Mohr-Almedia 80). In addition, because Curandera/os do not have boundaries with their patients as opposed to Western doctors, who are afraid of being sued by their patients (Mohr-

Almedia 81). There exists a stronger rapport with those whom they treat. The interpersonal relationship that Curandera/os have with their patients is crucial to the treatment of trauma, something that Western doctors many not be trained in or are afraid to use even as an alternative

(Mohr-Almedia 81).

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There is scientific evidence that people can be healed by the power of the mind (Mohr-

Almedia 82). There is also similar evidence related to prayer, intention, emotions, feelings and attitudes that manifest in the physical world (Mohr-Almedia 81). In Curanderismo, there is a way to utilize these methods to heal trauma (Mohr-Almedia 82). The concept of consciousness is not confined to bodies and brains (Mohr-Almedia 82). The ―consciousness can do something that individual brains and bodies can‘t do; it can operate at a distance outside the limits of space and time‖ (Dossey 15). There is much documented evidence that suggests that the power of prayer and positive intentions, especially when the healer has a special bond with the patient, is highly effective (Mohr-Almedia 82).

Research has shown that interpersonal touch not only affects the body, but also the mind, because it helps individuals to ―have physical experience that directly contradict past feelings of helplessness, frustration and terror (Mohr-Almedia 83 & Van der Kolk 79). An expert in the field, Van der Kolk states how interpersonal touch is effective for trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the effects on the brain:

The medical prefrontal cortex and insula are linked to the brain‘s emotional center (the

amygdala) and arousal centers and, finally, to the hormonal and muscular output centers.

In this way working with deep sensations and feelings have the potential to achieve a

sense of internal equilibrium and balance. Only after being able to quiet and master one‘s

physical experiences does one regain the capacity to use speech and language to convey,

in detail, feelings and memories. The process of psychological change involves regaining

a healthy relationship with our internal feeling states. In contrast to understanding, paying

close attention to one‘s internal life-the flow of physical sensation, feelings, internal

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images and patterns of thought-can make an enormous difference in how we feel and

act.(Van der Kolk 3)

Engaging in the body through touch is another form of Curanderismo, which can be beneficial for trauma (Mohr-Almedia 83). Touch, however, is another practice that is ―underutilized in contemporary traumatology models‖ (Mohr-Almedia 84). The concept of touch is a basic need in humans, it is the physical and behavioral which ―allows humans to grow, develop socially, and maintain contact with others‖ (qtd in Mohr-Almedia 84). The benefits of touch include stimulation of the nervous system, reduction in levels of cortisol, and production of hormones that release the sensation of feeling good for the organisms in the body (qtd in Mohr-Almedia

84). The act of physical touch is vital for human beings and it effects heart change as well (qtd in

Mohr-Almedia 84). Touch alleviates pain, and decreases fear, aggravation, and feelings of helplessness that occur during illness or trauma (qtd in Mohr-Almedia 84). When an individual lacks touch, abnormal behavior can occur, and in many studies with animals death can also occur

(qtd in Mohr-Almedia 84). Many researchers support the theory that human touch is essential to combat trauma (Mohr-Almedia 84). Massage therapy can easily be incorporated for the treatment of trauma (Mohr-Almedia). As the patient is getting a massage it takes them to that experience of trauma, while keeping their bodies and emotions in the present (Mohr-Almedia

85). There is a biochemical difference between patients who receive some type of touch therapy, and those who do not (Mohr-Almedia 85). Touch correlates to health because ―an ego that is not grounded in the reality of body feeling becomes desperate‖ (Lowen102). Another reason

Curanderismo, which includes massage, is more beneficial than Western treatment is because of the stigma American culture has toward touch (Mohr-Almedia 86). In American culture, touching a patient crosses personal boundaries between the patient and doctor (Mohr-Almeida

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86). The doctor is at-risk financially and professionally by touching their patients (Mohr-

Almedia 86). Lack of physical touch between the patient and doctor creates a cold, unfeeling environment, which is not conducive for healing (Mohr-Almeida 86). With the fear of sexual harassment and abuse in American culture, institutions such as the workplace and schools have made touch a taboo all together, which can affect growth, development, and emotional well- being (qtd in Mohr-Almedia 86). Touch is vital not only to heal, but for survival as well. As

Davis states:

Touching communicates love, consciously or unconsciously, and can trigger metabolic

and chemical changes in the body that help in healing. Tactile stimulation and emotions

may control endorphins, which are natural body hormones that control pain and our sense

of wellbeing…Our body is our subconscious mind, and we can‘t heal it with talk alone.

Besides the brain, we must involve the body. We must touch. We do store some

memories in the brains but the older, deeper, and more intense messages-the very ones

we most need to access and release –are stored in the body. (143-144)

Curanderismo often relies heavily on interpersonal touch, so therefore it is a great asset to treat trauma (Almeida 92).

Expanding Curanderismo

Indigenous Veganism

By returning to holistic ways of healing, Chicano/as cannot only reclaim, but heal their

Indigenous identity. There are many ways of healing that is not considered Curanderismo in the traditional sense, but I argue they can be incorporated into the system of healing, because it is part of Indigenous culture. For Chicanas/os returning to their ancestral Indigenous diet they can

66 start the process of decolonizing their bodies and identities. When Chicanas/os discover their identities, they can reinforce them with the foods they consume for a better alternative, than the colonial diet they are used to. One alternative is Indigenous veganism, which is different from simply being a traditional vegan: According to scholar Claudia Serranto,

Indigenous veganism is centered on the clear understanding that as Indigenous people it

is OUR RESPONSIBILITY to nurture and protect the land and our ecological relations.

Supporting Confined Animal Feeding Industrial Operations along with their byproducts

DOES NOT fulfill this responsibility. Yes as indigenas our diets seasonally and

ceremonially did include animal flesh such as those from non-animal farming industries

as the venado (deer), codorniz(quail), rabbit, iguana, guajalote (turkey), fish and in the

north buffalo; however these relatives were not exploited or oppressed but were honored

and eaten with respect and NOT on a daily basis three times a day! This is a colonizers

way of eating which takes from mother earth as it does by mass-producing toxic flesh

grown in animal and fish farms by millions and producing illusionary food products that

are deemed necessary for our survival. This form of eating and production uses up 80%

of our fresh water sources and pollutes the environment in exponential rates which is not

comparable to conventional plant based foods. The animal flesh and byproducts sold to

indigenous peoples of the Americas is in fact killing our people, lands and cultural and

spiritual floodways by the introduction of colonial dis-eases such as diabetes, heart

disease, obesity and cancer. It is time to reclaim our brown bodies (human and land) from

these colonial dis-eases and liberate them from the infestation of foods produced and

eaten that we as indigenous people never consumed such as the cow, pig, chicken, milk,

cheese and eggs. These are foods that were introduced through colonization! No se

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olviden (Do not forget)! We MUST return to our plant based food ways, which DID

compromise 85% of our indigenous diets and kept the land, our bodies, animals and our

ecological relations in balance. As for veganism alone, it does not carry these ancestral

teachings, however, carries a strong weight on the liberation of these confined relatives.x

The Indigenous diet was not purely vegan, but the perfect and balanced diet consist of corn, bean and squash, and although the consumption of meat was needed in their diet, the animals consumed in the past are not the same animals that are consumed today (Ortiz de Montellano

100, 113-114). The meat industry now though, not only has a negative effect on the Chicana/o bodies, but the on environment as well, and people might do well to adopt Indigenous veganism as an alternative. The consequences Chicanas/os suffer now from colonization of their food ways, are in the form of colonial diseases such as diabetes, heart diseases, obesity and cancer.

The most essential aspect of health is diet. What you consume and put into your body greatly affects your health. The foods Chicanas/os eat can either be damaging or beneficial to their health, body, and the restoration of their identity as Indigenous people. Nutrition is defined as ―the science of food and nutrients and the relationship of these two elements in health‖ (Keoke and Porterfield 185). Nutrition does not just pertain to health, but also to lifespan, stature, and the ability to reproduce (Keoke and Porterfield 185). The adequate and well-balanced diet is an essential for the body‘s immune system to combat diseases as well (Ortiz de Montellano 72).

The Indigenous ancestors that practiced agriculture or hunting and gathering had a more adequate diet then the common European during the same era (Keoke and Porterfield 185).

Harold Driver, stated ―the meat and fish eaten by Indians contained an abundance of protein, fat, mineral, salts, and vitamins, including ascorbic acid [vitamin C] in raw meat and blood‖ (qtd in

Keoke and Porterfield 185). The staple diet of the Western Hemispheres corn, beans and squash

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(Ortiz de Montellano 100).Corn was the most essential food source for the Indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere who created it through science manipulation (Mann 13).It was also called tonacayo (flesh) by ―metaphorically linking humans and the cereal staple to which they owed their lives‖ to which was linked to their identity (Ortiz de Montellano 44). Beans and corn combined made up a complete and balanced protein (Keoke and Porterfield 185). The

Indigenous ancestors food source was widely available, diverse and of high quality (Keoke and

Porterfield 185). Some of the varieties of foods were cranberries, peanuts, pumpkins, prickly pear cactus, pineapples, avocados, chocolate, blue green algae, and the super grains amaranth, and quinoa (Keoke and Porterfield 18; Vento 4). The animals that were eaten were deer, rabbits, geese, wild ducks, turkeys, turtle eggs, armadillo, which are higher in protein and low in fat compare to cows, chickens, and pigs and more healthier (Vento 4; Ortiz de Montellano115)

Another nutritious food is amaranth, which is a grain that has an excellent source of protein of

16-18 percent compared to other grains, which contained 14 percent or less. Amaranth had 75 to

87 percent higher protein than cow‘s milk as well as replaced beans as a protein source (Ortiz de

Montellano 107). Amaranth is also rich in amino acids, lysine, and contains high levels of vitamin A (Ortiz de Montellano 107). Since the European invasion, the cultivation of amaranth declined rapidly due to the Spanish imposed laws against the grain, as it also played an intricate role in ceremony and ritual (Ortiz de Montellano 107 and Keoke and Porterfield 11). In contrast,

European diets were not diverse and many Europeans suffered from diseases that were virtually unknown in the Western Hemisphere, such as scurvy (caused by lack of vitamin C), and goiter

(caused by lack of iodine) (Keoke and Porterfield 185). For example, tomatoes, an Indigenous food source, have two cancer fighting agents known as p-Courmaric and chlorgenis acids and are

69 high in Lycopene, which reduces the risk of colon and rectal cancer by 69 percent (Keoke and

Porterfield 185).

Sweat Lodge (Temazcalli)

Health and identity are synonymous; an example of this is an Indigenous healing practice is the temazcalli (sweat lodge). The sweat lodge healing technique is pivotal in Curanderismo, because the temazcalli is referred to as the ―mother of all medicines,‖ also as the ―heart of the

Earth, creator of humans, medicine, doctors and surgeons‖ (Medina 262 and Mohr-Almedia 68).

Lara Medina, in ―Nepantla Spirituality: Negotiating Multiple Religious Identities among U.S

Latinas,‖ quotes Chief Lame Deer of the Lakota, in reference of the temazcalli, who states: ―it gives them their identity back‖ (qtd in Medina 259). The temazcalli is used to bring into balance to the Indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere (Medina 259). The ancient tradition of the temazcalli is a form of Curanderismo. Temazcalli, is a Nahuatl word, tema (bathe) and calli

(house) which was used for purification and healing of the body (Medina 259). Joseph Bruchac, an Indigenous (Abenaki) scholar in his book The Native American Sweat Lodge: History and

Legends, mentions a Lakota sweat lodge (inipi) and the Indigenous people of Mexico

(temazcalli), which are still in use today despite the efforts of the Europeans to eradicate the sweat lodges throughout the Western Hemisphere (Bruchac 2). The Lakota sweat lodge is one of the traditional sweat lodges that have survived in the United States (Medina 259). The Lakota people are willing to share their knowledge about the sweat lodge with other Indigenous people including Chicanas/os (Medina 259). The other form of the sweat lodge that survived is the temazcalli in Mexico. A Chicana interviewed by Medina, describes her experience with the sweat lodge: “I felt like I was home. I felt like I went back five hundred years. I could feel the

70 spiritual connection to those original ceremonies and to my ancestors, and I never felt like that before. I really felt a deep spiritual connection‖ (Medina 262).

Again, you see the direct correlation to the sweat lodge and reclaiming identity by having a heart/emotional connection during the sweat. As a (de) fragmented person, because of lack) of identity entering the sweat lodge is ―re (entering) the mother‗s womb of the Creator (Medina

262). When some Chicanas/os merge from the sweat lodge, they are ―reborn, renewed and purified‖ (Medina 263). After the sweat lodge, Chicanas/os rinse off their sweat, give it back to mother earth, and remerge as a newborn person and begin the process of reclamation of their

Indigenous identity. Also, in the sweat lodge, which is a metaphor for rebirth, trauma patients can be restored back to their state of equilibrium due to the intense heat and prayers (Mohr-

Almedia 74). The mechanics of the sweat lodge in dealing with trauma are intense, and because of the heat, a patient may have a flashback of the traumatic event and therefore the opportunity to process it (Mohr-Almedia 74 and Owen 140). The sweat lodge and other ceremonies help individuals to deal with trauma including the effects of colonialism or historical trauma (Mohr-

Almedia 74 and Owen 130-131).

Xochitl in Cuicatl (Poetry)

Poetry is another form of healing through metaphorical language, and it can also be a tool for healing and reclamation of an Indigenous identity for Chicanas/os. Tony Sandoval in his master‘s thesis ―The Modern Significance of Indigenous Performance Poetry, argued that:

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It is important for Xicanos/as to become conscious that they have survived extermination

programs, been enslaved and colonized by the Spanish and the North Americans in order

to heal. It is important to understand the past in order to understand the present. IPP

(Indigenous Performance Poetry) is a way to relate history, truth and insight to

Xicanos/as in order for the mourning and healing process to begin. (130)

Sandoval also argues that Indigenous Performance Poetry has helped Chicanas/os heal; even the

Chicana/os who have self-destructive behaviors, because poetry has it offered knowledge of self for Chicanas/os (129). Poetry for Chicanas/os as Sandoval states:

Xicanos/as, whether they are conscious of it or not, have some identity searching and

unresolved grieving to do, this explains a lot of the unexplainable behavior that

Xicanos/as get involved in. The past is something that is, therefore, crucial for Xicanos/as

to become conscious of to begin the mourning process, so they can heal and grow. Every

Xicano/a that become historically and culturally conscious goes through the process. It

makes a person cry and angry to truly understand the genocide of indigenous people, and

other historical facts that have occurred on this continent in the past five centuries, but it

is the beginning of a fruitful process. (130)

Performing Indigenous Poetry ―is therapeutic, not only in the act of listening and experiencing it, but expressing it. It is a beautiful and healthy way to express hurt and love‖(Sandoval 130). The

Indigenous ancestors used poetry to philosophize about nature, life, death, the cosmos, but also of the invasion, their trauma and their loss of identity. However in the present day, poetry has given Chicanas/os ―some of the most passionate and poignant meditations on and assertions‖ about Indigenous history and identity (Contreras 133). As Montes states, ―poetry and art created is then a vehicle and tool for decolonization‖ (6). Post invasion records ―articulated the various

72 levels of violence wrought by colonization‖ expressed through poetry (Gonzales 201). In one historical record it is stated, ―castrate the Sun that is what the foreigners have come to do‖

(Florescano 105-106). In the Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel, which dates back to the

1700s, the Mayan expresses their reaction to the European invasion in a poetic way,

[When the Europeans arrived they] taught fear, they came to wilt the flowers. So that

their flowers would live, they harmed and sucked in our flower…They Christianized us,

but they pass us around from one to another like animals. God is offended by the suckers.

(Qtd in 201)

One poem by an anonymous author eloquently expressed the trauma of the Indigenous ancestors:

Broken spears lie in the roads:

we have torn hair in our grief.

The houses are roofless now, and their walls

are red with blood.

Worms are swarming in the streets and plazas,

and the walls are splattered with gore.

The water has turned red, as if it were dyed,

and when we drink it,

it has the taste for brine.

We have pounded our hands in despair

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against the abode walls,

for our inheritance, our city is lost and dead.

The shields of our warriors were its defense,

but they could not save it.

We have chewed dry twigs and salt grasses;

we have filled our mouths with dust and bits of adobe;

we have eaten lizards, rats, and worms. (137-138)

Another poem that expressed the feelings of trauma due to the invasion by an unknown poet entitled ―Flowers and Songs of Sorrow.‖

Nothing but flowers and songs of sorrows

are left in Mexico and Tlaltelulco,

where once we saw warriors and wise men.

We know it is true

that we must perish,

for we are mortal men.

You, the Giver of Life,

you have ordained it.

We wander here and there

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In our desolate poverty.

We are mortal men.

We have seen bloodshed and pain

where once we saw beauty and valor.

are crushed to the ground;

we lie in ruins.

There is nothing but grief and suffering in Mexico and Tlaltelulco,

where once we saw beauty and valor.

Have you grown weary of your servants?

Are you angry with your servants?

O Giver of Life. (Qtd in Valdez 33)

Also, during the 1960s, of Chicano Movement, Chicanas/os were searching and reclaiming their

Indigenous identity through poetry. One famous poem, ―I am Joaquin,‖ written by Rodolfo

Gonzalez expressed the loss, confusion of identity, history, trauma and the destruction of

Indigenous culture among Chicanas/os. Some excerpts from ―I am Joaquin.‖

I am Joaquín,

Lost in a world of confusion.

Caught up in the whirl of an

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Anglo Society,

Confused by the rules,

Scorned by attitudes,

Suppressed by manipulations,

And destroyed by modern society.

My fathers

Have lost the economic battle

and won the fight for cultural survival. (Steiner240-241)

One would argue in this section of the poem, Gonzales describes being culturally dominated by

European culture and he does not know how to make sense of it. He knows he is being oppressed, which is partly to the historical trauma in Chicana/os, but is having trouble connecting the dots.

I am Cuauhtémoc, proud and noble,

leader of men, king of an empire civilized

beyond the dreams of the gachupín Cortés,

who also is the blood, the image of myself.

I am the Maya prince.

I am Nezahualcóyotl, great leader of the Chichimecas.

I am the sword and flame of Cortes the despot

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And I am the eagle and serpent of the Aztec civilization

(http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/latinos/joaquin.htm).

In this section, you also observe reclamation of a collective Indigenous identity by praising rulers from advanced civilizations and people. There are slight errors in the poem, for example the historical figure Nezahualcóyotl was not the ruler of the Chichimecas, and that Aztec is a false name for the Mexica. However, there is an effect to not only search, but to reclaim Indigenous cultural heritages:

In a country that has wiped out

All my history,

Stifled all my pride,

In a country that has placed a

Different weight of indignity upon my age-old burdened back.

Inferiority is the new load…

The Indian has endured and still

Emerged the winner,

The Mestizo must yet overcome,

And the gachupín will just ignore.

I look at myself

And see part of me

Who rejects my father and my mother

And dissolves into the melting pot

To disappear in shame. My land is lost,

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And stolen.

My culture has been raped,

I lengthen the line at the welfare door, and fills jails with crime.

And in all the fertile farmlands, the barren plains, the mountain villages, smoke-smeared cities, we start to MOVE.

La raza!

Méjicano!

Español!

Latino!

Chicano!

Or whatever I call myself,

I look the same

I feel the same

I cry

And

Sing the same.

I am the masses of my people and

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I refuse to be absorbed.

I am Joaquín.

The odds are great

But my spirit is strong,

My faith unbreakable,

My blood is pure.

I am Aztec prince and Christian Christ.

I SHALL ENDURE!

I WILL ENDURE! ((http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/latinos/joaquin.htm)

The poem praises many Mexican heroes and revolutionaries throughout Mexican history. But in the last excerpts, we see the complexity of the Chicano identity and culture. It is being expressed by Gonzalez and was what probably the foundation of the Chicano identity in academia, the mestizo identity. What Gonzalez showcases is the first evolution of the Chicana/o identity, although there is an acknowledgement of Indigenous roots, the Europeans root is also embraced.

Chicanas/os are not the colonizer and the colonized. Chicanas/os are not one or the other, there no in-between here. Also, with the mestizo mentality, there is an embracement of Christianity that has been forced upon Chicana/os. There is no such thing as a fusion of Spanish and

Indigenous cultures; instead it is a domination of the European culture onto the Indigenous culture, which is different from syncretism. Syncretism is when two cultures come together, by choice, instead of force. This poem expresses the beginning of a journey of a decolonized identity far from its final end point. The author although he does not know it, but is expressing the historical trauma that Chicanas/os go through due to their loss of identity of culture. Lastly,

79 another short poem, which takes identity further than Corky Gonzalez is by Dorinda Moreno takes identity further than Corky Gonzalez. She states:

Today I speak their languages, both English and Spanish, but

I am neither, nor do I want to be…I am Chicana (qtd in Torres 150)

We can conclude that the Indigenous people continue to express themselves through poetry, even after the invasion, biological warfare and colonialism. As survivors of the world‘s largest holocaust, Chicanas/os can begin to use poetry to assert their Indigenous identity and heal their historical trauma. The Indigenous ancestors expressed poetry or xochitlin cuicatl (flower and song) in their philosophies and worldview which was ―bathed in the purest from or poetry‖ (Men

42). In addition, ―inherent in this theory is an affirmation of the lasting quality of poetry. In some mysterious way it is perennial and indestructible. Although flowers are considered the symbol of beauty, they perish, when they are related to song, as a result represent poetry and are everlasting‖ (Leon Portilla 78). Flowers and songs or poetry is ―the only truth of Earth‖ (Leon-

Portillo 78). The way the Indigenous described things in metaphor was exquisite. ―Flower and song‖ (poetry), can be analogized as when a flower let out its great aromas being the same as when people spoke, and enchanted their ears with xochitl in cuicatl. ―Flower and song, is the highest thing on earth that can penetrate the confines of truth‖ (Men 40). Chicanas/os need to heal and mourn the loss of their civilizations, the systemic destruction of their identity, and the genocide of their 100 million ancestors. There is no remedy or pill for that, so that is where xochitl in cuicatl (poetry) can be used a vehicle for healing. To heal, Chicanas/os can use xochitl in cuicatl (poetry) to speak truth about their glorious history, which has been systematically hidden from them, their Indigenous identity, and the evil crimes of the colonial Europeans, in

80 which Chicanas/os can use poetry to express their emotions. Furthermore, poetry can be utilized as a method, which can ultimately bring healing to Chicanas/os.

Physical Healing:

The Brown Body Historically

The Indigenous body was in direct correlation with the cosmos, which is about being in equilibrium with the universe (Lopez Austin 253). Lopez Austin states ―man (woman) was conceived to be the center of the cosmos, born at time when the five points of the terrestrial place met in equilibrium, a being in whom it was believed the qualities of all the components of the universe converged‖ (253). Thus, the brown Indigenous body is a ―sacred ground, part of sacred geography and a sacred and cosmological physiology linked to stories and metaphors‖ (Gonzales

148). In order to be decolonized, the Indigenous people must view their body as cosmic, in perfect harmony to the universe. However, in the brown Indigenous bodies, they carry the wounds of historical trauma, of rape, mutilation, enslavement, and genocide (Stannard 74, 75,

83). The colonizer‘s negative perception of the brown body has left Chicanas/os ashamed of their bodies and skin color, which fragmented their identities.

This negative view of the body was not always the case. In their first encounters with the

Indigenous people, Europeans constantly describe them as beautiful and with perfect bodies.

The general norm, with some exceptions of course from North to South America, was that

Indigenous people were taller than the Europeans (Mann 48). Thomas Morton described the

Indigenous people ―as proper men and women for feature and limbes as can be founde‖ (Mann

48). William Wood‘s perspectives of the Indigenous people were ―more amiable to behold,‖

(Mann 48). Bereft, an Admiral described the people of the Caribbean as ―very handsome and

81 very well- proportioned‖ (Stannard 201). The Europeans describe the Tupinamba (Brazil) as the

―most handsome and best proportioned people in the world, virtually creatures of perfection, with fine bodies and good faces‖ (Stannard 212). Across Cemanahuac, Europeans were in awe of the Indigenous physique and the brown body.

Yet in spite of these initial praises, the destruction of the brown body became the norm at the hands of Europeans. The strong and beautiful Indigenous bodies were used at the pleasure of the Europeans and exploited for labor, which caused havoc among the Indigenous ancestors throughout Cemanahuac. The horrendous treatment of Indigenous women in particular shed light on the European ideology of machismo toward European women, which then transferred to

Indigenous women (Stannard 84). The European machismo belief system set a tone for the first sexual encounters of Indigenous women and European men, Michele de Cuneo an Italian nobleman describes:

While I was in the boat I captured a very beautiful Carib woman whom the Lord Admiral

gave to me, and with whom, having taken her into my cabin, she being naked according

to their custom, I conceived desire to take pleasure. I want to put my desire into

execution but she did not want it and treated me with her fingernails with such a manner

that I wished I had never begun. But seeing that (to tell you the end of it all), I took a rope

and thrashed her well; for she raised such unheard of screams that you would not have

believed your ears. Finally we came to an agreement in such manner that I can tell you

she seemed to have been brought up in a school of harlots. (Stannard 84)

We see here the relationship between Indigenous women and European men as a ―staple of violent pornography and male sadistic fantasy: she enjoyed it‖ (Stannard 84). Other Indigenous

82 women resisted and rather took their own lives ―to avoid being defiled by another (European) man and because of this they were thrown to the dogs‖ (Stannard VI). European men enacted vengeance on Indigenous women who fought them off vigorously, they were whipped, tortured, burned alive, and their homes set on fire (Stannard 85). Indigenous women were gambled in card games for other objects with less value and rented out to sailors for sexual companionship, as well as mere sexual objects, or labor with no regard for their life (Stannard 85). Indigenous women were used for Spanish commercialism as Bartolomé de las Casas states, ―this lost man, in laudable fashion, approached a venerable clergyman, saying that he had worked as much as possible to impregnate many Indian women, so that by selling them pregnant and as slaves, he would get more money for them‖ (qtd. in Vento 55-56). During the colonial period, Indigenous women become objects and it was estimated ―that each Spaniard had an average of 20-30 concubines in his encomienda for his folly and pleasure‖ (Vento 79). Other women who were not sexually desired endured backbreaking labor until ―their insides [were] literally bursting in some instances from the heavy loads they had to carry‖ (Stannard 85).

For the Indigenous males, their bodies were ―constructed as quintessentially passive, and ready to be possessed by Europeans who could then legitimately dehumanize it, enslave it, and ultimately rob it of its masculinity (Carocci 71). An early painting in the sixteenth century immortalized Indigenous men in Panama, who were described as ―sodomites‖ and who were being fed and ripped to shreds by dogs, at the hands of the Europeans (Carocci 71). Europeans who had ―blurred gender boundaries contributing to the general perception of male Amerindians as either feminized, or sexually ambiguous‖ therefore, Indigenous men ―were less than men or effeminate‖ (Carocci 71). The misconception of Indigenous men‘s feminization stemmed from

Voltaire‘s ―idea that Amerindian peoples‘ lack of body hair was the reason why they never

83 attempted a rebellion‖ (Carocci 71). Abbé Raynals connection of lack of beard and virility relegated Indigenous men as ―being impotent degenerates with no interest in women‖ (Carocci

72). A contrary description of Indigenous men by Crevecoeur reveals ―homosexual meanings engendered a dynamic tension between homoerotic subtexts and the direct feminization of the

Indian proposed by Enlightenment philosophers‖ by stating:

Their blankets of beaver skin fell off their shoulder, revealing their shoulder, revealing

their mighty chests and muscular arms…a painter could have drawn bodies that were

perfect in proportion, limbs controlled by the muscles lightly covered with a kind of

swelling that was unknown to the whites, and which among the Indians attests to their

vigor, strength and health...this meeting of almost naked men…presented to the eye an

impressive spectacle, and to the mind, fruitful subject for reflection. (Carocci72)

The two extremes of hyper-masculinity and femininity constructed Indigenous men as ―exotic and alien‖ (Carocci 72). However, because the nudity of Indigenous men caught the attention of the Europeans, as a result Europeans were preoccupied with Indigenous nudity and ―male-to male sexual practices [which] served colonial objectives, it slowly lost its ideological impetus to changes in the political climate‖ (Carocci 73). As a result, feminization of Indigenous men ―in later representations occurs in subtle ways, it retains a strong ideological power in delivering a message of subordinate, passive, and dominated subject at the mercy of the European gaze‖

(Carocci 73).

The military defeat and feminization of Indigenous men ―put them in a position of inferiority and passivity, and representation thereafter carried established Eurocentric messages of superiority that legitimized masculine rule over females, children and subordinate classes of

84 peoples including non-Europeans (Carocci 75). The Spanish did not view the Indigenous ancestors as humans, and therefore enacted inhumane acts upon them. For example, an account from Bartolome de las Casas, Spanish friar states:

It was a general rule among Spaniards to be cruel; not just cruel, but extraordinarily cruel

so harsh and bitter treatment would prevent Indians from daring to think of themselves as

human beings or having a minute to think at all. So they would cut an Indian‘s hand and

leave them dangling by a shred of skin and they would send him on saying ―Go now,

spread the news to your chiefs.‖ They would bet on the slicing off heads or the cutting of

bodies in half with one blow. They burned or hanged captured chiefs. (Stannard 70)

The brown Indigenous body was disregarded, mutilated and traumatized. The rest of the population was enslaved and worked in encomiendas and mines (Stannard 73). If Indigenous people tried to escape harsh treatments and were captured they were ―flogged until blood ran from their naked bodies, mere skin and bones from starvation, then leaving them dead, [the

Europeans] stopped and threatened the same punishment if they tried to escape again‖ (Stannard

73). Then the Indigenous people in these encomiendas were branded and the initials of their slave owners written on their faces (Stannard 84). In addition, each time Indigenous people were sold to an encomienda owner, a new initial was stamped, this happening three or four times their lifetimes (Stannard 84). Again, it is clear that the Indigenouspeople were seen as cattle, branded and sold. Chicanas/os still carry the ancestral scars of historical trauma on the bodies of their ancestors in the form of Spanish last names, because of how some of their ancestors received their slave owner‘s names.

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The Brown Body Present

There is a history, which continues today, of the exploitation of the brown body in the form of ―mining, crop irrigation, and garment industries, [who are] subject to discriminatory treatment and low wages‖ (Alaniz and Cornish 78). Cindy Cruz, in her article Toward an

Epistemology of a Brown Body, states: ―the struggle to develop a critical practice that can propel the brown body from a neocolonial past and into the embodiments of racial subjectivities‖ (Cruz

658). Cruz argues, because of Chicanas/os historical trauma and the analysis of the body that has a negative connotation there is a need to make changes within themselves of how they view their brown bodies. The brown Indigenous body ―serves as a metaphor for strengthened ties to cultural heritage‖ (Huang 166). In the body ―resides the heritage and identity passed down through story from generation to generation‖ (Qtd in Huang 166). The body is a representation of a particular colonialism that Chicanas/os faced as a people, and because of that ―it bears the colonial inscription and thus constitutes a material base for remembering a dislocated, displaced past

(Huang 166). The fragmented body also represents the multiple identities of Chicana/so, which can be used to construct their identities, and dismantle negative impositions of the brown body, that have been bestowed upon them(Cruz, 664). As Urrieta notes:

Cruz thus reclaims the brown (indigenous) body, and also the pain of the border‘s

inscription become for Cruz the point of departure from which new discourses of

indigenous consciousness emerges. That emergence is invested in dealing with the pain

and emotion of being, even when one is officially not, and in the endless search to

become. (327)

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As a result of Chicanas/os historical trauma they inherit legacies of inscription (pain) on their brown bodies, which often whiteness invades their sense of self (Urrieta 330). At the same time,

Chicanas/os can reclaim and reconstruct their Indigenous bodies, to heal their fragmented identity as well. We will see here Curanderismo is an effective tool to heal historical trauma, and in the process reconnect Chicanas/os to their Indigenous identity.

Chapter Three: Methods

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The research described in this thesis is a qualitative and ethnographic study. This kind of research makes it possible to interview Curandera/os (healers) and people who access healing in a more natural setting, particularly in their homes, places of business or another setting of their choice. Qualitative research is more practical for the topic being studied, because it is interactive and humanistic. Also, qualitative and ethnographic study will enhance understanding of and participation in Curanderismo. According to Denzin, ―qualitative researchers stress the socially constructed nature of reality, the intimate relationship between the researcher and what is studied, and the situational constraints that shape inquiry‖ (11). There must be an acknowledgement of how qualitative research has historically been conducted on Indigenous people. All the while, ―Indigenous peoples found themselves subjected to the indignities of both approaches, as each methodology was used in the name of the colonizing powers (Battiste,

Semali, & Kincheloe, 2). Scholar, Irea Blea, also recognizes that as Chicana/o people:

We have been trained in Eurocentric institutions; thus it is possible to repeat the mistakes

of non-Chicano/Latino investigators and come up with cultural bias. In essence, one

becomes what one is taught. As has been mentioned, the participant observer working in

the Chicano community should be concerned with respect and reciprocity, which is a

form of implied reciprocity, return, repayment, or exchange. (52)

Blea also advises that the Chicana/o researcher ―must be fully aware that even though she/he may not intentionally mean to offend, their very presence sometimes offends those who have felt the pain and misery of historical traumatization‖ (54). It is not my intention to have a colonizer‘s mindset; however, since I am educated in a Western colonized society, I must make sure everything I am stating about my research is out of respect for the people whose culture is being

88 studied. Historically, research among Indigenous people has had a negative impact. James

Clifford refers to ethnography as:

A form of culture collecting [which] highlights the ways that diverse experience and facts

are selected, gathered, detached from their original temporal occasions, and given

enduring value in a new arrangement. Collecting- at least in the West, where time is

generally thought to be linear and irreversible – implies a rescue of phenomena from

inevitable historical decay or loss. (231)

Western researchers were highly competitive in the eighteenth and nineteenth century to collect as much data as possible about Indigenous people (Smith 16). At the same time Indigenous, people regarded this collecting as stealing (Smith, 16). As research is being conducted on

Curanderismo, it is important to avoid any form of stealing or encroaching on the knowledge of the healers being interviewed. I need to be respectful of the knowledge that is being presented to me and give credit where credit is due.

A qualitative approach allows forin-depth interviews, data collection, and follows up questions, which will lead to more detailed answers. Denzin points out, ―modernist ethnographers stood outside their texts so as to produce a sense of awe or reverence or respect for what is being written about‖ therefore when interviewing these healers and people who engage in healing, and writing about their knowledge/experience, a high level of reverence and respect should be shown in terms of what is being written about Curanderismo and the act of healing (1015). In ethnography, researchers are very cautious or want to avoid objectification of the ―Other,‖ or people of non-Western cultures (325). According to Denzin, ―the interview is a conversation-the art of asking questions and listening,‖ therefore I must approach the interview as an art form (643). Furthermore, Denzin states, ―It [the interview] is not a neutral tool, for at

89 least two people create the reality of the interview situation,‖ thus to be able to interview people is an artful skill (643). The qualitative study outlined in this research intends to provide a deeper sense of the epistemology of Curanderismo as well as a more clear understanding of the individuals who access Curanderismo as a form of healing. The study also serves to determine if there is a connection between Curanderismo and the reclamation of an identity, which will provide insight toward the purpose of this research as well.

The limitations of using qualitative research are that ―researchers can no longer directly capture lived experiences‖ (Denzin 19). Ethnography consists of in depth-interviews, data collection, participatory observations, and field notes. Also, ―participant-observation to get a sense of what that experience is like and a better sense of the world‖ around me (Denzin, 413).

According, to Adler and Adler, observation is something researchers can find to be a constant meaning in ―their own direct knowledge and their own judgment‖ instead of relying on the subjects knowledge‖ (389). In this study, direct knowledge and meaning not only to the researcher‘s personal life, but also to the research will be obtained through the observation of a session of healing by the Curandera/os.

Interviews were captured, recorded, and transcribed with the assistance of a tape recorder. Two healers and four individuals who participate in holistic healing/self-healing or in

Curanderismo were interviewed. However, I know including, an equal balance of men and women could be difficult, but still significant to the research by having a female and male representation. There was balance of males and females as subjects, but not in the healers since they were both females. The Curandera/os answers provided new signs and themes for future investigation and research. Additionally, to protect the subjects their identity will be confidential by the use of pseudonyms. The rights of the subjects are protected through the use and adherence

90 to ethical research guidelines and regulations required by the CSU Northridge Office of Human

Subjects.

Ethnographers have concerns with the researchers who approach research with controlling roles, such as an interviewer, especially when it comes out from a Western perspective that objectifies ―the other‖ (Denzin, 701). This study though, will give participants time to share their beliefs. Qualitative researchers state that participant observation, and in-depth interviews are interconnected and much data is gathered using both methods, so each form of research must be conducted (Lofland, 705).

The objective of this study is to determine a possible connection between Curanderismo and the healing of historical trauma through the reclamation and reconstruction of Indigenous identity that takes place through the experience of Curanderismo. This study took place in different environments, whether in people‘s homes or place of business. Two healers from the

Los Angeles area were interviewed, as well as five Chicana/os, and one Central American from

El Salvador, who identifies as Cuzcatlecoxi, and who are all aware of the colonial history and the historical traumas that affected their Indigenous identity. Also, the subjects, who are not healers, engage in many forms of Indigenous healings. For example, the subjects, who are not healers, participate in sweat ceremonies, art, and poetry, have an Indigenous vegan diet, or participate in others types of activity that is healing to them and at the same time reaffirms their Indigenous identity. The subjects are not the clients of the healers that I interviewed.

Sample

The subjects were two males and two females, while the two healers were both females.

Sara Gonzalezxii, Mathew Cruz, Tania Peñaloza and Christian Lopez and the healers were

Jasmine Rivas and Nadia Garcia. These participants are from different areas of Southern

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California, including Los Angeles, Ventura County, San Fernando Valley, and the Coachella

Valley. The reason why these subjects were chosen was because they participate in some form of holistic healing or in Curanderismo that connects them to their Indigenous identities. The subjects are a small sample of demographics of Chicanas/os and one ―Central American‖ of

―Salvadorian‖ descent, who are reclaiming their Indigenous identity through study and holistic

Indigenous techniques, as well as the healers who work with the community, to restore and health and identity of their clients. For the four clients who engaged in Indigenous healing, whether through the help of a healer or by themselves, the focus is on identity and how healing has reinforced it. One of my research questions is: what are the benefits of healing and reclaiming their Indigenous identity? Most of the subjects did not know they were Indigenous until they learned their history or discovered it through various activities, such as Danza, ceremony, healing, studying or taking classes on Mesoamerican history in Chicana/o studies.

The first person interviewed was Sara González, who was born and raised in Santa

Maria, California, a small agricultural town. After graduating from University of California,

Santa Barbara, she decided to eventually move to and live in Ventura, Ca. Sara is a heterosexual female and is between the ages of 30 and 40, and was glad that I asked for an age range. She is a first generation Mexica/Chicana, who holds a Master‘s degree in Chicana/o Studies from

California State University, Northridge. In terms of her socio-economic background Sara stated,

―I grew up in poverty, born to immigrant parents, lived in projects, and received government

―assistance‖ to survive. Together with my husband‘s income, we are a middle class family.‖ She has been participating in Curanderismo or in self-healing based on her creativity (dance and art) and ceremony for a long time. She states, ―I‘ve been healing myself through art for 20 years. I‘ve been dancing for 16 years. I‘ve been going to sweat lodge for 14 years. I‘ve been healing the

92 aftermath of mental slavery by learning about the true history of my people for 20 years.‖ Sara notes that she would seek Curandera/os out more if they were in her area. In her interview, however, Sara wanted to consider and include elders from Danza and sweat lodge traditions as

Curanderos. She says ―even Danza itself is a ‗Curandera‘ because a Curandera is usually recognized as someone who works with herbs to cure ailments….maybe the best term to use would be ‗healers.‘‖

The next participant, Mathew Cruz states, ―I was born in Panorama City, California. I grew up in Pacoima, California where I continue to reside today,‖ in the unincorporated part of

Los Angeles called the San Fernando Valley. He is a first generation Mexican, and a heterosexual male. Mathew is in his early 30s. Mathew is a graduate student at California State

University, Northridge. The socio-economic status of Mathew and his family is of the ―working- class poor.‖Mathew has been going to a Sobador (massage therapist) for the past 15 years. He does not go out of his way to seek Indigenous healers, except for a Sobador, which he frequently visits. He gives his explanation to why he does not usually seek Curandera/os.

I‘m a simple person and not very spiritual in that sense. However, I do seek a Sobador,

every now and then, as supposed to going to a traditional chiropractor or going to a

doctor‘s offices, whenever I had body aches or back pain. And I usually go down to the

Sobador, who is an older man from Mexico, who lives in my block, who essentially

taught himself how to heal bones, tendons, and ligaments, by massages using certain oils

and whatnot. To the extent of seeking out healing practices and non-western traditional

ways of healing—that is the extent I will deal with… with the Sobador.

The next subject, Tania Peñaloza, was born and raised in a close-knit family in East Los

Angeles, California with her mother and father. Her grandparents, tias (aunts), and great-aunts

93 all lived across the street. Once Tania‘s parents were more comfortable financially, however, they bought their first home in the city of La Puente and Tania spent her teenage years there. As result, she grew up in both the cities of East L.A and La Puente, and in the unincorporated city of

Bassett. Currently, she resides in the city of Seattle, Washington and is pursuing a PhD in

Sociocultural and Medical Anthropology. She is 36 years old, and a first generation Indigenous

Chicana of Pur‘pecha descent. She holds two Masters Degrees, one in Mexican American

Studies, and the second in Anthropology. As Tania pursues her PhD, which requires her ―full time commitment and enrollment,‖ and supports two children, who are 16 years and 21 months old, her socio-economic status is low-income. She supports her family through a fellowship she received three years ago that comes in a monthly stipend. Tania has been going to Curandera/os ever since was she five years old. Her parents used to take her to the abuelitas (grandmothers) frequently, or to her father‘s great-great grandmother. After a while, though they become

Americanized and stopped going to Curandera/os. Tania started to ―snap out‖ of that

Americanized mentality, because of her own awakening which became really strong when she was about 16 or 17 years old. Since then has been dedicated to holistic healing, about 21 years.

The healing practices that she receives are consejos (counseling), detoxification, and spiritual revitalization from her elders.

The last participant, Christian López is from what is now called ―El Salvador,‖ though it was originally called Cuzcatlan (Land of the Precious Jewels) in the Nahuatl language, before

European invasion. Christian grew up there, until he was seven years old, at which time he migrated to what is now called the United States. During the next part of his life he lived in

Mecca, California, which he describes as ―a migrant and agricultural community where the majority of the population identifies as Mexican.‖Christian identifies as Cuzcatleco or

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Indigenous from El Salvador, which was ingrained in him as a child. He now resides in

Riverside, California. He is 20 years old, male, and pursuing two degrees in Latin American and

Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Riverside. He explains his socio-economic situation as ―struggling to make ends meet, with two part-time jobs, and as well as a full time student.‖ Christian has been participating in Curanderismo ever since he was born. His grandmother, who is still alive, is a Curandera herself, and his great-grandmother, used to a community doctor, or a ―midwife.‖Christian would seek Indigenous healers with his family, which was not accessible to them, due to the small knit community in Mecca, California. When

Christian lived in Mecca with his parents, they would take him and his siblings to Curanderas whenever they got a severe flu. Since Christian lived in an isolated area it was harder for his family to seek these kinds of healing because they did not have direct access to Curandera/os in their area.

The two healers interviewed for this thesis are Jasmine Rivas and Nadia Garcia. Research involved learning about their practices, their healing work, and as well their personal backgrounds. Jasmine Rivas, was born and raised in East LA, where she still resides, in the

Belvedere neighborhood. Jasmine is a third generation ―Mexican-American with native

Indigenous roots.‖ Her paternal side is Yaqui, and her maternal side is Mayan and Pur‘pecha.

Jasmine, her mother, and grandparents were born in California. She did not want to disclose her exact age, but stated that in her mind she is 20 years old. The age range she did provide was between 20-40 years old. Jasmine has a Masters in Applied Psychology and a doctorate in

Chiropractic Medicine, but her biggest education is ―everyday living and experiencing and communing with people, plants, and nature, that is my highest education.‖ She defines herself as a female in ―this body,‖ and in regards to her socio-economic status she states:

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I am at peace, I‘m at a place, I like being. I‘m not sure how to answer that. Are you

looking for numbers? I don‘t know, what are the numbers? I don‘t fit in a world of labels.

If I did, I wouldn‘t be a healer because people wouldn‘t get better, because I would be

looking for symptoms and labels, illness and that‘s the way I see it and that‘s what gets us

in trouble.

Jasmine has been practicing her craft for 15 years, since 2000. Jasmine recounts her story on how she became a healer:

Not a matter of how, but why, because being a healer was always present. I was a

schoolteacher first, who taught English, Social Studies, History and Spanish for nine

years. I was already doing healing work, and the why came when my father died and I

didn‘t know how to help him. So I decided to do something about it. Two things

happened. I broke my ankle in a car accident and I was studying for my karate test. Also,

my doctor was about to retire and he told me to do-to be the doctor, because I already

knew what to do. I would watch my doctor and figure out how to do it. When he would

heal me, I was able to feel it. So, I went back to school and it didn‘t have what I needed

to learn, I couldn‘t learn it in a book, but it took me a long time to develop it.

Jasmine receives her clients by word of mouth, or they meet her somewhere in public.

When it came to the population of clients Jasmine services, she mentions that she helps a little bit of everyone from children to adults, all genders including transgender, from low socio-economic levels to high socio-economic levels. However, she said that the majority of her clients are

Mexicans and Chicanos. She notes that in her clients she sees a common thread, which is a weak mindset. Furthermore, that mindset translates to great fear—fear of their body. They lose

96 connection with who they are as a person, because they do not trust in themselves anymore. I was also interested in how she identified herself as a healer. Jasmine describes herself as

A teacher and guide, I don‘t say I am a healer because, I‘m learning more and more that I

1am not the healer, but I am the guide. Each one of you is your own healer; within

you…you have everything you need—the more that I remembered that, the faster each

person gets better. People like to call me all kind of things…medicine woman,

Curandera, bruja—I don‘t say yes to any of them. I call myself Jasmine.

Nadia Garcia was the second healer I interviewed. She was born in the Copper Canyon in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico and grew up there, until she was a young girl and came to the United

States. After her mother got remarried to her second husband, they became migrant farm workers in Texas and California. Currently, she resides in Los Angeles. She describes her age as an ―old fogey; now stepping into the path of senior hood.‖ She does not identify with the term Chicana, but as Raramuri on her maternal side and Chiricahua Apache on her paternal side. Nadia‘s educational attainment level is a B.A. in Film from the University of California, Santa Cruz and she states that she is ―currently in between jobs.‖ Nadia, does not identify herself as a Curandera, and she states, ―I do not use that word at all [Curandera], as a human being I am integrally involved in taking care and nurturing the flora that is part of our mother planet and I do this for my own health and food.‖Nadia has been a healer her entire life. Nadia‘s grandmother taught her as a child, on how to identify the flora and fauna, and use it as medicine and food. She continues her journey of healing wherever she is, and goes out to nature walks and looks at her surroundings. Currently, she learns from her elders and keeps practicing on her own. Nadia claims that she does not necessarily have clients, and rather calls them students. For some reason unbeknownst to Nadia, people always approach her no matter where she is and start asking her

97 health related questions. Nadia works with all kinds of people from different ages, backgrounds, and socioeconomic statuses. She has a seventeen year old client and an elder who is 92 years old.

The healing work Nadia does with her clients is mostly physical ailments. The common ailments she treats her clients for are stress, depression, diabetes, high blood pressure, stomach ailments, skin rashes and abrasions. She also includes energy work into her treatments. As for her students, who are learning the ways of the land with her, they hear about her through word of mouth as well. As a teacher, she is trying to pass on her knowledge by ―annotating and note taking, keeping notes of different methods that worked for people‘s ailments—and now I am actually working on a book.‖

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Chapter Four: Data Analysis

Data obtained from the six interviews produced reoccurring themes that were generated by the subjects. In this data analysis, four themes emerged from the interviews of the subjects who participate in Curanderismo. These themes are identity, healing, worldview and historical trauma. There were similarities for the most part, though slight differences as well. The first theme to be analyzed is identity since every one of the subjects had a journey that brought them to their Indigenous identity and their perspective on healing as well. In terms of identity for Sara,

Mathew, Tania and Christian, its formation occurred through education on Mesoamerican cultures and independent research on their own. This is when they began to identify as

Indigenous and what it means to identify as such.

Identity

For Sara her Indigenous identity started with MECHA, a Mesoamerican art class and then Danza at UC Santa Barbara. Sara gives more a detailed description about her identity, and how she came to the conclusion that she was Indigenous. She identifies as Mexica, and elaborates on her journey of reclaiming her Indigenous identity by stating, ―I began to understand that I was an Indigenous person when I first learned about the history of my people as a MEChista, while I was attending community college in Santa Maria at the age of 19.

Furthermore, she continues to expand on her journey and identity:

As a student there (Santa Maria) I was developing an interest in art and took a class in

Mesoamerican art, I was astounded by the beauty and sophistication of Mesoamerican

art, and began to ask myself, why I had never heard of their art before? I began to

question if my family had Indigenous Mesoamerican roots, since they were from Mexico

(it‘s a silly question to me now, but back then I didn‘t know much of anything when it

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came to my historical heritage). Another event that had a major impact on me was seeing

Aztec dancers for the first time. My senses were awakened and my genetic memory was

jolted from the smell of copal and the hypnotic sound of the huehuetl (drum).Seeing the

dancers present their dances was like seeing my ancestors come back to life. I decided to

transfer to UCSB where I hoped to quench my thirst for knowledge about my heritage by

majoring in Chicana/o Studies. Soon after I started school, I joined the local Danza

Azteca group. Although I already had a pretty good understanding that I really was a

descendant of Indigenous peoples from Mexico, learning from elders through the

tradition of Danza validated my belief. One elder told me that my ability to participate in

this tradition is my blood rite, and at that moment I considered myself to be Indigenous

(without having any doubt in my mind, heart, or spirit), and have never looked back.

Sara‘s journey began as a college student in Mesoamerican class, and learning about the highly sophisticated civilization in the present day Mexico made her wonder about her own Indigenous identity. However, the most impactful moment for Sara when she saw her culture coming alive before her eyes, the sound of the drum, the intoxicating smell of the copal, and the regalia of the

Mexica dancers. Witnessing the dancers sparked and encouraged her to major in Chicana/o

Studies, and she joined a local Danza group in search for her roots. The day her elder told her this was her blood rite, was the moment she solidified her Indigenous identity. As a result it made Sara embark on her own family‘s history.

According to my mother, our family history is rooted in Jesus Maria as far back as

anyone can remember. After doing some research on my own, I learned that that area of

Jalisco (also known as "Los Altos de Jalisco") was first inhabited by the Toltec‘s, then by

the Chichimeca-Azteca, and eventually by the Mexica people (this is because various

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groups of natives migrated throughout Anahuac and existed at different times history, and

in various places----hence, it is our ancestral blood right to migrate throughout these

lands).My understanding is that the word Azteca is a broad or general term (like Latino).

In other words the Mexica, Tepanecs, Chichimeca, etc. are all considered to be Aztec. So,

although I'm Aztec, more specifically I am Tolteca, Chichimeca, and Mexica.

Sara‘s journey began as she entered college her first year as a result it inspired her to research her family roots in Mexico. As she researches her family‘s specific area of where they are from, and learns what people have migrated and settled in that area, which in turn leads her to conclude whether Indigenous heritages are, as she embraces all those ethnicities as her identity. Sara continues on about what it means to be Indigenous, as she states, ―I identify as Indigenous. It means that I recognize the existence of my native ancestors and that I carry their blood and DNA within me. It means that, by recognizing and proclaiming myself as native, I am rejecting assimilation and resisting against oppression and cultural genocide.‖

Mathew states on his journey of reclaiming his Indigenous, ―I began to consider myself

Indigenous when I learned that they were extremely advanced native cultures in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans when I was 21 years old in college.‖ Mathew had to learn his history, in order to come to terms with his identity as an Indigenous person. Tania‘s path and journey to reclaim her identity took her on different roads, particularly in ceremony, as she states she identifies herself as an Indigena Chicana, specifically Pur‘pecha, and what that means to her is, ―I am both politically and spiritually connected to my relations/relatives and hold myself accountable to these inter-webbed ecologies. By relations/relatives I mean the land, other species, water, cosmologies, elements, epistemologies, and creation stories.‖ Tania‘s continues on her journey, by walking on the Red Road, which she was first introduced to in her early

101 twenties through various outlets such as Danza, sweat lodge ceremony, studying Mesoamerican art, and taking courses in Chicana/o Studies on Chicana/o identity. All these experiences restored her Indigenous identity. Tania explains, ―Participating in the aforementioned granted me opportunities to live, breathe, and re-learn while remembering my Indigenous blood.‖

When it comes to Christian‘s, Indigenous identity it was ingrained in him ever since he was a child, but as an adult learning about his history solidified it:

I have always been aware of my identity as an Indigenous person. Ever since I was a

small kid, my grandmother, my aunts and those who surrounded me always told me to

not be ashamed of who I was—that our brown skin was beautiful, and that it was part of

our identity. My great-grandmother always used natural healing on all her family

members, we rarely went to the doctors, and if we did, she did everything possible to cure

what we had. Even so, speaking to my father once, during one of his visits Cuzcatlan (El

Salvador), I was probably 6, I asked him what we were and he told me, well our ancestors

are ‗Indian,‘ and that is something we can never deny. From this point on, I knew that in

us ran the blood of a people, who I could see every day as I stepped out of my house. One

moment, that also reiterated my identity as an Indigenous person, was during my Spanish

course in 10th grade, where my teacher Morelia Balthazar, told me where I was from,

always being cognizant of saying it, because many of the students saw me as not one of

them because I was not ‗Mexican,‘ I proudly stood up and said, ‗I am Cuzcatleco, I come

from the Land of Precious Jewels.‘ This was a turning point for me, as I became very

interested in searching for an identity, an identity that many of my Oaxacan friends who

spoke Chinanteco or Zapoteco/ Mixteco held so strong.I saw in them so much beauty and

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grandeur, it was hearing songs being delivered through their mouths, ones that enchanted

those around them.

Christian was a unique case in terms of always knowing his Indigenous roots from his family.

Not only did his family teach him to be proud of his Cuzcatleco identity and his place of birth of

El Salvador (Cuzcatlan), but also in his brown skin, which tied him to his identity. Since he grew up in a Mexican community, being the only Central American, he was fortunate enough to have a supportive teacher who taught Spanish, who encouraged him to not only embrace his roots from Central America, but his Indigenous roots as well. Also, for Christian being Indigenous is a political act toward liberation and stance against colonialism and white supremacy:

I identify as Indigenous. This means that I reject not only European identities, but strive

to learn about my history and try to reshape my life in a decolonizing way. This means

being critical of how our people have been placed in gangs, drug addictions, alcohol and

all that pertains to being self-destructive. It is to come to terms of seeing my people as

one and not ascribing them to ethnic identities that deny over 50,000 years of existence,

such as the terms Latino/Hispanic and mestizo. Such terms have served the purpose of

displacing and negating our identities as Indigenous people of Anahuac. By giving us

false histories of us being people whose only coming together is our social, economic and

political conditions, yet making us people far from one another when it comes to

acknowledging that we continue to be under invasion, hence see a common enemy white

supremacy. Instead it makes us hate one another and defend labels that only embrace

what it means to be white. It is being able to reject colonial borders and continually

become engaged in studying, educating and living with pride and dignity not only about

where I come from, but also repeatedly denouncing injustices of racism and white

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supremacy, while not seeking agendas of assimilation/inclusion, rather Indigenous

nationalism as a definite solution, which focuses on reconstructing a library of our own

written material, hence being able to sync our colonial struggles and start a liberation that

will free us from our enslaved position.

Christian was inspired to study his history, because he was proud of his Indigenous identity, and it led him to begin the process of decolonization of his mind. Decolonization is the process that rejects colonial labels and to have a clear understanding of current issues his people are faced with on a daily basis. Eventually this led him to be an activist in his community as well.

As we can see with the subjects, because of their historical trauma and destruction of their Indigenous identity, most of them were unaware, until later in life. This unawareness is the norm among the general population of Chicana/os, with only a few exceptions, such as in the case of Christian, who always knew that he was Indigenous. As he got older this knowledge was reaffirmed through learning history. The most common thread among the subjects, who are

Chicana/os, was that they had to go different venues, such as by learning Danza, and being exposed to Mesoamerican history through Chicana/o studies. The fact that Chicanas/os have no idea about their true identity is criminal. Thus, I argue that reclaiming the Indigenous identity becomes more a political statement and a path to heal the loss of Indigenous identity. It becomes a duty and responsibility toward political action, for example, as Christian beautifully pointed out, he is against White Supremacy, colonialism, and stands to fight for the liberation of his

Indigenous people. As the subjects assert who they are, they begin to reclaim their sense of dignity, as Indigenous people, a dignity that was previously lost through colonization.

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Chicana/o Identity

To add to the discussion of identity, the participants were specifically asked if they identify with the Chicana/o label, and what, if any, significance the label holds for them. Sara, who identifies a Mexica/Chicana, took more of a political stance by explaining, ―It means that I walk in solidarity with those who take a political stand against systems of oppression. It means that I choose to self-identify rather than to accept some label the US government invented for me.‖ Sara points to the Chicano Movement in the 1960s and 70s, when Chicanas/os decided to identify as Chicanas/os to gain ethnic pride, build solidarity, and to re-identify as Indigenous,

(which was expressed especially through the arts). Because of this she identifies herself as being

Chicana. Mathew on the other hand does not necessarily use Chicano on a daily basis, only in certain contexts. As he states:

That question is a little complex, because I do identify myself as Chicano, in specific

contexts. Most of the time in general, I don‘t consider myself Chicano, usually I just stick

to Mexicano or Mexican, but like I said in the specific context, for instance I was a

graduate student in the Chicano Studies program, so within that context, yeah I am

Chicano. My parents were born in Mexico, I was born here, so in within that context I

would consider myself a Chicano too, but I never really identify as Chicano within a

personal or larger context, that I would connect to my identity, because I mean, I think it

has to a lot to do with identity, and although it is a certain aspect of my own, I wouldn‘t

solely call myself a Chicano for that reason.

There seems to be a not clear understanding of what Chicano means here. Although, Chicano has been reduced to a political identity or the Mexican American experience in the United States that is not the true origin for that term and Mathew does not necessarily like or use the term, but the

105 reality is Chicano and Mexican is the same term, because it derives from Mexica, the last civilization in Mexico prior to the European invasion. However, he tends to use it depending on the situation he is in. For example, if he is in a classroom setting in a Chicano Studies class, then that is when he will use it. He will use Mexicano, if he is with friends and family.

Tania has an academic approach when it comes to identifying as Chicana, by claiming,

―an X is used in lieu of CH for Xicana for this represents a shift in the crossroads of a

Xicana/Chicana/Mestiza consciousness, one that reclaims Indigenismo, and the reinsertion of feminine virtues and perspectives into political consciousness, along with the reclaiming of gender/s and sexualities. See Ana Castillo, Massacres of the Dreamers.”Tania uses Chicana to embrace her Indigenous identity and as her political identity as well. Christian is the only

Cuzcatleco or Salvadoran, in this study, although he sees a historical connection to Mexicans, he does not identify with the term Chicano, as he elaborates:

I do not personally identify as Chicano, even though I know the term derives from

Mexica, which is part of my heritage as I am descendant of the Toltecs from Central

Mexico. I do not identify as such because the term Chicano, is one that embraces the

notion of mestizaje, and was recently used in the 1960s in order to bring forth an identity

that has a base on the notion of being ―Mexican-American,‖ to which I find many logical

fallacies. For one, being American, embracing American as an identity is embracing

genocide, it is embracing a capitalist system based on colonial standards of exploitation,

greed and white supremacy. Thus the notion of Chicanidad is a notion that comes short

when trying to embrace what it means to live and be Indigenous, and realize our invasion

of 521 years.

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Although, Christians aware of the Chicano identity and its origin to the Mexica civilization, but it has been misused also he chooses not to identify with it. However, he is able to see the historical connection between Mexicans and Central Americans, as one people.

The reason the subjects were asked specifically about the Chicana/o label is, because it does not hold the same meaning for everyone. Chicana/o is more used in political and academic settings, most of the time especially for some of the subjects. Sara and Tania expanded the term

Chicana/o as one that signifies the fight against oppression in all forms that affect Indigenous communities. Sara, Tania, and Christian verify that they noticed a connection to the label

Chicana/o and Indigenous identity, and it was Christian and Sara who understand that the

Chicano label comes from the Mexica people. Even though Christian saw a historical connection to the people from El Salvador and Mexico, he personally did not want to identify with Chicano, but with Cuzcatleco to be more specific to the area of this continent where he is from.

Benefits of Reclaiming of Indigenous identity

There was a consensus among the subjects regarding the benefits of reclaiming their

Indigenous identity, of gaining back ones‘ humanity, expressed in different ways. Sara, in a simplistic and beautiful statement related to what she gains by identifying as Indigenous: ―I gain dignity and empowerment. I gain my humanity.‖ Tania explains:

There are many things to ―gain‖ in a non-capitalist sense. This includes pride in oneself,

belief in prophecy, and engagement in ceremony and being recognized in the community

as a Palabra carrier, and in academia, as I reference the book Women and Knowledge in

Mesoamerica From East L.A. to Anahuac by Paloma Martinez-Cruz shares,

―Mesoamericanizing Epistemic Authority‖ which is how we know, what we

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know...genetic memory, it's our Indigeneity live in the flesh—it is where truth resides

within the knowledge passed down from our ancestors.‖

Tania expresses the ultimate self-worth is having pride in oneself by engaging in ceremony and serving the Chicana/o community. She also relies on her genetic memory and knowledge to reinforce her Indigenous identity.

Mathew commented, ―I believe I gain a sense of empowerment and perspective. Before identifying as Indigenous, I lacked a point of view. Now, I see things in life through the

Indigenous philosophy I have adopted, which has placed me in an important position as an educator and cultural conservationist.‖ Mathew‘s reclamation grounded him and gave him a clearer focus in life, which later inspired him to enter education and teach Indigenous history, philosophy and culture to his students as well. Lastly Christian expressed:

What I gain by identifying as Indigenous, is not only being able to place myself as part of

a larger community which is in great need to recuperate stolen lands, language, customs,

and ways of knowledge. However, it creates visibility in a white supremacist society that

deems our people as good slaves who are too afraid to challenge the system. To be

Indigenous, means to make myself accountable for the constant struggle for the liberation

of our people. It means to respect the relationship created by our responsibility and

reciprocity to all Indigenous People. To identify as Indigenous is to challenge

contemporary norms of colonialism. As well as bring about a genocidal past that

continues a demonization and domination of white culture upon our identities and lives.

By being able to identify as Indigenous means stepping out of a contextualized idea of

what it means to be Indigenous and bring forth the multiplicity of psychological traumas

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that we carry—what I like to call the ―Contemporary Settler,‖ mandates from us, as our

bodies are destroyed and our existence eradicated.

Christian sees the benefits of an Indigenous identity as a way to state to the oppressors that

Indigenous people still exist. It is a way to combat colonialism and white supremacy, as

Indigenous people to fight for their land and resources. Also, reclaiming their Indigenous identity helps to educate and spread knowledge of what happened to them at the hands of colonialism.

All of the subjects are aware of their historical trauma related to their loss of Indigenous identity and see the benefits of gaining back who they are, their connection to the world around them, and ultimately their full humanity as Indigenous people—people of Indigenous back ground have been systematically destroyed by the Europeans. The Europeans implemented systems and policies of self- hate, inferior complexities, and aggressively attacked their

Indigenous identity, currently under the disguise of the Latino and Hispanic label. Indigenous people suffered from historical and current insecurities from the system of white supremacy.

Indigenous people are held to white standards of beauty. As Indigenous people, they deal with many issues, because they have been dehumanized and do not realize it, which leads to questioning their self-worth.

Curanderismo

Before I can explain the healing practices of the subjects, I wanted to understand their views on what Curanderismo means for them. The subjects have similar views, with slight differences. Sara defines Curanderismo is having trust in not only in our elders, but also in

Mother Earth to take care of us, because She (Mother Earth) has everything to keep us healthy, based on Sara‘s knowledge of foods and herbs. Sara also explained, ―that by going back to

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Indigenous ways of healing, we are keeping our medicine ‗un-colonized‘ by also refusing to give our health and money to the corrupt health system that keeps us sick for profit.‖

Furthermore, Mathew correlates Curanderismo as his own fight against the Westernized notion of healing and medicine, instead of relying on nature. Curanderismo for Mathew is staying within traditional and cultural values, and how they pertain to healing and medicine. He explains that being in tune with nature and the natural elements is essential for healing, because it makes him feel better. Mathew gives his thoughts about what Curanderismo means: ―the whole decolonial approach to medicine and healing, and it is the exact opposite of what you would think when you hear hospitals and doctors.‖

On the other hand, Tania acknowledges that the way Curanderismo is defined in contemporary times is very limited. She feels that it could be much broader. To Tania,

Curanderismo means not only receiving knowledge from elders or people who carry medicine and passed down through tradition, ceremony, or song, but it also includes midwives, Indigenous nutrition, and Indigenous practices to sustain mental health. She further explains Indigenous mental health:

[Very] holistic, it is related to naturopathic medicine to mental health, but the whole

environment connection, connection to the land, community circles, spaces for people

who are recovering from substance abuse, sweat lodge, alternative ways of healings,

talking circles for support groups...or this idea of this crazy person. I feel that we should

not feel that way—because what people might see as crazy—it is because they do not

know how to navigate the voices of the ancestors. And this person has become a vessel,

our bodies our vessels, our DNA—sometimes some of us were gifted to hear the voices

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of our DNA. It is about getting away from the dominant models of understanding mental

health but also it is dealing with healing or providing a better safer, spiritual cleanse, and

revitalizing mental health.

Tania expands Curanderismo to Indigenous mental health and how the Chicana/o community needs alternative ways of healing due to trauma caused by colonialism. She also attributes to mental health or hearing voices in their head is a sign of their ancestors speaking to them and they do not know how to handle it. However, once Chicana/os learn how to understand holistic medicine, it will start the process of true healing.

Christian‘s definition of Curanderismo is about not just the physical aspect of health, but the entire entity of a person as well.

Curanderismo means the ability to not only cure somebody, to fix the organ system or

whatever is not feeling well, but to heal somebody. You not only get them well, but you

place them back into the community in which they belong. That is very important. Illness

can hinder productivity in society, in which our people most of the time do not feel they

belong, because they are much more interested in surviving than being actively involved

with our liberation. In fact, an illness can be external, but also internal and self-imposed

without taking notice of it, such as cancer and other related disease that come from our

colonization. Curanderismo hence serves as a method for our people who are in dire need

of psychological healing.

Christian adds that healers who have an interpersonal relationship with their clients are crucial to their client‘s success. Also, Christian points out because the state Chicanas/os are in when it comes to their health, it will prevent them for actively taking on a more aggressive role toward

111 social injustices. Furthermore, many illnesses that are attributed to Chicanas/os has its roots in colonialism, which is why he points out that his people are in need of mental health services too.

The subject‘s definition of Curanderismo comes down to non-Western techniques that come from the Earth in the form of herbs, Indigenous foods, as well as elder‘s ceremonies uncolonized medicine and mental health. According to Christian, it is about using Indigenous practices and the knowledge of herbal medicine to heal one‘s self. Curanderismo is about not relying on the healthcare industry, because of its greed and profit motive, its design to keep people sick, and its lack of Indigenous ancestral perspectives.

Others feel that Curanderismo can and should be expanded to include the power of the arts for healing. No matter the subjects own personal definition of Curanderismo each was rooted in the same foundation of holistic care that opposes traditional Western healthcare.

Healing Practices

Common healing practices that the subjects participated in includes sweat lodge ceremony, an Indigenous diet, art making, Danza, and poetry. Sara states:

I participate in sweat lodge occasionally, and I try my best to eat Indigenous food as often

as possible, thanks to a Curandera who taught me what foods to avoid and which ones to

consume to keep my body in balance. She also put me on a regimen of herbal tinctures

and teas that were taught by her mother and elders. Mostly I create art that depicts

Mesoamerican images and symbols. I also participate in Danza regularly.

In addition, other specialties that Sara benefits from our prayers and songs. Danza provides Sara with medicine by exercising her body through meditative dances, which she sees as prayers.

Also, she uses copal, which is very healing according to her, along with other medicines like

112 sage, tobacco, and sweet grass. These are used to ―smudge‖ the body and places where ceremonies are held in order to cleanse the body/place from negativity and also to offer prayers to Ometeotl, the source of dual sacredness. These rituals are considered to be medicinal for Sara.

Sara also has used acupuncture and she recounts her story:

I seek out other non-western healing practices like acupuncture. When looking for an

acupuncturist, I found many white females who offered these services. However, I wasn't

impressed with their medical background so I kept looking until I found a Chinese man

who practices "traditional acupuncture."He studied medicine in China and his website

included a section that showed an array of traditional Chinese herbal medicines and teas.

This was definitely something I felt much more comfortable with since I was more

familiar and accustomed to drinking teas and taking herbal supplements to heal myself

with. This is not to say that I didn't choose the white female acupuncturists based solely

on their race, it's just that they didn't study in China (where the practice of acupuncture

developed), nor did they have any knowledge of herbal medicines.

Not only does Sara utilize Indigenous medicine and traditions for her healing practices, but ancient healing traditions from China. Sara is able to see the commonalities between Asian medicines and her own Indigenous medicinal practices.

On the other hand, for Tania, an Indigenous diet was an even more significant component for healing and reclamation of Indigenous identity, as she states, ―healing my brown body, my daily life, what we call a living theory of healing live in the flesh. I eat in ceremony; I pray in ceremony, I walk in ceremony.‖ Not only does she do sweat lodge, she is a water pourer, and holds Palabra (word) as a Sundance chief. By connecting food and her Indigenous identity,

Tania receives a sense of global purpose as she teaches and states about ―healing ecologies,

113 which state that people are accountable to all of their relations, emphasizing responsibility, reciprocity, respect, and relationship with the land, the animal nation, the elements, and ethno cosmologies.‖ Also, the non-western healing practices that Tania participates in include having chakra stones on her home altar, aromatherapy incense, healing circles and massage work. The most beneficial treatment Tania receives from a Curandera is consejos (counseling) and the medicine the Curandera prescribes to her.

Mathew mentions the copal or copalli in the Nahuatl language, which means incense, named after the tree resin that offers him aromatherapy and alleviates the mood in a positive way and an overall well being. He believes that ―the copal has strong medicinal properties not only to purify the air and eliminates some of the negativity in the room, but also has strong psychological properties that help heal people.‖ Whenever Mathew feels down, depressed, or negative, he recalls:

The metaphor behind the burning of copal and how it releases these certain negative

energies that have been stored during the colonization process of the copal; Also, when

you burn it, it releases all of this ancient energy and aroma that has been stored and

essentially conserved in the copal and so when you burn it, you are using that as a form

of eliminating all the natural parts that is making you feel negative in modern or

contemporary society.

The copal for Mathew is not for physically healing, for example, for a cough, but for mental purposes. The copal for Mathew is a healing modality against the stored up historical trauma that colonialism has inflicted on Chicana/os. As a result, the copal is an effective tool for Mathew to release and heal from historical trauma. He goes on to discuss trauma by stating,

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We store a lot of that trauma that we experience not only as an individual, but as a people

as well and a lot of that healing comes from knowing what your ancestors used to do,

when they felt a certain way. When it came to an illness or a discomfort within ourselves

and how do we remedy it so we can continue being confident, productive and effective in

our communities. So, in a sense of healing it kind of transcends the whole physical aspect

of wellbeing and transcends the mind and the psychological aspects of healing.

Essentially, he likes to use the copal to help eliminate the negative energy, whether it is in his head, or body, or even in his surroundings. Recently, however, Mathew has not participated in nor sought out non-Western healing practices. When he was a part of a Danza cultural group a few years ago, he had more access to them, because he was around others who were participating in non-Western techniques as well. Also, Mathew stated that he does not go out and seek them on his own, but does try to engage in Curanderismo in his personal life.

Christian, who has healers in his family, said his mother would give him a bath as a child using ruda (rue) and orange leaves in order to take away his insomnia. Also, when he experienced caida de mollera (fallen fontanel) and mal de ojo (evil eye), his mother would give him limpias (cleanings)as well as massages for empacho(blocked stomach) using aceite de culebra (snake oil), ajo macho (garlic), and sabila and chaya, a plant that is used to restore iron and calcium in the bones. Christian was fortunate enough to have healers in his family, who exposed him to alternative ways of healings, which in turn taught him how to use medical plants as well. The subjects Sara, Tania, and Mathew purposely seek Curanderismo not only to heal themselves, but to connect them to their Indigenous roots. Christian on the other hand had most of his experience with Curanderismo as a child, which now he applies in his own life as well.

For Mathew it was inherently Indigenous, even though he was too young to realize it. All of the

115 subjects used traditional forms of Curanderismo such as limpias, massages, and herbs, Danza or arts, food and ceremony.

Reasons for seeking Curanderismo

There are a variety of reasons why the subjects might seek a healer or Curandero instead of Western doctors. For example, Sara was frustrated with Western Medicine and decided to look for alternatives. She only had the ―honor of seeing a Curandera once a few years ago, from

Boyle Heights, one who really helped me identify and heal intestinal problems‖ after she experienced severe pain in her lower abdomen and after seeing several doctors and specialists, none of whom could cure her. Once she met a Curandera and spent three or four hours with her, she was able to give Sara a diagnosis and put her on a strict diet and regimen of herbs and tinctures, which gave her great relief. Now Sara knows how to treat herself when the pain occurs because she knows what causes it, and how to make it disappear. Although she is unable to see this particular Curandera due to distance, she also frequents other healers who run sweat lodges too. Whenever she wants to extract impurities from her body, she states:

Not only physically through the physical act of sweating, but spiritually... through song,

prayer, and sharing an abundance of positive energy with good people who are there to

pray with me. I truly feel so much better after a sweat lodge. I feel light as a feather, yet

strong enough to conquer whatever oppressive barrier lies ahead.

Mathew‘s reasoning for seeing a Curandero was the natural feel that drew him to Curanderismo as well as the fact that he did not have health insurance. He feels that Curanderismo is more personal and intimate since treatment is done by a person, who does not necessarily have degrees in medicine or reflexology, but ―still people trust him with their bodies, because they know he has experience and that kind of memory embedded inside of himself that comes from generations

116 of Sobadores, which are prevalent in his family lineages… but I think I seek a Sobador…to feel more in touch with non-western approaches to healing and medicine.‖Although, the main purpose for Mathew to seek a Curandero was due to lack of health insurance, he also likes the intimate setting a Curandero provides. Also, because Mathew prefers holistic approach better he feels he can truly trust the Sobador and his healing techniques.

The medicinal treatments Tania receives from Curandera/os include herbs, teas, and herbal baths. If she is asked to eat a certain foods, surrounded by herbs such as sage, or other prescribed medicines, or even homeopathic remedies, she feels more grounded or rooted than when she goes to a medical doctor, who may not take the time to evaluate her holistically. As she states, ―for example if you have a cold, they just give you medicine instead of asking you,‖

‗What else is going on that is making you feel this way?‘ Tania prefers the Indigenous healing from a Curandera/o, because for her it made her feel as though she is in a safe space. She also prefers this healing, because the values and teachings that come from it are centered around a decolonial or non-colonial Indigenous framework. She did acknowledge that Curanderismo is not purely Indigenous, yet she still claims it as her preference.

Christian‘s family chose to seek Curanderos, after they lost faith in Western doctors and felt more comfortable with the cultural perspectives a Curandera offers. He states, ―I have gone to Curandero/as for healing, because my parents always took us since we were little, and it became the norm and going to conventional doctors has always been of little to no use. The doctor‘s diagnoses are not only racialized according to their ethnic perspectives, as a result they cannot provide you with an inner peace that Curandero/as do. Curanderismo is able to establish that connection needed to feel that your illness can be treated, and not allow you to feel depressed or without no hope of curing it.‖Christian express that cultural Indigenous treatments

117 from a Curandero were important to him, as well, as his family members, who were disappointed with Western doctors. As a result, it made the transition easier for them to search for alternative ways of healing. The United States medical industry is broken and corrupted, and is inadequate when it comes to treatment of diseases. People, who do not fit to mainstream standards, often fall into the cracks of society.

The common thread and reasoning of the subjects as they sought out Curanderismo is apparent. The majority of them went for cultural reasons due to disappointment with Western doctors. Mathew added that he went for lack of financial stability. The capitalistic system made it difficult for the subjects to be able to afford health insurance or a trip to the doctor, since everything is economically driven. Even the subjects that were able to see a Western doctor were disappointed with the lack of knowledge these doctors provided to the subjects or their families.

Instead, they enjoyed the interpersonal relationships with the Curandera/os, while Western doctors usually do not provide that feeling of comfort, because of their cold demeanor.

Curandera/os offer not only healing remedies, but also cultural similarities with which the subjects can relate and feel more at ease.

Using Curanderismo to Reinforce Indigenous identity

By learning their history and being infused with holistic healing, the subject‘s identity is reinforced and strengthened along with their healing process. Sara mentions that recovering her identity provides her with an alternative history or counter story, which is more relevant to her, as an Indigenous person, because it is coming from an Indigenous perspective and not a

European one. She explains, ―Holistic healing provides alternative medicines based on the knowledge of Indigenous people, which has been passed on from one generation to another as far back as history can tell.‖ Furthermore, Sara mentions that, ―our Indigenous ways of healing are

118 more connected to Mother Earth, nature, and medicinal plants.‖ Sara knows that by embracing her people‘s ways of healing, medicine and knowledge, she is reaffirming her Indigenous lineage, roots, forms of knowledge, and cultural heritage, as opposed to ―being consumed by

‗mainstream‘ Western society, which has made humanity sick.‖Sara gives an example on how

Curanderismo strengthened her Indigenous identity based on her negative experience with the healthcare system in the United States:

After going to see several doctors and specialists—which cost me quite a bit of money in

co-pays (even with insurance), none of them could give me a diagnosis nor could they

cure me. All they wanted to do was put me on one type of prescription drug after another,

which made me feel awful. Although this happened about 5 years ago, it's only a more

recent example as to why I have lost complete faith in Western doctors and corporate

health systems. Furthermore, understanding how corporations have invaded and tainted

our food sources has also helped me (and many others) come to realize that it is more

profitable for these corporations to keep us addicted to bad food and to keep us sick. Our

food, water, pesticide and contamination of our land have been colonized for centuries,

and this is making us all sick, including Mother Earth. My commitment to living an

Indigenous way of life has helped me see how these circumstances are all connected. So

not only have Curanderismo and other Indigenous traditions helped me have a more clear

perspective on our health issues, but they have also given me the strength, knowledge,

and empowerment to continue to seek indigenous ways of healing rather than to succumb

to unhealthy Western diets and American doctors who don't heal. Identifying myself as

an Indigenous person has helped me reject what I know isn't healthy for me or my family,

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and in turn, has helped me grow as a person, a person who tries to take care of my body

so that when I pass away, I can offer a clean and health body back to Mother Earth.

Curanderismo strengthened Sara‘s Indigenous identity. She learned the truth about how corporate America and the health industry works by keeping their citizens sick and addicted to unhealthy food. However, having a clear understanding of who she is aided her in her approach to medicine—she learned what benefits her or harms her when it comes to her health. Sara acknowledges her Indigenous roots, her connection to Mother Earth, and how sick she is too.

Sara‘s Indigenous roots inspired her to be aware of her health, so that one day Mother Earth can consume her healthy body, since it is all part of the cycle of life and death.

Mathew definitely is aware of the correlation between Curanderismo and reclaiming an

Indigenous identity as he explains that the two go hand and hand since they allow for a better understanding of people‘s relationships with nature, because nature is a pharmacy. Mathew explains that if the power of plants is not known, people are not going to be able to cure themselves or understand Curanderismo:

In the sense of utilizing nature to cure or to provide a better healthier alternative to

Western medicine and making that connection—because when I was going through this

transition as far as like being stuck in this colonial state of mind, where I was very

dependent on hospitals and doctors and in the school system—and all of these things that

I was so dependent on.

When Mathew had that revelation, the whole concept of health, wellbeing and healing took another role in his life, because he was now able to appreciate nature in a way he imagines his ancestors once did. Mathew states, ―Our ancestors saw nature not only as their food and subsistence, but also as their medicine. I think that comes with developing that initial identity, as

120 far as breaking from the shackles from colonialism and allowing yourself to embrace all of these ideas that are based on Indigenous philosophy.‖ Mathew, like Sara‘s approach to identity and health, is decolonizing his mind to break free from Western thought when it comes to medicine.

Tania acknowledges that her healing process and the reclaiming of her Indigenous roots might have taken a slower route without Curanderismo as she states:

Without these healing ecologies occurring in the sync of the moment, my healing process

would most likely be at a slower rate but still moving forward, while learning and looking

back. At the same time, being tied into this web of healing has allowed my own process

of self, of being, of knowing to be open to the healing powers of the energy forces that

are accumulating as a result of the healing work being done on a global scale by the

global Indigenous. This is promising to me and motivating and to full circle this, healing.

I would not say that my Indigenous identity has been reclaimed, I would say more that

the Indigenous subjectivity that I live is openly performed (identity) in the spaces I find

myself being as in my home, community spaces and places, in the classroom, department

meetings and in my writings, of course, in my mothering practices.

Being involved in ceremony and healing has connected Tania to her Indigenous roots. Without these healings she received from Curandera/os, her healing process and reclaiming her roots would have been a lot slower. Receiving these healings for Tania has opened her up to the

Indigenous healings that are happening globally. This has motivated Tania to reclaim her roots and more importantly grounded her in her ancestral homeland and within herself. No matter where she is in this world, she is able to find balance within herself and her surroundings.

Christian expresses that Curanderismo has helped him in terms of health and the body, but not when it comes to reinforcing his Indigenous identity, due to a lack of historical

121 perspective. However, because he already knew his history, he is now able to see Indigenous elements in Curanderismo. For Christian, Curanderismo helped him to a certain extent seek different ways of treating himself when he is sick, which allows his body to detoxify itself in ways Western medicine cannot possibly do. However, Christian explained, ―But as to strengthening my Indigenous identity, it has lacked the part of explaining itself historically.

Most Curanderos/as, when asked where their knowledge comes from will say, it runs in the family, or was learned somewhere else, but even they do not know the origins of their work.‖

For most of the subjects, Curanderismo reinforced their Indigenous identity or was the starting point to understanding who they are as they took the journey of self-exploration.

Christian was the only subject, however, who did not see the connection between Curanderismo and identity. In his experience, there is a lack of historical ties between Curanderismo and ancient knowledge of health and Indigenous identity.

Indigenous Worldview

The healing treatments that the subjects received from the healers taught the subjects about Indigenous healing and worldviews, which connects them to their Indigenous identity. All the subjects have learned about Indigenous worldview and healing techniques. Most of the subjects learned their relationship not only to themselves and their body, but also to all living things on the Earth. Others learned, like Sara, to take stance against injustices. Tania saw

Curanderismo as a way to combat all forms of colonialism that have been implanted not only on

Indigenous people, but everyone.

Tania does not seek Curanderos. She did express what an Indigenous worldview means to her:

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It is not easy to define an Indigenous worldview, as this would be considered an essentialist slip, yet, seeing and knowing that essentialism is a Western misunderstanding of Indigenous epistemology. I will speak on global Indigenous cosmologies in which the physical act of healing is a journey, a responsibility, and a decolonizing effort which requires strategic creativity, prayer, healers, and warriors. Queer, Indigenous, Feminist, and Decolonial Feminist theorists and Elders provide and/or reference Original

Instructions towards a planetary healing. This includes healing the body erotic from the coloniality of gender, sexuality, and power; and the dis-eased physical land mass called body from colonial infiltration of our mind and spirit, which has been polluted with colonial medicines, foods, media, epistemologies, violence. Then there is environmental and non-human animal relational healing that too needs to take place as our mother earth continues to feel the colonial imperial wrath along with our non-human relatives. How is this work done? It takes a community, cooperation, and direction along with purpose.

There are many healing workers at the frontline doing healing work from the ground up or as academics continue to use (which is problematic), from the global south. Healing work is being done by remembering our ancestor‘s gardens, cooking and eating traditional diets, birthing with Indigenous midwives and doulas, community healing circles, two spirit healing (decolonizing gender), remembering ancestral medicines and seeking out Curanderas as primary care (for mental stability, physical body imbalances, etc…Native sex workers (reclaiming the body erotic and sexuality), remembering prayer ceremonies to heal the nations like canoe journey, dignity runs are all healing projects in the works and I would also add, paving way in academic circles that is speaking from a

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strong Native subjectivity, so reclaiming knowledge systems. These all equate to the

global Indigenous healing cosmologies which are happening on the mundial level.

Tania had a difficult time expressing or defining an Indigenous worldview, because it does not compare to any Western epistemology. She mentions, however, Indigenous cosmologies on a global scale that require a physical act of healing, responsibility, and decolonizing which includes creativity, prayer, healers and warriors. She also mentions that queer, Indigenous, feminist, decolonial theorist and elders who contribute knowledge toward the Indigenous worldview. Tania stated how the physical body needs healing from pollution, sexual violence, and colonial diseases to Mother Earth—which has not only affected our bodies and why we need it in the first place, but our minds and spirit as well. Tania also wants to include animals and the environment that also is in dire need of healing, because of colonization of our lands. Although

Tania defines an Indigenous worldview, and includes issues that we need to address, she also offers solutions to be included in that definition as well, such as community, cooperation, and a purpose with the right kind of direction. Tania mentions that true healing begins by returning to the ways of the ancestors in term of diet, cooking, eating, birthing techniques, midwives, community healing circles, decolonizing gender, erotica, sexuality, and remembering our traditional healings. Lastly, Tania wanted to include that academics have a duty to reclaim

Indigenous knowledge and with an Indigenous lens to address global healing and cosmologies.

Sara explains what an Indigenous worldview means to her by stating:

The reason being that colonization was so damaging to our people was that it left them in

shambles, and we are still feeling the effects of the massacre and genocide of our

ancestors. By reconnecting to our Indigenous roots, forms of knowledge, and rituals, we

can begin to pick up the pieces and heal ourselves. In order to be healed, our entire being

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must be healed in balance; including our physical bodies (by eating Indigenous food,

exercise), emotional (by recognizing who we are as Native peoples), and spiritually (by

practicing our Native rituals).

Sara explains because of the destruction of Indigenous cultures through colonization and genocide, Chicanas/os need to start to heal from the historical trauma. Sara‘s claims when

Chicanas/os go back to their Indigenous roots and learn the knowledge of their ancestral

Indigenous worldview, it leads to balance in all aspects of their lives such as physical, emotionally, and spiritual.

Feeling a part of a community is also a key aspect of an Indigenous worldview, which is reinforced in Curanderismo. Christian explains that for him, Curanderismo is both mental and physical. Christian believes that through Curanderismo, the body and mind are healed, and become clear of worry. But he also gains a sense of belonging to a community. This community is one in which Indigenous men and women possess a knowledge that can be shared to treat illnesses that many are unaware of, or that modern medicine cannot treat. Curanderismo makes

Christian feel cared about, loved, and gives him a home wherever the person is treating him. Not only does he seeks to eliminate his illness, but since many times when he sought Curanderas, they would make a dinner to thank him for seeking them out and then he would chat with them as though they have known each other for years. He recounts, ―I remember one in particular, her name is Dona Chela, and she lives in Thermal, California on 76th Avenue. She is always so nice to me when I go—her house has the aroma of medicine—of plants that give you warmth. Her hands are so soft at touch and her voice is like a singing bird.‖

All the subjects saw that Curanderismo is beneficial for overall wellbeing, whether it was physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional. Curanderismo allowed the subjects to feel as though

125 they were a part of a community by feeling loved and becoming friends with the Curandera/o, something you cannot receive with a Western medical doctor.

Expanding Curanderismo: “La Cultura Cura.”

I asked the participants to expand on how they would describe their healing from other

Indigenous practices that offer them overall wellbeing when it came to their emotional, mental and physical health. Sara states, ―I strongly believe that many of our sicknesses come from the many years of colonization our people have suffered (cultural susto, alcoholism, drug addiction, diabetes, depression, self-hatred, etc). By eating healthy Indigenous food (rather than fatty, sugary, over-processed, pesticide ridden foods) and practicing ones cultural traditions (all of the arts), we are not only healing the body but mental state of well-being porque ‗la cultura cura’‖

(culture cures).Sara acknowledges that since Chicanas/os are suffering from historical trauma, the loss of cultural identity makes them sick, physically, emotionally and mentally as well. When

Chicana/os practices their culture they begin to heal in more ways than one. Tania feels that the healing she receives through the arts and ceremony is more spiritual and emotional. In terms of spiritual health, it is a process that connects her to her ancestors and to the elements by tapping into her sensory system, whether it is food and herbal medicine. Her body is emotionally intuitive. Meanwhile, her body is no longer just a physical body. Her body connects to how she feels. If she feels sad, she is able to release that energy through Curanderismo. ―It puts me in a good mood. It is sentimento (feeling).‖The healing Tania receives from ceremony and the arts is more than just physical, but also emotional and spiritual. As Tania participates in ceremony, it is healing her emotionally and spiritually. She feels connected to her ancestors, which can be a powerful experience in the process of healing when it comes to historical trauma. Also, as she intakes food and herbal medicine, she is able to connect to the elements Earth, which in itself is

126 also a form of healing. Tania also views her body as a more emotional and spiritual entity that connects to her emotions, Curanderismo can help her release any negative feelings she is having, which makes her feel better.

However, Sara who also mentioned an Indigenous diet and cultural practices made a distinction between Curanderismo and other healing arts as. She states:

When I think of Curanderismo, I think of a person who has been handed down

knowledge about how to cure people who are sick with natural indigenous remedies like

herbs, teas, foods, and in some cases, prayer. I feel that if we said all of these forms of

healing should be considered to be Curanderismo, we would be taking away some credit

to the many many generations of actual people who have carried and handed down such

precious knowledge and traditions to their heirs of knowledge.

Sara feels that healers who practiced herbal knowledge and even prayers needs to be incorporated in Curanderismo, because this knowledge have been passed down from many generations. Sara validates their knowledge, when often times they are overshadowed by

Western Medicine and not given their proper credit it deserves.

Mathew noted studying Mesoamerican history, which was indeed healing for him. He has been a student of Mesoamerican culture and history for over ten years and realized that learning about his ancestors‘ rich culture was a form of healing for him as he states it ―helped me climb out of the hole I dug myself in within the realm of gangs, drugs, and criminal activity.‖ As he was going through his process, and getting involved in Danza, he learned several computations based on the Mexica calendar and their direct connection to his body, and astronomical and terrestrial existence within nature. By understanding the relationship between healing and himself, he was able to comprehend his place in the world—thus began his healing process.

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Danza, art and poetry have also been a factor in his healing or transformation process as they have shaped his place and responsibility in the world. Mathew‘s statements are powerful and profound. Knowledge of self and his history made a huge impact for him. Studying ones history is such a transformative experience; one that helped Mathew turn his life around when Matthew was going down the wrong path. This led him to other forms of knowledge and healing that pertains to his culture as well. For Christian, a self-describe poet, spoken word offers him the most self-healing, as well as an Indigenous diet:

Indeed, there are other forms of Indigenous culture that offer healing, in most respects,

psychological healing. Poetry is a great way to dwell into worlds where you become the

author of a past that many times is denied to us. Poetry allows us to connect on many

levels with one another, as it expresses emotions—many times fear, hate and anger—

which is not always allowed to be embraced. Food is another thing; the diet of our

ancestors has for many years allowed us to have a healthy life. I look at my

grandmothers, and grandfathers, they continue to be pretty healthy, as their diets consist

mainly of corn, beans and squash, with a lot of fruits involved.

Christian utilizes the ancient art form of poetry, just as his ancestors did for healing. Poetry does not only connect Christian to his Indigenous identity, but he is able to release all the negative emotions that he is going through. Christian also has an Indigenous diet which goes back to basics to the perfect diet of his ancestors; it consists of corn, beans and squash.

The subjects used different forms of alternative healing that may not necessarily be considered

Curanderismo, though in many ways they are. For example, many of the subjects participate in rituals and ceremonies such as the sweat lodge, which is the mother of all healings in Indigenous ceremonies, although not a part of Curanderismo. Most of the subjects mentioned Indigenous

128 food and diet as a form of Curanderismo. By returning to the diet of their ancestors, they healed their bodies.

Furthermore, many of the subjects expressed the arts as a form of healing, such as art,

Danza, and poetry. All this should be added to Curanderismo as well. These practices helped them in all aspects of their wellbeing, which were damaged due to historical trauma and other illnesses caused by colonialism.

Curanderismo and Enabling Healing Process

All the subjects felt as though the Curandera/o assisted and taught them how to participate in their healing process, and to take a better approach when dealing with their own health. Sara explains,

They tell us what's wrong with us; they explain why we're sick and what we can do to rid

our bodies of sickness, and even how to prevent a particular sickness from coming back.

They teach us what to eat and what to stay away from, they tell us what we should do at

home to stay healthy. For example, when I went to see a Curandera, she helped me figure

out what I needed to do to cure my intestinal problems. Now, whenever I feel the same

pain coming back, I know what to do to get myself back on track (what specific teas to

drink, and foods to eat or avoid).

Sara fully embraces Curanderismo, because she has seen firsthand the knowledge of medical ways in order to heal herself. Curandera/os gave Sara a whole holistic examination of her health and her body. The Curandera gives her the agency and freedom and passes on knowledge to be her own doctor whenever she gets sick.

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Tania expressed that, ―I feel that I am made to evaluate my lifestyle and my lifestyle choices and the relationships that I have with humans and non-humans.‖ Mathew, who specifically goes to a Sobador, had this to say:

Every time I go see the Sobador he is talking to me about what he feels in my body. He

says, ‗Oh I can see that this is happening in your body by touching here, I can see this is

off.‘ So I pay close attention to what he says and at the same time the movements that he

is making within my body and how he manipulates my joints and ligaments and

essentially detecting what it is...so I memorize the movements he is making with his

hands and the pressure he applies to certain parts of my body to make other parts of my

body feel better. So I try to record movements and techniques, so I can practice them on

my own body or with someone else that is feeling the similar pain that I was. So I

replicate what it he is trying to do with the hopes of learning it myself.

Mathew, like Sara, learns from his Curandero, specifically the Sobador. He studies the movement of the hands on his body, so whenever he needs to be healed, he can recreate the same movements on his body or onto others. Unlike the Western doctors, the Curandero is able to teach their clients how to heal themselves, therefore grants them the power in their own healing.

Although Christian used to seek a Curandera when he was younger, it was his grandmothers, who also practice Curanderismo, who taught him natural remedies for him to heal himself. He states, ―Indeed Curanderismo has taught me to participate in my own healing. I have learned certain things from my family, and keep them either on a piece of paper written down, or just know them by memory. It allows me to know when I need to seek these natural remedies or when to call one of my grandmothers to ask them for help.‖Christian is also an active learner in his own healing. He was in a position where the women in his family were healers.

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Curanderismo allowed Christian to also learn by taking notes of remedies that cure certain illness.

All the subjects agree that by going to a Curandera/o they are also learning how to heal or reevaluate themselves and their lives and relationship with others. This is true whether or not the subjects were taught directly by the Curandera/o or by observing the treatments they were getting. I believe that learning from these healers helps the subjects feel empowered to heal their own bodies, and in turn heal others as well.

Curanderismo and Oneself

Curanderismo and the correlation of its use, healing, and receiving treatments helped the subjects to understand their identity and improve their personal lives. As for Sara‘s experience with Curandera/os, they have allowed her to dig deeper into herself and heal her Indigenous identity. ―Yes, they keep my genetic memory sharp and validate what I believe to be true (our history, identity, culture, rituals, foods, etc) more in depth.‖ Also, for Mathew, Curanderismo reinforces an Indigenous identity, as he states:

Yes. When I was exposed to Curanderismo it was when I was going through that whole

identity exploration, and when I stumbled upon my Mesoamerican/Indigenous culture,

was when I started learning about Curanderismo and about these healing practices that

our ancestors used—but I was never directly exposed to it, because I never had to go to a

Curandera to cure any ailments, but it changed me in a sense. It helped me to look at

Western medicine in a different way, how everyone is very dependent on doctors and that

whole notion of—that the only people that can cure you are those white people, in white

lab coats. When I started to learn about Maria Sabina, and how she used, for example,

hallucinates to heal her patients, it kind of highlighted the importance of human

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relationship with nature and how they work harmonious in a way to depend on each other

to survive. And that‘s what I meant, when I said it kind of changed me. I didn‘t

necessarily have to go to a Curandera/o to understand the power of the elements of nature

in regard to health, healing and wellbeing. That is something I try to practice now, instead

of going to the hospital to get checkups or take a flu shot. I just eat more greens, or more

fruits, and vegetables because that was around back then, because obviously they had

people who told you what herbs and what plants cured what, but now all you have to do

is go to the doctor and say, ―my throat hurts‖ and they tell you now, ―oh take a couple of

these.‖ So, we are completely detached from that whole concept of Curanderismo in the

sense of using nature and the elements of nature to cure ourselves.

For Mathew, learning about his history of Mesoamerican cultures inspired him to look at healing oneself in a different light. This shows that learning one's history and true culture spurs the individuals to seek out other aspects of their culture for self-improvement as well such as a healthier diet or using natural remedies to improve one‘s health. Also, Mathew realizes the importance of being connected to Mother Nature, and how plants can be used to cure ailments, as opposed to Western medicine where there is a detachment from nature when it comes to how illnesses are being treated.

Tania expresses, ―I feel it provides a vision. It provides a visual understanding of me versus something in literature.‖ Christian gives a realistic counter view of Curanderismo and how it can hinder one‘s progress from being connected to their identity, if they have not studied the root of it properly.

Understanding oneself often comes with being able to destroy previous notions of

imposed/false identities, and even as Curanderismo can serve the purpose of bringing

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forth notion of anti-Westernization, it continues to promote things such as religion, which

denounces the purpose of understanding oneself, because it confuses the individual

between the realms of Indigenous ways of healing, and puts them in a trance of

indoctrination, where one sees Curanderismo as a divine gift from God, rather than view

it scientifically, and making its connections to our ancestors way of practicing advanced

medicine (i.e. brain surgery, dentistry).

Christian is the only one that critiques Curanderismo. Even though there are many elements that are Indigenous, and the healers are making a political statement by going against the Western concept of medicine and going toward holistic healing, due to religious influence the

Curandera/o might possess in their own personal life, they might not beware of their own scientific knowledge of their ancestors, and instead give all the credit to God. However, when

Curandera/os who continue to use Christianity, which is the majority of them, might confuse the participant who is trying to recover their Indigenous identity, since Christianity was forced upon

Chicana/os. Christian mentions without a proper study of Mesoamerican history, the individual might now be able to fully comprehend the healing techniques and knowledge that their ancestors had prior to the European invasion.

All subjects but Christian agreed that Curanderismo does indeed aid them in discovering who they are as Indigenous people. Christian acknowledges though, that because Curanderismo practices are also formed by European imposition in the culture i.e. Christianity, it does not really give them their true identity back. Furthermore, for Christian, Curanderismo may not be the right path in reclaiming identity, but one can investigate and discover the truth through study of Mesoamerican history.

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Historical Trauma

Indigenous people have suffered historical trauma for the last 500 years, as a result of the

European invasion. This in turn impacts Indigenous people in other unhealthy and psychological ways, and as a result there exists a need to heal from the trauma of the invasion. Additionally, there is a need to heal the entire being which includes the psyche, soul, body and mind. Sara explains:

We all need healing, even the oppressors, and especially Mother Earth. These Indigenous

forms of medicines have helped us come to terms with our historical trauma and have

given me ways in which to heal, but have also given me direction so that I can focus my

energy on healing myself, my family, and my people. I used to be very angry, but through

this healing process I came to realize that holding onto that anger only kept me sick and

empowered the oppressors. I have redirected that energy into something useful: painting,

dancing, teaching, being active in my community, and buying organic food from local

farmers (to avoid giving my money to a corrupt food industry). Danza and sweat lodge

have especially helped me get through personal hard times. They are very healing as I

mentioned above, especially because there are other people who help each other get

through tough times.

Sara does in fact acknowledge Chicanas/os are in need of healing of their historical trauma, as well as the Earth. Curanderismo has personally aided her in that process. Sara was able to channel her anger by participating in painting, Danza, teaching, being an activist and ceremony, which is a healthy to express angry in a productive way. Sara used her anger not only to change her own life, and used her art creations as a form of healing, but as also became an active and respected member in her community.

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For Mathew, in order to heal from historical trauma, it has to start with history and knowledge of self, as he states:

I think everyone needs to know their history, even it if is a history full of war and

bloodshed, it must be known. Keeping people from their Native culture is detrimental to

their development. Learning about my native culture allowed me to be a better person,

because now I have something to be proud of, and something to aspire to when I have

children and am attempting to instill morals and values into their lives.

Mathew acknowledges that it is difficult to create a future if we have no acknowledgment of the past. It was a process for Mathew to realize that his Indigenous culture was systematically being hidden from him and that hiddenness is unhealthy for him and the people around him. Mathew said, ―By being proud of my own culture and where my people come from and who they were, I learned not only to respect myself and my culture, but other cultures as well. I think that was the missing variable in my life growing up.‖

Tania‘s main focus is the body and hers in particular. Tania states, ―I feel that my body is an interconnected cosmology to astrophysical elements.‖ Tania also explains how our bodies have gone through trauma and ―structural violence as we see it today requires a limpia in and of itself in order to bring about positive resolution for many, not just a few.‖ For her it all begins with food, as the main source. Tania acknowledges that her ―soul needs healing from the pressures of society, the social constructions and ideologies that dominate ways of knowing.

Some would call this neocolonialism, para mi (for me); it‘s all one in the same.‖

Christian expresses that due to the historical trauma that Chicana/os are in need of dire healing, as he states:

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Undergoing invasion, we need extreme healing, including psychological, physical and

historical healing. And Curanderismo can serve as a form of resistance, as it becomes a way

of being able to balance oneself within dichotomous forces, such as good and bad, sickness

and health, and concepts of complementary duality—it needs to begin a refocus on its

psychological health patterns. Hence, if we continue to see Curanderismo as a form of

religious syncretism, similar to the veneration of the Virgen de Guadalupe, we are

participating in self-destruction, and repression of our identities. We need a type of healing

that will be able to reconstruct our identities as Indigenous people from a perspective of

reclaiming not what Europe brought in order to so called ―civilize us,‖ but be able to create

identities based on pre-contact—as those become pure in its form of not only viewing our

continent as one where we shared ideas, but traded with one another—to the point where

what is now referred to as Curanderismo, was used to connect us all, rather than what it does

now—make some seem sane, and other insane—because those seeking non-western

medicine as rejected for their so called ―witchcraft‖ practices.

The European invasion has caused psychological, physical, and historical damage toward the original inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere that affects present day Chicanas/os who are in need of healing. As a result, Christian explains that Curanderismo can serve as a form of resistance and bring back balance into the lives of Chicana/os as health has a dual and a complementary framework. However, Christian warns against syncretism of European religions, which may hinder reclamation of Indigenous identity. Furthermore, Christian also claims that participating in Christianity is self-destructive and should not be used in traditional Indigenous healings. In essence, what Christian is stating that Chicana/os must decolonize from European

136 thought, especially religion and learn the ways of an Indigenous thought when it comes to medicine and all aspects of their history.

All the subjects addressed and are aware of historical trauma. The European invasion, the

Indigenous holocaust, theft of lands/resources, cultural castration and destruction of Indigenous identities have left Chicanas/os in a state of trauma that manifests in current issues such poverty, high dropout rates, high incarnation rates, high suicide rates, alcohol and drug addictions, self- hate, conforming to white standards of beauty and so forth. For Chicanas/os they must read and study of Indigenous history in order for the healing to begin.

Current Issues

When asked about the current issues facing Chicanos or Indigenous people today, the answers were similar with some differences or some subjects being more focused on particular topics. No matter what the issues expressed by the subjects, they all had one root, and that root was European domination of the entire Indigenous existence. Sara states:

This is a BIG question since there are countless issues affecting Chicanas/os today. But it

really comes down to our people being so disconnected from Indigenous knowledge and

traditions. Our people are still very much colonized, that is why so many of us are

unhealthy, addicted to drugs and/or alcohol, incarcerated, in gangs, and even abusive.

Many of us suffer from self-hatred, cultural confusion—materialism. I know so many

Chicanas/os who don't even want to know about their Indigenous background because

they've become assimilated and comfortable with their material gains. They think they

are "just fine" yet they're unhealthy and put material wealth before compassion. They turn

the other way instead of calling out an injustice when they see it. When people take to the

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streets, some go shopping instead of protesting. Those who are protesting, marching—

putting their lives on the line—are the ones who are much more connected with their

culture, traditions, and Indigenous roots. Our biggest problem is that we are still very

much colonized—our food, our water, our traditions, our culture, our forms of

knowledge, our ways of healing, etc.

Sara confirmed that the biggest issue that Chicanas/os face is the fact that they are mentally colonized. The result of Chicanas/os‘ colonized state is that it leads to many destructive behaviors from unhealthy foods, to addictions, and to materialism. Simply, all these current issues that Sara mentions are all tied to the lack of knowledge of history and identity among

Chicana/os. Mathew focuses more on the health aspect that contributes to current issues and states that ―convenience and instant gratification‖ are major problem. He continues to say:

When people feel hurt or anguish at a physical or mental level, it is very easy to pop a pill

and hope that it goes away and if it doesn‘t, you pop some more pills. And eventually, it

leads to a dependency on the pills or any type of Western remedies that are available

now, due to the whole influx of pharmaceutical demand within hospitals and insurance

companies. So, I think… just that and the whole concept of convenience and self-

gratification, people want to feel better now as supposed to studying natural, holistic

medicine or actually making the time to make these observations and ultimately listen to

their bodies when it is speaking to them. Now with modernization and contemporary

notion of thinking, and how everything has to be now and fast with food, medicine and

just how in life general everything is fast forward. I think that instant gratification is

affecting the whole process of getting to know ourselves and our bodies—and being out

of touch with nature.

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Mathew mentions the current American culture of instant gratification is causing destruction for

Chicanas/os. The simple fact is that as a culture, Chicanas/os are destroying themselves with instant gratification when it comes to their health. Instead of using herbs to heal themselves they‘d rather use a pill, because it is a quicker fix, instead of waiting for the herbs to come into effect. Instead of learning about the body, and holistic medicine people would rather take the easy way out, which in the long run can do more harm than good.

Tania mentions that the Indigenous diets have become colonized and for her that is the biggest issue:

The current issues that I feel Chicanas/os are facing today is, letting go of their colonial

attachments, particularly to food ways. The body has been so colonized, down to the

molecular taste buds—that create a bodily memory, therefore a craving that the body has

become a slave. This is colonial mechanisms of control (so much for bio power), which

Chicanas/os grant permission to and voluntarily maintains this power dynamic by the

foods they eat. Letting go of cravings that subdue the Indigenous body, health, and mind

along with the spirit, is an epidemic facing millions of Indigenous peoples throughout the

colonized globe. This dependency is what keeps the Indigenous body occupied,

distracted, so to say to the larger movement or struggles towards sovereignty and

liberation, in other words, decolonization.

Tania states the biggest issues Chicana/os face is a colonized diet, one that they refuse to let go of and hold onto. The colonized diet has been so embedded into the bodies of Chicana/os, that we became addicted to them. As a result, Chicanas/os give control to the powers that be, instead of themselves. The way Chicanas/os crave certain types of food that is not native to this land, not only affects them physically but in all aspect of their lives as well. The diets of Chicanas/os are

139 what lead to colonial diseases such diabetes, heart diseases; obesity etc…The fact that

Chicanas/os are dependent on the foods of the colonizers hinders them from participating in

Indigenous movements toward liberation. Christian elaborates on the effects of living in a white supremacist society, which is attributed to present day issues by commenting:

There are too many issues that as Indigenous people we face today. One issue is feeling

foreign to our own lands, being dependent on the white masters to direct us, rather than

having the power to direct ourselves. We lack true leaders, while we also continue to

create differences based on ethnic boundaries, which defeat the purpose of unity and

collaboration. Next, we are in times where many of our educated people are becoming

sellouts to their own and whatever little information about our history they possess, they

will twist it around so that it assimilates to white standards. We not only need to reshape

our communities and eliminate drugs, alcohol, gang culture, but start promoting a re-

education program where as Indigenous people we are able to deconstruct our minds by

instilling in ourselves notions of pride, dignity and honor, rather than cowardice, self-hate

and denial.

Christian acknowledges the current issues of Chicanas/os in a political context. Since Chicana/os lack historical context of their history, they do not know they are Indigenous to this land, and often times view themselves as foreigners on their own land. Also, since they lack autonomy in their lives, they let the white master dictate over their lives. Another important issue that

Christian mentions is a lack of leadership. As a result, borders and ethnicities that prevent us from uniting as one, divide us. The Chicana/o leaders that the mainstream media does promote are sellouts. They work against the interests of Chicana/os and other Indigenous people. On the community level there are issues that need to be dealt with such as drugs, gangs, addictions—and

140 what Christian suggests, a decolonial education that will restore pride and dignity to Chicano/as.

Christian is describing the full impact of colonialism and how it correlates to the present, although he cannot name every issue that Indigenous face as people, it is still clear what those issues are.

All of the subjects were aware that historical trauma has manifested into current issues.

The subjects, who are all college educated and going through a decolonizing process, are able to analyze Indigenous people and their current condition. They are all aware of colonialism and the effects it had on them in their daily lives and every aspect of it, such as identity, culture, medicinal practices, food habits, and perspectives of the self as foreigners instead of as original inhabitants in their own land. The subjects are able to identify current issues that stem from historical trauma in order to make changes in their own lives and as well in their communities.

Curanderismo as an Agent of Change

After speaking about the current social and individual issues related to historical trauma, the subjects explain how Curanderismo helps them to understand themselves as agents of change, in order to respond to these issues. Sara says, ―The first step in responding to problems that affect our community is to understand that we are Indigenous people and that we are still oppressed and colonized. In order to seek out Curanderismo, one must reject Western medicine and fight against the marginalization of our people's traditional medicines.‖She explains that

Chicanas/os must have faith in their Indigenous healers by believing in their work, and commit to living an Indigenous way of life. Finally, Sara acknowledges that by doing this ―we are taking another step towards decolonizing our minds, spirits, and bodies.‖

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Since Mathew mentions that the most pressing current issue is health and medicine becoming about instant gratification, he makes it a point as an educator to teach people, as well as to let them decide for themselves which method to choose when it comes to their own health.

Oh definitely and because I become familiar with Western and non-Western medicine

and kind of really put myself in a position to understand both sides. I take the opportunity

to educate people on it, because I am in a position as an educator both at the university

and high school level…Also, what is more effective and what has more side effects, and

what‘s healthier and what has more risk factors involved. So as an educator, I like to

bring in both aspects of medicine and this whole notion of healing…it is up to us to do

our own searching and investigation and not depend on other people to tell us what is

wrong with us, and what we should do about it. I think it takes a lot of contribution for

ourselves—and be our own investigators, and our own translators of our bodies, and try

to communicate what our bodies are trying to tell us, using of course education and

knowledge from our ancestors.

Mathew felt inspired to educate people about Western Medicine versus holistic techniques. He does not preach about it, but rather showcases both sides and guides his students on the right path. Another important aspect of his teaching is to have his students listen to their bodies and do their own research and follow their own path.

Tania has in fact noticed that Curanderismo taught her to be an agent of change. Her agent of change ―takes place in her kitchen.‖ It begins with her going to prepare food for her children and for herself that day. She states, ―What I bring to my body is an ecological collective on how I am going to feel for the day, how I am going to react for the day, how I am going to

142 move throughout the day, how I am going to embody and visualize and perceive. That‘s why I focus on that, because I feel that it is a very essential element in my process of being.‖

For Christian, Curanderismo has also encouraged him to go and research his own history. He elaborates:

As to Curanderismo helping me understand myself as an agent of change in the world,

perhaps to a certain degree. It has made me want to learn the ways in which my family

has used non-Western medicine as a way of healing. I cannot describe my own research

and decolonizing process—where not only can Curanderismo serve as a recuperation of

loss knowledge, but become a process of historical documentation that allows our people

to understand not only our cosmology, but also the civilizations that were destroyed with

the European invasion.

Curanderismo also helped Christian create a change within himself. He was able to learn about his history. Alternative healing helped him learn about the advanced scientific methods and grand civilizations of his Indigenous ancestors.

For many of the subjects, Curanderismo has been used as an agent to combat the current issues that are faced in their communities and lives. Curanderismo allowed the subjects to see the colonized and oppressive system in which they live, and how that challenges all aspects of their lives, especially in the health care system. Curanderismo has inspired the subjects to learn more about natural healing and to go deeper in learning about their history as well. Some of the subjects felt it starts in the home, with what they put in their body, and how that is going to affect them throughout the day. The subjects saw Curanderismo as a decolonizing act, and in turn educated others about different aspects of their history.

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Curanderismo and a Balanced Life

The subjects expressed their thoughts and opinions on how Curanderismo puts their health and wellbeing into a better balance. Sara comments, ―I think it‘s almost impossible to reach perfect balance in life, because life is always full of twists and turns, good and bad times.

However, I definitely feel that I am much closer to living a balanced life than before I reconnected with my Indigenismo.‖ Mathew expressed that Curanderismo gave him a more focused attitude when it came to his professional goal as an educator:

Definitely I don‘t think I would be in education if it wasn‘t for this notion of balance and

healing when it comes to Curanderismo, because I feel that some people are born with

these abilities to heal other people. And once I started to understand that, I started to

understand that other people were probably born not to be healers, but maybe they were

born to be educators and farmers or what have you. So I have taken that role to help

people understand their role in society or obligations to their communities…So that is

something that I kind of practice on myself to try to find that balance of being a student

and educator, not in the sense of Curanderismo, but kind of in life in general.

Mathew states that Curanderismo has given his life more purpose. He believes that he would have not been in education if it weren‘t for Curanderismo. He was able to understand the aspects of duality, where some people are born to be healers, while other are meant of other roles that they must fulfill in their lifetime. Mathew feels that his role, thanks to Curanderismo, is to help others understand what is their purpose in life or their role in society.

Tania credits ceremony for maintaining a balanced life, as she states, ―luckily though, I have ceremony to help keep me in balance, but when I do not attend an actual ceremonia or temazcalli, I feel out of balance as if my body becomes a sponge gravitating unwanted energies

144 that I can fully release through sweat and my ceremony circulos.‖Christian sees not just the balance in his own life, but everything all around him, he expresses:

In what is now known as the Americas, Indigenous ways of healing traditions have not

only been a way to resist conventional medical interventions on our bodies, but indeed it

creates some type of balance, which people often mistake solely with Mother Earth. Yes,

our ancestors saw life and death as complimentary and what surrounded us was part of a

bigger creation, where we invented, innovated, harvested, educated and created ways of

commerce. Nonetheless, the balance that the little I know about Curanderismo and what

has been passed on to me by my grandmothers—is to serve your own—to see Indigenous

people as one, because their life is part of you. Indigenous ways of healing, simply from

using herbs to cure oneself of a stomachache, to preparing a limpia, are ways in which

Curanderismo binds the Curandero/a as one. Curanderismo allows for that one-to one

relationship, that creates a sense of duality as someone you have never met before

becomes the source of medicine for your illness. As so, I can say Curanderismo, has in

many ways allowed me to have those connections.

Christian was able to use Curanderismo to give him a more balance life by learning from the historical knowledge of his ancestors. He is able to make connections with Mother Nature,

Curanderismo, history and his identity.

The subjects have all acknowledged the sense of balanced experienced with

Curanderismo by reconnecting with their Indigenous roots. The subjects felt that without

Curanderismo it would be more challenging to face all the difficulties in life. Furthermore, it gave the clients a sense of focus to continue to educate themselves and others. Lastly,

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Curanderismo empowers the subjects to take back their health by learning the ways of their ancestors.

The Healers

Identity

The emerging themes from the interviews with the healers were identity, healing, world- view, and historical trauma. The first theme is identity. I wanted to explore the healers‘ identity as Indigenouspeople as well. Both Jasmine and Nadia identify as Indigenous. Jasmine had to go on a long and painful journey of self-discovery to find herself. She recounted her journey to her

Indigenous roots:

I came to my Indigenous identities by being sick. I realized that I was sick and I didn‘t

feel good and the things that I was doing at the time, wasn‘t fulfilling me, and the people

in my life didn‘t know how to help me. It was the biggest emptiness I ever felt. In

college, I was in a state of suspended animation (up in the air, and not grounded) because

I did not know anything about myself. Most of my life was focused on school and sports.

Then I got married, moved to Whittier, and became a Zen Buddhist, and lived in a dojo

for fifteen years, but at the same time was disconnected with myself. That‘s what got me

to find out who I was, and that is the journey—the journey every one of us is on that

journey to that space, because we do not remember who we were. And the journey took

me to lots of places. I did lots of searching. I‘m a scientist, so I was in everything, until I

found something that said ―yes.‖Like I said earlier, everybody has their yes inside, when

you know what it is, you know you are going in the right direction. So I tried church, I

tried religion, and I even tried martial arts for 20 years—that was my religion and that

was my identity for many years, but even that didn‘t fulfill me, that space that kept saying

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that‘s not it, there is still emptiness here. My first encounter in the sweat lodge was a

transformative experience. For the first time in my life I felt connected to the Earth. I

realized this is who I was. Soon after, I came across the Peace and Dignity Journey, (a

group of Indigenous runners who run from Alaska to Panama). I ran with them from

Ventura to Santa Barbara. I decided to join the runners, but before I did, I closed down

my practice. I wrote letters to my clients and met with the runners in Arizona. I ran all the

way to Panama, which took me seven months to complete. Then I came back and opened

up my practice again, but quit after a month. I went to Peru for three months and had my

practice there. When I was Peru, I was on a hill and saw my shadow on a rock with my

braids. I realized that was who I was and I burst out of myself and became remerged. I

was able to shed my metaphysical— of who I was—and opened myself to a whole new

world and have been on the Red Road ever since. After taking six years off, I was able to

return to my practice and start work again. You know, what I identify most with, who my

tribe is? My tribe doesn‘t even have a name. Yes, I am Indigenous and I am Chicana

because that‘s an easy way to say what my blood is, but I am...I‘m a child of the Earth.

My tribe is the Earth and everything that‘s in it. That includes you, the plants, the water,

the river, and I don‘t know the name for that.

Jasmine became sick because she had no knowledge of self and once she healed herself, she was able to heal her clients as well. Not having a strong Indigenous identity did not ground Jasmine as a person, because she did not feel complete. Although she tried to fulfill it with other things that did not pertain to her or her culture, she felt a void until she went back to her roots. As she went back to her roots, it was the most fulfilling and awarding experience she ever went through.

Nadia, on the other hand, always knew who she was. As she states, ―I identify as a female

147 person who was raised within the tribal ways of the Raramuri. Nadia never had an issue with her

Indigenous identity, especially her Raramuri roots because she grew up in a community who had a strong sense of their Raramuri identity, it was never an issue for her, it was, always, just is.

Although both the healers identify as Indigenous, Jasmine basically came to it through ceremony; such as the sweat lodge and her Peace and Dignity journey which brought together

Indigenous communities on the whole continent of the Western Hemisphere. For Jasmine, before she could assist anyone in their own healing and find their way, she had to find herself first and heal.

Chicana Identity

This section includes the perspective of these two healers on the Chicana identity for themselves. Jasmine had a very different and interesting take on the Chicana identity. She states:

Well, my explanation of Chicano or Chicana is someone who is raised with more than

one tradition—in a land that is not the origin of their parents. It doesn‘t have to be from

Mexico. It can be a Puerto Rican who was raised in the United States and who has bi-

cultural parents, such as one who is American and the other who is Puerto Rican, that‘s a

Chicano too.

She sees herself as having being born in the United States, but being raised in a culture that is not necessarily American. The culture in which she was raised in was infused with Native

American, Mexican, and American cultures. She mentions that when you hear the way she speaks, she sounds like a white person, and not like someone who came from Mexico, but you can tell she is Chicana. She lives with the Chicana race in her blood and recognizes it. Nadia, on the other hand, does not use the Chicana label at all, and does not give it much thought, even though she knows it stems from our Indigenous roots. There seems to be a lack of historical

148 context of Chicana/o, which comes from Mexica, falsely called ―Aztecs.‖ If someone with

Mexican origin identifies as Indigenous, the Chicana/o label is acceptable as well. It does not matter where we are born, whether it is in Mexico or the United States.

Identity and Clients

When it came to the identity of their clients, this is where there were different views as well. Only Jasmine acknowledged that loss of identity or lack of self and history was a major issue for her clients. Nadia claims that she does not necessarily have clients, and rather calls them students. Nadia spoke more about dealing with medical issues with her students, rather than identity. For Nadia, the loss of identity in her students is not discussed, as she says ―because of the diverse make up of students, we never had a discussion on an identity, because we are so focused on the taking care of the land, flora and fauna, and focusing and using our energy to nurture it.‖ However, Jasmine states:

Of course it is about identity. That is why they are here. They always forget who they are.

I really want you to get this, the reason why we are sick, is because we forget who we

are. That is why we are sick. Because ultimately behind the kidney stones, behind the

heart attacks, behind the cancer, behind the diabetes—are this loss of who you are. Every

sickness starts because the shields go down. We lose sight of who we are. We lose our

inner strength and that‘s how we get sick. We make choices that don‘t benefit us. We

don‘t remember where we are from or who we are. When you start to remember who you

are, you don‘t eat the shit that is not made from hands. You don‘t get down on yourself,

you don‘t. You don‘t even get angry, things happen and you like—whoa. Even if you do

get angry, it is a righteous anger, because there was a harm done and you had to do

something about it, right? Even people don‘t get angry when they are supposed to, and

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that makes them sick and they don‘t even know that was a problem, because that was

wrong. It‘s like we forget. We just sit there and wonder why we are sick.

In this instance, Jasmine realized that having a lack of an identity as an Indigenous person based on her own experiences, it had left her in a place of limbo, unfocused in her life and career, which made her recognize this limbo as an illness in her clients. She believes that very essence of any illness is when someone loses who their identity. Because Nadia never had issues with her identity within her own life, she tends to focus on the Earth and her client‘s physical ailments by using the Earth to heal her students/clients.

Connecting their clients to their Indigenous identity

Curanderismo or healing practices that help heal and connect their clients to their

Indigenous identity are intriguing. Although Nadia does not really connect her clients to their

Indigenous identity, she said ―I think because I practice Indigenous practices period, that in doing so people are able to find at least a beginning way to find that within them.‖ For Nadia, her healing methods are the starting point for her clients to reclaim their Indigenous roots, not the main solution. Also, Nadia did mention that healing helps others work as a stronger individual on this planet. Furthermore, if people decide or chose the path that is part of their Indigenous culture, they may find that the path for them is limitless; they just have to be open it. Jasmine elaborates:

The reason why we don‘t know ourselves too—because we are not present, we are

thinking of something that happened in the past and we lay all of our energy there,

looking at an uncertain future that doesn‘t exist—so neither one is present. It is

unfortunate that you have to use all these words, you know? See where I am getting at?

It can be anything, it can be Italismo, it can be you know Amish, it can be anything

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because you get to choose, once you know who are you, you literally get to choose how

you want to express yourselves. You might find that Chicanismo or all that can be your

strongest identity, or not even your identity, and that your identity is irrelevant to those

words. It might be a certain tribe that continues to fortify who you are. The whole idea is

once you know who you are; you start to look for the tribe that pulls the best of you out.

If it is Hell‘s Angels, that‘s want you would do. Does that make sense? It is just another

tribe.

Although Jasmine helps her clients in healing their Indigenous identity, she views her work as transcending labels. At the end of the day, her work helps her clients choose whatever identity they want. And once they are aware of who they are they will start to gravitate towards it.

Furthermore, once her clients find who they are, it will make them a better person in this life.

Healing Work and Specialty

When it comes to Jasmine‘s healing work and specialty, it was very simple and yet profound. It all reflects back to interpersonal relationships with the client and getting in touch with themselves. Jasmine explains that her specialty is listening. She acquired it by ―shutting up and listening‖ because she realized by speaking too much she was not getting any results. In terms of her healing work as an Indigenous woman, Jasmine concluded that she does consider her work to be Indigenous. She describes her work as Indigenous, by stating, ―Yes, I do [think my work is Indigenous] because, it goes back to basics, it goes back to allowing my mind to be quiet and to be used other ways, other intelligences that speak with me. That is not from a book.

That‘s more Indigenous.‖ Also, her non-Indigenous techniques or her client‘s religious views or whatever will help her clients as she puts it:

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I use whatever is available to me. If Jesus wants to show up, I talk to Jesus. If Buddha

shows up, I use whatever Buddha wants to tell me. If it is acupuncture point, I touch it.

So, yes, I used whatever that is available to me. Sometimes I use a laser if I have one—it

is only because I do not have a rock.

Jasmine describes her whole healing practice as Indigenous, whether to this continent or from a different continent. Jasmine is more universal in a sense that everything is Indigenous. For example, she uses acupressure points, and explains:

That‘s Indigenous. Using points on the body and touching, that has nothing to do with

continents, it has to do with knowing how to touch the body. Because someone wanted to

give it a name in Chinese doesn‘t mean that I don‘t have the same name in some

language that I still don‘t know yet. But I can look at codices and see that points were

drawn on the body and when you touch it, something happens. So, yeah that is

Indigenous, they‘re points, using my hand to heal that‘s Indigenous.‖ Even using a laser

to me is Indigenous, because it was the use of light—just because it comes in a

manufacture piece of metal with batteries in it. I don‘t think that is anything different. I

wasn‘t kidding when I said I don‘t have a stone that could do it, because if it did, I would

use that instead. But there exist even stones that transfer light and turned them into lasers.

Jasmine points out the similarities between different types of styles of healing and Indigenous healing. Jasmine claims that many healing techniques are similar, but are called different names.

Although I wanted to know her specific Indigenous healing methods, Jasmine emphasizes that everything is Indigenous, regardless of where part of the world it is from.

Nadia‘s specialty is ―making sure that people don‘t forget to play.‖ She did not need to go to school to learn this technique, but by observing nature and watching all the flora and fauna

152 play, enjoy the light, the sun, the wind, the water, and the food around us. And she also learned it by watching children. When it comes to their healing work as Indigenous, Nadia concluded that she does consider her work to be Indigenous. Nadia only used non-Indigenous techniques when she used to take her children to the doctor. She did this in order to find what was wrong with them, because she states that Western medicine is only useful for a diagnosis. Then she would use the Earth to heal the ailment. However, she explains her healing techniques:

This is the way it works, if we…the person and I can come to an agreement that the

physical problem that they are having is xxx or whatever that might be then we go ahead

and use the plants. For example, several people in the neighborhood are coming down

with really bad colds and flu, so they came and asked me, so I went with them to harvest

the fauna that is around us, so they can learn how to use it for themselves. Then I showed

how to make it, so they can make the medicine and then they take it. There is several

people right here in my neighborhood that is doing it. I don‘t use Western techniques. If

you have congestion or a cough or a fever—maybe with a fever we use a thermometer to

check the temperature, to see the degree the fever is, but mostly it is engaging with a

person. For example, if someone is having really intense problems, like bladder problems

or liver problems, I always tell people to go to the doctor, and get all the tests that they

want you to do, and then come back and talk to me if you want to engage and learning

how to help heal yourself. It is not a matter of me doing this, but being able to exchange

the information, so they can learn how to take care of themselves as well.

Nadia was raised using flora and fauna for all her life. She states that using it to heal is just common sense for her. While Nadia ties healing to the land, she also believes that everything can

153 be used as medicine. She is the healer in her neighborhood and utilizes her knowledge to heal and teach other around her.

Healing Effectiveness

In exploring their treatments and effectiveness, both emphasize the psychological aspects of their treatments. Jasmine has a strong belief in her ―ability to heal,‖ and that belief gives her power to not only heal, but teaches everyone how to use for themselves, because it is so strong that people get healed.‖ Nadia also says something similar. ―My treatments are effective if you initially trust that they are going to heal you, because you need that perception and intention prior to beginning any practice.‖ Having a strong mindset and intention that these treatments are going to work is crucial to healing. Many feel as though everyday lives and decisions are based on a mindset. If people have strong minds they can accomplish whatever goal they have, whether health-related or otherwise. Research supports the healers‘ claims—that in order for someone to be healed—the clients need to believe that their treatments are going to work. It seems like most effective healers know this to be true.

Indigenous Worldview

As Indigenous healers whose healing methods can be described as alternative or holistic, there was a need to get a sense of how the healers defined an Indigenous worldview. Jasmine mentioned that it was about having a ―consciousness and a passion about real things that are of this Earth,‖ because it needs to protected, cultivated and nurtured. It is also being aware ―that everywhere in the planet is Indigenous and the life on the planet and without those things the planet dies.‖ Furthermore Jasmine elaborates, ―So, Indigenous worldview is having a consciousness of connections of those things of the Earth, whether it is people, plants, or animals and it has no boundaries. It literally needs to be a global consciousness and it has to be honored,

154 respected, cultivated, protected on all levels, in order for this planet to be sustained and survive.‖

Nadia mentions something similar that as human beings we have a ―responsibility to take care of everything that is life. As a reference to healing, we have a responsibility to use everything for healing, from water to plants, animals, earth, and the rocks... everything, because we have this relationship to everything that life sustains.‖ Also, we are able to use ―various ways to heal, whether it is our physical bodies or spiritual energies.‖ Nadia explains her Indigenous worldview, as she states, ―As human beings we have a responsibility to take care of everything that is life sustain. As a reference to healing, we have a responsibility to use everything to healing from water to plants, animals, earth, and the rocks everything because we have this relationship everything that is life sustain. We use all that in various ways to heal, whether it is our physical bodies or spiritual energies.‖Jasmine and Nadia both define an Indigenous worldview as being Earth based, and as a result state that humans have to take care of it. Both healers seem to have an understanding, that if people take care of the planet, in return it takes care and will heal people as well.

Historical Trauma

This research explores whether the healers‘ practices helped their clients understand their own power to heal themselves from emotional wounds, such as historical trauma. Both healers acknowledged at the end of their treatments, they wanted their clients to be able to find their own personal power to heal their traumas. Jasmine would like to believe that her clients are doing that, but admits she does not really know, unless they tell her. Sometimes, however, her clients transform in front of her eyes and she knows for certain that they are getting it. Also obvious to her are the cases in which the clients are not getting it—the ones who keep coming back for the same issues over and over again. Jasmine mentions that it takes an average of four years for her

155 clients to find their personal power, if they are consistent. When other clients come and leave for long periods of time, she knows that they are not getting it. She believes that many people are afraid of their personal power and sometimes she helps her clients overcome that fear, but once they leave her and face the world again, the fear and panic sets in. Furthermore, she explains the rationale of this fear, by stating, ―We are trained to be convinced that we don‘t know the answers and somebody else is smarter than us. We have been trained and brainwashed to believe that, and it is a hard one to break.‖ Nadia expresses herself in a different way. For example, she does acknowledge that everyone suffers from trauma, due to the fact that we are living on a planet with other human beings. She states, ―I think that sometimes trauma is so close to you—trauma is so continuing and present, that it is necessary to find ways to heal, to be able to heal that aspect with yourself.‖Both healers recognize that their clients suffered historical trauma or their own personal trauma in their lives. Jasmine tries to guide and teach her clients on how to heal themselves. A big part of healing is mental, or having the confidence to believe in your life.

Nadia also mentions that her clients and people in general need to recognize trauma and take control of personal health in order to heal themselves.

Current Issues

Lastly, when it came to current issues facing Chicanas/os due to historical trauma

Jasmine and offered different answers. Jasmine states:

I would say the threat of losing their connection to who they really are—to their personal

strength, their personal power and [believes] that they are alone in the world, with a big

monster and that causes them to feel victimized, to lose some of their creative forces…

We, the Indigenous people have survived all these centuries, because we are resourceful,

and there is a part of us that we are still connected. But when we focus on all the things

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that are going wrong is because we lost that, we get distracted. We get down and [that]

keeps us from our original power and that‘s why we get sick. And we can be divided, and

against each other, instead of the same team. Yeah, basically that is it.

Jasmine refers to not having a sense of true identity is the trauma of Chicanas/os. As a result of

Chicanas/os have lost their way in this white supremacist world, and get lost in issues that do not matter. Chicanas/os are fragmented as a people; they are not united, which makes them sick mental and physically. Nadia explains what the current issues are to her by saying:

To me the issue is that we are destroying the planet. As an Indigenous person, the number

one issue is the fact that private ownership of land has destroyed our planet—and because

of the type of abuse that has being going on—that continues to go on, and the abuse that

we do to the land, is just reflective of the manner of how we abuse each other as human

beings. I think we need to reassess that and use the Indigenous construct of reality, and

how we are here as human beings to be responsible for nurturing and taking care of what

is here and not abusing and using it for profit.

Nadia focuses on the land. ―The land is at the hands of the original invaders who are destroying the land.‖Chicana/os have then internalized these behaviors and attitudes of the colonizers and destroy their land and each other as well. Chicanas/os as Indigenous people care for their land, but have developed agreed that was taught by the colonizers. Both had different, yet complementary views when it came to current issues. Jasmine‘s was more personal as she said that people are their own worst enemies. When people lose themselves and their personal power, then that is where the issue lies. Nadia was solely focused on the planet and the fact that humans are destroying the land—which is mirrored of how humans destroyed each other, and we are all paying the price for it now.

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Chapter Five: Conclusion

In conclusion, the subjects revealed in their interviews that all of them are aware of historical trauma and the impact of loss of culture and identity as Indigenous people originating in the Western Hemisphere. I feel that this study revealed that Chicana/os are becoming aware of their Indigenous roots, the historical trauma that affects their lives, and they are seeking holistic ways to heal from it. All the subjects address that Curanderismo is in fact a healing modality used to address the issue of historical trauma that is ongoing for Chicanas/os in a variety of ways.

Most of the subjects also expanded the definition of Curanderismo, by including different healing practices such as eating Indigenous foods, poetry, sweat lodges, art, Danza, to reinforce an Indigenous identity for themselves. The subjects have all studied colonialism and have a broad understanding of its impact of on the world around them.

Although Curanderismo can aid Chicana/o individuals to reclaim and heal their identity, it is in no way the only solution. Nor does it mean that people will be able to participate in sweat lodges, or other ceremonies, and immediately become Indigenous. It is through a process and a journey that Curanderismo can inspire others to take that step to study their history and bring awareness to their Indigenous identity. The healers recognized that Curanderismo is a starting point on a path to reclaim Indigenous roots and no the only solution. Jasmine, for example, has more of a focus on identity, since she notices a loss of self in her clients. While Nadia does offer that path to her clients who are open to it, she focuses more on their physical ailments.

The subjects did not all have the same perspectives and philosophies on healing and identity, but they believed in a similar journey to heal and reclaim their identity. All the subjects were articulate in their responses, which could be used for further research. The subject‘s responses and their ideas can all be informative to into the fields of American Indian, Chicana/o

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Studies and Central American studies. In this research, the interviews gave me insight into the research questions. The subjects recognized historical trauma and the impact of loss of culture and identity. They are aware of the initial European invasion and the destruction of their

Indigenous ancestors, which has greatly influenced Chicanas/os people in a negative way. The subjects are aware that historical trauma affects them and their communities on a constant basis.

Furthermore, the subjects believe that one way to address and heal from historical trauma is through Curanderismo. The subjects all seek different aspects of Curanderismo to heal their historical trauma. Many of the subjects used different healing modalities that are not in the traditional definition of Curanderismo, but which are truly still forms of healing. They responded affirmatively to including the arts within Curanderismo. Furthermore, some of the subjects were interested in the arts such as visual art, poetry, and Danza, modalities that connected them to their identity, and which was healing for them as well. Others turned to Indigenous foods, herbs and ceremony, which included temazcalli as well.

The findings also show that most important component to healing is education, and knowledge of Mesoamerican Indigenous identity, history and culture. Most of the research subjects majored in Chicana/o studies or Mesoamerican history, whether in high school, or college, while others participated in ceremonies or grew up in Indigenous cultures, traditions and healings. A spark of interest in Mesoamerican history inspired the subjects to look into other aspects of their history, in this case holistic healing. When studying Indigenous history, it becomes quite evident that there are traumatic and psychological issues that occurred. By having a strong foundation in Indigenous history, Chicanas/os are able to make connections that impact their lives.

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In my own personal journey, I had many unanswered questions. Why do we not know who we are? Why are we poor, living in barrios? Why are drugs and alcohol addiction such an issue for us? By studying our ancient civilizations, how the ancestors conducted themselves and how they implemented the laws in every aspect of society, the entire puzzle began to finally be put into place for me. In essence, learning and studying history can also be a form of

Curanderismo and healing of an Indigenous identity and historical trauma.

The limitations in this study are that all the subjects were, in most cases, from similar academic backgrounds; which did not lend to alternative experiences. All the subjects were college-educated or were currently attending university, or had studied Mesoamerican history and or Chicana/o studies. I acknowledge that attending university may give people some increased access to literature, political settings, and cultural events that are happening in their schools and communities. This access leads to discovery of different aspects of Indigeneity. An extension of this research might be to gain the perspective of other people who did not attend college, and who reclaimed their identity from different avenues, as well as their experiences to

Curanderismo.

This study showcases the fact that knowledge of self has a tremendous positive effect on

Chicanas/os. Also, while the majority of the subjects are Chicana/o, only one was Cuzcatleco. It would be interesting to see if this study were to focus only on Cuzcatlecos or other Indigenous ethnic groups, and see their process compared to Chicanas/os. If researchers want to pursue this study even further, they can investigate other venues where Chicanas/os and Cuzcatlecos are healing historical trauma and reclaiming their Indigenous identity as well.

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i Indigenous is capitalized to give it a legitimate terminology for a racial category ii Native American is in quotation marks because I do not accept that term to identify our people from the United States. Native has a connotation of being barbican or uncivilized. American comes from Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian invader and by accepting American as an identity you are aligning yourself with a European one. iii American is a term I reject as an identity, because it stems from Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian man, who invaded our lands. When we identify as American it connects us to a European lineage. iv Chicana/o, Indigenous will be used interchangeably. v Curanderismo is capitalize because I am recognizing it as a profession viHealers who cure through giving massages viiPertaining to or characteristic of one race. www.dictionary.com viii A presentation on Identity and Colonialism at East La College on November 19,2011 ix A vital force that gives the individual animation, vigor, heat and stimulates growth. xwww.decolonialfoodforthought.com xi A collective term of all the Indigenous groups in El Salvador xii Pseudonymous are used to protect the identity of the subjects

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