Genízaro Ethnogenisis and Futurism

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Chicanx Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Genízaro Ethnogenisis, Emergence, and Futurism is an emerging story about the evolution of identity and cultural practices of the Genízaro people of New Mexico. The term Genízaro was the designation given to North American Indians of mixed tribal derivation living among the Hispanic population in Spanish fashion: that is, having Spanish surnames from their masters, Christian names through baptism, speaking a simple form of Spanish, and living together or sprinkled among the Hispanic towns and ranchos (Chavez,1979). The permanence of Genízaro identity and cultural practice blurs the lines of distinction between Native and Hispanic frameworks of race, cultural affiliation, and identity. The continuance of contemporary indigenous cultural production through futurism generated by Genízaros in New Mexico is countering a dominant cultural hegemony of the Spanish American identity in New Mexico. This study attempts to provide insight to the origins of Genízaro identity, how is has evolved and adapted, and more importantly, how Genízaro identity is beginning to emerge in New Mexico as a counter hegemonic force challenging the historic notion of being Hispanic or Spanish American in New Mexico.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Chicanx Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25286