Hispanic immigrants are mostly Indians

RAPID CITY— Two salient facts stand out about immigration detention in the United States: most of the detainees come from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, according to the website Freedom for Immigrants, and these groups carry more First American ancestry than other Hispanic groups, according to an article from the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Genetic studies have also determined that much of the First American ancestry came through the female line, indicating that, initially, European males reproduced with First American females, and then, later, most of the reproduction was between the offspring of these unions. This is exactly what would be expected if first contact, and subsequent interaction, was along a military invader/colonized tribe dynamic.

It is disputed how many tribal peoples populated the New World 507 years ago, when Columbus landed on the white sand beaches of San Salvador, but the number is at least in the tens of millions, and it is highly unlikely these population groups, south of the US border, constituting greater numbers and more advanced cultures than north of the border, simply disappeared, leaving no living descendants.

However, the popular perception of these Hispanic groups is distorted by a bad US education system. The actual history of brown skinned peoples from Central and South America, between the time of colonization and the years where the European colonizers were ousted, and independent countries formed, seldom speaks to who these people were genetically, focusing mainly on who they had become, culturally.

Because the First American community in North America tends not to view the tribal people of Central and South America as fellow aboriginals, their response to the mistreatment of detainees has taken a distinct turn, and it is not one of direct concern or activism.

Internet search engines reveal article after article about how First Americans know full well what it feels like to be separated from loved ones. These articles fixate on the historical injustices inflicted on First American tribes, using the injustices committed against present day detainees as a backdrop, and seldom mention the common ancestry of the present day detainees with First American Tribes.

The average First American blood quantum of Hispanics living along the border with Mexico, from Texas to California, has been determined to be about a quarter. This is enough to qualify most people for tribal enrollment, an example being Fort Peck in Montana, or for tribal schools, an example being Flandreau Indian School.

Tribes and social activists decry the destruction of tribal groups which did not survive the Manifest Destiny expansion of the United States westward, but they are curiously silent about the even greater levels of genocide committed against tribes south of the US border.

While US Indian policy over the past two centuries is justifiably seen as brutal and destructive, it is relatively civilized compared to the treatment received by Central and South American tribes. There, oppressors and governments were seldom bound by Democratic restraints or the outcry of white people of conscience, such as Helen Hunt Jackson and her 1881 book, A Century of Dishonor.

The danger in categorizing such tribes, is seeing those tribes lucky enough to have survived the cultural destruction and genocide, as presently being legitimate First Americans, whereas those tribes which were culturally broken, but still survived in large numbers, and were subsequently immersed in Hispanic controlled environments over centuries, as having lost their claim or right to be considered Indians.

This attitude is best reflected by a comment left after an article at the American Journal of Human Genetics: “This is such garbage…It is insufficient to say that having ancestry equates a person to being Native, or else we’re back to Elizabeth Warren’s BS.”

Warren was 1/1024^th, or about ten generations removed from a First American ancestor. This does not remotely compare to the brown skinned people south of the border, many of whom are identified as Indio, and raised in tribal environments.

The comment continues: “Let’s be clear, diasporic Latinxs, Chicanxs, and even mestizxs in Latin America are NOT Native. The belief that indigeneity comes from ancestry, where percentages of raciality matter is some Eurocentric, colonization garbage.”

If critical thinking is applied to the terminology expressed in the comment, then there are no “natives” or “indigenous” people, as any verified archaeological evidence indicates a New World presence for humanity going back but 16,000 years. The uncharitable view expressed in the comment is, ironically, the same as those who want to keep immigrants from our southern border, by building a literal wall, not wanting to have their identity compromised or “diluted.” The author of the comment is just building a figurative wall.

The comment continues: “Latinxs have become so assimilated into manifestations of whiteness throughout these centuries that is inconceivable anybody would accept Indigenous claims like that.”

It is inconceivable that any person could see Mexican and Central American people as white or culturally European. This is an assertion made from ignorance, having had too little direct contact with the people called into question. Also, many of these peoples still work the land, bean farmers little different than their tribal ancestors, as opposed to a person typing comments into a computer, making them far more assimilated into white culture on a relative scale.

The comment continues: “Indigenous status comes from significantly more than racist blood quantum associations. This article only serves to further a conversation about self-indigenization that marginalizes Natives, dilutes Native issues, and colonizes Native spaces, all of which are dangerous to Native communities. Please take your Nican Tlaca aspirations elsewhere.”

These are the same sentiments expressed by Trump supporters, just repackaged to apply to First American concerns. The deeper issue here is the author of this comment is clearly educated, but assumes that no part of the tribal heritage of these people survived their colonization (when the reality is it has deeply influenced the specific country or region), presumably because they speak Spanish. The author however does not see English as an expression of his colonization.

Throughout history, tribes have tended to support ideas of social justice and humanitarian compassion, especially in recent history, where they are strongly associated with progressive political parties and ideas. This was never made more manifest than when Republican John Thune lost his first attempt at the US Senate to Democratic incumbent Tim Johnson, solely based on the last second vote tally from Oglala Lakota County.

It can be argued that thousands of ‘Native” peoples are being detained but there are no exact figures on the number of people being detained in the United States. According to data from the federal government, there are 15,852 detainees in Texas, 6,527 in California, and 3,869 in Arizona. It costs about $150 a day per person to detain these people, and over 60% are held in privately run immigration prisons. In fiscal year 2017, GEO Corporation received $184 million in taxpayer funds to detain people. A municipal run immigrant jail costs only $98 a day. A reasonable argument can be made that the profit angle is driving the detention rate to the tune of $52 dollars a day per detainee.

Caught up in all of the turmoil over immigration and detention and building a wall are millions of First Americans fleeing terrible living conditions in their home countries. While many organizations like the National Congress of American Indians have remained silent on their plight, some do speak up in compassionate solidarity, like Lakota journalist Vi Waln in an article from Indian Country Today: “Many Indigenous people are praying for the [detained undocumented] children to be reunited with their families and for the United States to do the right thing. But we know from experience that this might not happen.”

 (James Giago Davies is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota tribe. He can be reached at skindiesel@msn.com)

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