Everything about Mestizo totally explained
Mestizo is a
Spanish term that was formerly used in the
Spanish Empire and continues to be used today in
Latin America to refer to people of mixed European (
Spaniard) and
Amerindian ancestry living in the region of Latin America. The word originated from the
Romance language /
Latin word
Mixticius, meaning "mixed." In the
Portuguese and
French languages, the words
Mestiço and
Métis were also used in the
Portuguese and
French Empire to identify individuals of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry.
Americas
Spanish-speaking America
Under the
caste system of Latin America and
Spain, the term originally applied to the children resulting from the union of one European and one Amerindian parent or the children of two mestizo parents. During this era, a myriad of other terms including
Castizo (3/4 European and 1/4 Amerindian), Cuarterón de Indio, and
Cholo (1/4 European and 3/4 Amerindian), were in use to denote other individuals of European-Amerindian ancestry in ratios smaller or greater than the 50:50 of mestizos. Today, mestizo refers to all people with discernible amounts of both European and Amerindian ancestry.
Mestizos form the majority of the population in most of Latin America; however, it's difficult to know with any reasonable precision except by genetic studies how extensive the mestizo population is. Various censuses since Spanish colonial days tracked the race of inhabitants of the Latin American countries, but even these statistics are only generally indicative since race was closely tied to official legal status (the Spanish caste system) and language use. Wealthy people paid to change or obscure their actual ancestry. Many indigenous people were classified as mestizo if they spoke Spanish or lived as mestizos. In general, the countries believed to have a majority mestizo population today are
Colombia,
Ecuador,
El Salvador,
Honduras,
Mexico,
Nicaragua,
Panama,
Guatemala, and
Paraguay. In some countries like
Chile and
Costa Rica, the majority of the population belongs to a group referred to as "white and mestizo" where both groups are not easily separable. In
Bolivia and
Peru, mestizos form the second largest group. In
Venezuela, they're nearly half the population and the largest group.
In
Puerto Rico, genetic testing proved the largest components are Taino, European and the smallest being African. The Taino element is considered to be the foundation of Puerto Rico's ancestral society. Taina women carried the children of Spanish and African men. Genetic DNA is slanted towards Taino as being the largest component of the mtDNA, while yDNA testing shows a substantial contribution from North Africa & Southern Spain. In the
Dominican Republic, mestizos of part Amerindian ancestry form a small minority of the population ranging from 10 to 20%. Almost all of the population in those countries are composed of
White,
African, and
Mulato (1/2 European and 1/2 African) ancestry who form the majority of the population. In
Argentina and
Uruguay, the mestizo population form a small minority of 8% to 3% of the population.
Noted Mestizos migrating to Europe
Martín Cortés, son of the
Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés and of the
Náhuatl-
Maya indigenous Mexican interpreter
Malinche, was the first mestizo to arrive in Spain, though he did so against his will after being exiled in punishment for leading a rebellion.
The first mestizos of whom there's verified evidence of willingly having set foot on European soil are the grandchildren of
Moctezuma II,
Aztec emperor of Mexico, whose royal descent the Spanish crown acknowledged. Of this family, the most publicized descendants are the Acosta family and the Spanish counts Miravalle, in
Andalucía,
Spain, who in 2003 demanded that Mexico recommence payment of the so called Moctezuma pensions the government cancelled in 1934. The
interest alone of such pensions is said to be enough for every single one of Moctezuma's modern descendants to live comfortable lives.
From Peru also arrived the mestizo historian known as
Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, son of Spanish Conquistador Sebastián Garcilaso de la Vega and of the
Inca princess Isabel Chimpo Oclloun. He lived in the town of
Montilla, in
Andalucía, where he died in 1616.
Starting from the early 1970s and throughout all of the 1980s, Europe saw the arrival of thousands of Chileans, both mestizos and whites, seeking political refuge during the dictatorial government of
Augusto Pinochet. Today, there's a growing number of mestizo immigrants in
Western Europe, primarily from Ecuador and Colombia.
Brazil
In
Brazil, the word
Mestiço is used to describe individuals born from any mixture of different ethnicities. Individuals that fit the specific case of having
Portuguese and Amerindian parents are commonly known as "
caboclo" or, more commonly in the past, "
mameluco". Individuals of white and black ancestry are described as
mulattos. "Cafuzos" (known as
Zambo in English) are the outcome of Amerindian and black ancestors.
Canada
In Canada, the Métis are regarded as an independent ethnic group. This community of descent consists of individuals descended from marriages of
First Nation women, specifically
Cree,
Ojibway, and
Saulteaux with
French Canadian and
British employees of the
Hudson's Bay Company. Their history dates to the mid 17th century, and they've been recognized as a people since the early eighteenth.
Their territory roughly includes the three
Prairie Provinces (
Manitoba,
Alberta and
Saskatchewan), parts of
Ontario,
British Columbia and the
Northwest Territories, as well as parts of the northern
United States (including
North Dakota and
Montana).
Traditionally, the Métis spoke a mixed language called
Michif (with various regional dialects). Michif (a phonetic spelling of the Métis pronunciation of "Métif", a variant of Métis) is also used as the name of the Métis people. The name is most commonly applied to descendants of communities in what is now southern
Manitoba. The name is also applied to the descendants of similar communities in what are now
Ontario,
Quebec,
Labrador, and the
Northwest Territories, although these groups' histories are different from that of the western Métis.
Estimates of the number of Métis vary from 300,000 to 700,000 or more. In September 2002, the Métis people adopted a national definition of Métis for citizenship within the "Métis Nation." Based on this definition, it's estimated that there are 350,000 to 400,000 Métis Nation citizens in Canada, although many Métis classify anyone as Métis that can prove that an ancestor applied for money scrip or land scrip as part of nineteenth-century treaties with the Canadian government. However, Labrador, Quebec, and even some Acadian Metis communities are not accepted by the Metis National Council and are represented nationally by the "Congress of Aboriginal Peoples."
The Métis are not recognized as a First Nation by the Canadian government and don't receive the benefits granted to First Nation peoples (see
Indian Act). However, the 1982 amendments to the Canadian constitution recognize the Métis as an
Aboriginal people and have enabled individual Métis to sue successfully for recognition of their traditional rights such as rights to hunt and trap. In 2003, a court ruling in
Ontario found that the Métis deserve the same rights as other aboriginal communities in Canada.
The United States
In the
United States, the term "multiracial" is used to indentify individuals of mixed multi-racial heritages, while "Mestizo" is the Spanish term used for the combination of European and Amerindian ancestry.
Most
Hispanics who have lived in the southwestern states of the United States have been identified as "white" or "Amerindian". Others have classified themselves as mestizo, particularly many of those who also identify as
Mexican American,
Chicano,
Californio and
Tejano.
About 35 million Hispanics counted in the
Federal 2000 Census are believed to be Mestizos.
There are many multiracial people of different ethnicities living in the United States. An explorer by the name of
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau was perhaps the most notable person of mixed ancestry in the region. His father,
Toussaint Charbonneau, was a French Canadian interpreter, and his mother
Sacagawea was the
Shoshone guide of the
Lewis and Clark Expedition. He can be found depicted on the
United States dollar coin along with his mother, Sacagawea. It should be noted that Mestizo is a term used in regards to places of Spanish influence and not specifically to North American Indians.
The English cognate of Mestizo is
Mestee, from
Middle French Mestis, which is Métis in Modern French. It was widely used for mixed race people in America before the Civil War, especially for mostly white persons. After the Civil War, the
one drop rule made such people black and the word fell into disuse except for members of old triracial groups such as
Melungeons,
Brass Ankles,
Mayles, and
Redbones.
Asia-Pacific
Philippines
In the former Spanish colony of the
Philippines, the term "mestizo" originally referred to those of mixed
Filipino and Spanish ancestry; however, the term soon became generic and
synonymous for "mixed race."
The use of the term later extended to include all Filipinos of mixed indigenous and other ancestry. A recent genetic study by
Stanford University indicates that 3.6% of the population have
European ancestries from Spanish and United States colonization.
Modern day Filipino mestizos include Filipinos of Spanish, Latin American, American (United States) ancestry, or Filipinos mixed with other
Asian ancestries, including Chinese and Japanese descent. The correct term denoting Filipinos of Chinese ancestry would be "
Sangley." The term used for people who possess both Spanish, Chinese, and Filipino ancestries are called "
Tornatras."
East Timor, Macau, Goa, and Sri Lanka
In the former Portuguese colony of
East Timor,
Macau,
Goa, and
Sri Lanka, the term "mestiço" is applied to those of mixed indigenous Austronesian,
Chinese,
Asian Indian,
Sri Lankan, and Portuguese ancestry. They currently form a small minority of the population in those countries. Prominent mestiços in East Timor include the first President
Xanana Gusmão as well as the second President
José Ramos-Horta.
Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau
In the former Spanish colonies of
Guam,
Northern Mariana Islands, and
Palau, the term "mestizo" was formerly used to identify people of mixed Pacific Islander and Spanish ancestry; however, as the United States gained control of these islands after the
Spanish American War in 1898, the term "multiracial" became the contemporary term used to designate individuals of mixed indigenous and American or European descent. They currently form a small minority of the population.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Mestizo'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://mestizo.totallyexplained.com">Mestizo Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
