Out of all the keywords, I found Ata, Ashley, Jeremiah and Claire’s “Mestisaje” the most relatable to me. When I saw this was going to be one of the keywords, I was excited to see what people defined it as. I grew up in Central America, and ever since I was a little girl, I knew I was mestiza. To me, being mestiza simply means I am half European, half Indigenous. Since the great majority of people around me were mestizo, mestisaje was normal, and like described in the definition, it was a unifying term- it was what we all shared in common. The history surrounding colonization by the Spanish and mestisaje was taught to all of us in school. Although I can’t trace my ancestry all the way back to when the Spanish colonized Central America, I know my Indigenous ancestors most likely suffered at the hands of the Spanish. The same can be said about the other 7 million people in my country and the rest of Central America. Is that sad? Of course. However, with time we have healed. We do not dwell in the past.
Surprisingly, I had never heard of the idea of decolonization before enrolling in this course. This has been a prominent theme in our class readings and discussions. Decolonization is not something that is the vocabulary of most Central Americans. How can decolonization take place if half my ancestry is European and the other half Indigenous? I am also proud of both.
Hey Camila! Thanks for your explanation of what it means to be mestisaje to you – I have heard the term before but I wasn’t sure whether it was something that was offensive or whether people identified with it, so I never used it. I have never had to think about decolonizing part of myself as I am non-Indigenous, but your questioning of what decolonizing means is one to keep in mind as it is a term that I see used almost flippantly sometimes in the mainstream, though it is a deconstruction that needs to be done with intent.
By the way, if you are more interested in decolonization, you might want to check out classes in human geography – it usually comes up a lot!
Hi Camila! I really liked reading through your blog post. It is really compelling to read through this post knowing that you are writing from a first person point-of-view. I think your point of acknowledging the pain that your ancestors felt is interesting, but the fact that you also pointed out that time has healed that pain shows so much strength. I am also mestizo, but from a country that was colonized in a place opposite from Central America, on the other side of the world. Yet, the experiences that your ancestors and my ancestors went through were possibly similar to one another.
Hi Camila,
I really like your response and thank you for sharing your story. I was really surprised to hear that decolonization is not a word that most Latin Americans are familiar with. It is such a common word here in Canada that is used continually in discussions and political debates that I just assumed it would be more common elsewhere. I think it’s probably also particular to Canada as I don’t think people are as familiar with the term in the US either. I totally get what you mean about being proud of both your heritages, as there would be such an internal conflict if you didn’t accept all of yourself, and I think this is what complicates the issue further. I also get confused sometimes with the word decolonization, but can see how it has been helpful here in Canada in the sense of giving indigenous people voices and allowing their side to be heard on a platform- for example with resource extraction. Rather than the government being able to move into an area without consultation of local people for example – I think these are the aspects of decolonization that need to continue to be worked on.