Why are Mexicans not considered Native Americans?

Question

I saw one post where a guy put

Spanish+Indian= mexican
Indian=Indian

That is the most logical answer I've heard so far. But a real mexican is not of Spanish descent. The word MEXICO comes from the Nahuatl word Mexitl, which is the navel of the moon.

Also, the word Aztec is not a word that the "Aztecs" used to describe themselves. According to what I have read, they called themselves Mexicas (Mesheekas). This is only what I've read though, I can't be sure, I wasn't alive back then.

"To put it bluntly, Mexicans are products of Mexican indians being raped by Spaniards, and were forced to speak Spanish. WHILE U.S. NATIVE AMERICANS WERE NOT RAPED BY ANYONE."

This is kind of a generalization isn't it? I mean, there are many tribes in deep Mexico that were never reached by the European invasion.
And Native Americans weren't raped? I hope this doesn't offend anybody, I don't mean it to, but I don't believe that is true.

Answer 1

Mexicans are not U.S. Native Americans.

Best answer: "... The native tribes that wandered and settled in the southwest were not Mexican Indians. Mexico only occupied the southwest for 29 years from 1821-1850. Aztecs and Toltec cultures, language, and beliefs are quite different from the (U.S.) southwestern tribes - (i.e. Pueblo tribes, Apache, Commanche, Shoshone and many others active and extinct). To say that modern day Mexican mestizos and Mexican Indians are one and the same as the native tribes of the U.S. is nothing more than an arrogant claim to supercede present-day immigration laws. ... "

"Why Do People From Mexico Now Pretend They Are U.S. Native Americans?
Mexicans are not U.S. Native Americans. In fact, they never got along and they speak different languages.
The Southwest's Apache warrior Chief Geronimo was proud to have killed so many Mexicans after they brutally killed his wife, his children, and his mother.

Also, The Southwest's Apache language is not Mexican(Aztec). The Apache language is part of the Athabaskan (Na-Dene) Language Family which is spoken from California to Alaska. ( Not Mexico )

The Southwest was actually Spanish terroritory. People from Europe created and named the first cities in California"
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AhvjadlfHlGOgrHR1kmlchrty6IX?qid=20070412175719AAic3eq

Answer 2

Mexicans are Native Americans. North America is a continent. Therefore, all of its original inhabitants are Native Americans. There are many different tribes in Mexico, as there are in US. To say that a Cherokee and a Mohican are the same is ignorant. Similary, before Europeans arrived in what is now Mexico and the US, many different tribes shared the same territory. Let me put it this way: if the US had invaded more of Northern Mexico, many Mexican tribes would be considered Native Americans. The Yaqui Indians of Mexico have more in common with US tribes than they do with other Mexican tribes. As you venture further into Mexico, the culture becomes different as do the languages. Mexicans and Native Americans have very similar genetic make-up. There's a reason we're similar in appearance. In short, European-imposed borders should be meaningless to Mexicans and Native Americans. In fact, there is a tribe in Northern Mexico that is allowed to travel into the US as this has been their custom for centuries. Y'all need to recognize.

Answer 3

That's because of government benefits , Mexicans are native Americans , most of them are , tho there are criollos (people of other races )that are born in Mexico that make the 7% of population , Mix or full they are native Americans . They are the same race as the once found in USA and Canada . The Native America means people who are native to the Americas, That is North , central , and South America including the surrounding islands ! Most Mexicans decent from Mexica (aztec) maya , chichimeca , yuki and apache even tho there were many more tribes !

Answer 4

You non native always act like you know about us indigenous people. When you don't know **** about Native Americans. Mexican's are not Native American's nor are they Indigenous. They are Spaniard's who try to claim the Aztec's culture. The real native's of Mexico don't call themselves Mexicans or identify themselves with mexico they got there own language. And know their identity Mexican's use to hate and enslave native tribes. Still today racist hispanic still target native americans for hate crimes

Answer 5

Well there are 2 types of Mexican Mestizo=Spaniard+any native tribe from Mexico. Native American=tribe from mexico Aztecs and other tribes were considered American

Answer 6

Mexican Indians can refer to themselves as Native North American, if they really want a pointless additional label. I think it's pointless, because my pride is in my tribal band's name (Oglala Lakota Oyate [Sioux]), or tribe's name (Lakota Sioux) not geographic location.

Unless a Mexican is on an American Indian tribal roll they are not Native American, a politically correct term created by the United States government.


Added: Although A_Bush_Family_Member is quoting me in his/her answer, I do have to disagree with his comment that American Indians were not raped by British colonists. Some were, along with being subjected to forced assimilation like the Mexican Indians were. The oppression from colonialism affected all native peoples throughout the western hemisphere in similar ways. The Spanish just didn't believe in killing off the natives on their conquered lands like the British attempted to do.

Answer 7

Ask any Mexican what tribe they belong to and you will get that dumb confused look in thier face .And then ask any real Amerindian dont matter if they are from Canada,u.s,Mexico,Guatemala, Panama, Brazil, Peru and they will give you a name of an actual real Indian group that exists and is recognized by the united Nations Those are truly Amerindians and they will say because thier parents and grandparents and all his ancestors belonged to that group.To spot pretendians they will give you a whole list if names then irish,Italian,French, German and so on and no one in thier family they ever new face to face was an Indian and not some stupid story that because they had dark black hair and high cheek bones story non sense

Answer 8

before there were borders set in place by men and mixing of races, all of north america as a continent had natives including the natives south of the what is now " mexican-american border".
So yes mexicans are natvies mixed with other races just like all other natives in North America

Answer 9

The Spanish are from Spain
The Indians are from North America (here even before the Mexicans arrived)
The Mexicans are from Mexico

Indians are the only Native Americans. Christopher Columbus thought he had landed in the West Indies---thus the name Indians. The Indians didn't name themselves Indians or Native Americans. They had (or have) their own languages and names for different tribes. The words used to name them now are white guy stuff.

Answer 10

It doesn't matter if they are native to their land if they aren't native to ours. People moved all over the world in prehistoric times, then they formed countries and subsidized people within those boundaries (some countries did). Natives south of the Rio Grande, except by treaty for tribes spanning the border, have no rights here. If I left the US, my grandchildren would have no rights here.

We built the schools and infrastructure AFTER taking the land. 'We' includes Natives of THESE lands who stayed here.

Those natives themselves fought natives from other lands, and the natives from other lands may have claims on those other lands, but have none here.

Answer 11

hilarious that these dumb people are ignorant Mexicans and natives americans are basically the same learn the real history cause I get along very well with natives americans and they admitted that were brothers and sisters and been for thousands of years and always will be