Explains why so many are quick to claim indigenous ancestry even though they would probably be claiming European ancestry if they lived in Latin America.
I'm DEEPLY fascinated by this phenomenon since it has such stark implications about my heritage to know that I'm 2/3rds indigenous by DNA but do not qualify as such under any rules in any location and family lore has zero mention on it.
Are you mestizo? I am and even live near the indigenous group that I'm descended from. But I only speak two Euro languages (Spanish and English) and can only speak their language at the level of a middle schooler.
A lot of US latinos are mestizo and probably claim to be indigenous because of likely strong indigenous features that they share. My issue with this is that they're culturally anything but. They speak English and/or Spanish only, have no real knowledge of the group and just latch onto the most "badass" ones like Mayans or Aztecs, and have never once stepped foot in those communities. That to me is what it means to be indigenous more than bloodlines. It's something you really have to be born and raised in.
There's also a lot of white supremacy in Latin American cultures and many mestizos like to claim European ancestry to seem superior. Older generations will even outright marry white people that have the stereotypical features of Western beauty. My own brother is like this and married a blonde English woman with blue eyes and pale skin. He specifically went out of his way to date foreign women with those features.
I'm DEEPLY fascinated by this phenomenon since it has such stark implications about my heritage to know that I'm 2/3rds indigenous by DNA but do not qualify as such under any rules in any location and family lore has zero mention on it.
Are you mestizo? I am and even live near the indigenous group that I'm descended from. But I only speak two Euro languages (Spanish and English) and can only speak their language at the level of a middle schooler.
A lot of US latinos are mestizo and probably claim to be indigenous because of likely strong indigenous features that they share. My issue with this is that they're culturally anything but. They speak English and/or Spanish only, have no real knowledge of the group and just latch onto the most "badass" ones like Mayans or Aztecs, and have never once stepped foot in those communities. That to me is what it means to be indigenous more than bloodlines. It's something you really have to be born and raised in.
There's also a lot of white supremacy in Latin American cultures and many mestizos like to claim European ancestry to seem superior. Older generations will even outright marry white people that have the stereotypical features of Western beauty. My own brother is like this and married a blonde English woman with blue eyes and pale skin. He specifically went out of his way to date foreign women with those features.