Bolivia

Mestizo

Welcome to our website. It is generaly simplier version of wikipedia. You will find there selected articles. Enjoy!

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007)

Mestizos

Notable Mestizos: Inca Garcilaso de la Vega · Porfirio Díaz
Total population
Worldwide figures unknown; 30% of Latin America's population, approx. 170 million people
Regions with significant populations
Latin America
Paraguay 95%  El Salvador 90%  Honduras 90%  Mexico 60%, 70% or >80%  Panama 60%  Nicaragua 69%  Venezuela 50%  Ecuador 65%  Guatemala 59%  Colombia 58%  Chile 44% or 65%  Peru 37%  Belize 33%  Bolivia 30%
Languages
Predominantly Spanish, (with a minority of other languages), while Mestiço speaks Portuguese, and Métis speak French; English in the United States, Kriol and English in Belize; and English
Religion
Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic, with a minority of Protestant); and other religions.
Related ethnic groups
European (mostly Spaniards, Portuguese, French) and Amerindian people

Mestizo is a traditional term used to denote people of combined Indigenous American and European ancestry.

Etymology

The Spanish word Mestizo originated circa 1582 from the Romance / Latin word mixticius, meaning mixed.

Cognates

Mestiço (Portuguese), Mestiezen (Dutch), Metis (French), Mestee (Middle English), Mix (English) are all cognates of the Spanish word Mestizo.

History

During the Spanish colonial period, Spaniards developed a complex caste system based on race, which was used for social control and which also determined a person's importance in society. There were four main categories of race: (1) Peninsular - a Spaniard born in Spain, (2) Criollo (fem. criolla) - a person of Spanish desent born in Mesoamerica, (3) Indio (fem. India) - a person who is a native of, or indigenous to, Mesoamerica, and (4) Negro (fem. Negra) - a person of African slave descent. Persons of mixed race were collectively referred to as castas.

Under the caste system of colonial Spain, the term mestizo originally applied to the children resulting from the union of a peninsular (a Spaniard born in Spain) and an Amerindian. The term also applied to the children of two mestizo parents. During this era, a myriad of other terms (such as mulatto and zambo) were used to differentiate racial mixtures. By the end of the colonial period in 1821, over one hundred categories of possible variations of mixture existed.

In the early stages of racial intermingling in the Americas, if a child was born in wedlock, the child was considered and raised as a member of the prominent parent's ethnicity (See Hyperdescent). Often, but only early on, the term mestizo was associated with illegitimacy; however, it evolved in the ensuing centuries. According to historians Michael C. Meyer and William L. Sherman, early in the 16th century Spanish colonial usage of the term, mestizo "was almost synonymous with bastard" (illegitimate child).

Americas

Spanish-speaking Latin America

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2010)

The term was created specifically for those people of the particular racial mixture of Amerindian and European who comprise much of the population of Latin America. The term is also used in other parts of the world, although with different meanings.

Mestizos do not appear in large numbers in official censuses until the second half of the 17th century, when a sizable and stable community of mixed-race people with no claims to being either Amerindian or Spanish appeared, although, of course, a large population of biological mestizos had already existed for over a century in Mexico.

Mestizos form the majority of the population in most of Latin America; however, it would be difficult to know with any reasonable "biological" precision how extensive the mestizo population is, except through genetic studies. Various censuses since colonial times have tracked the race of inhabitants of the Spanish American countries, but these statistics are only generally indicative of what could be considered biological race, since they really captured the "social" race of a person. A person's legal racial classification in colonial Spanish America was closely tied to social status, wealth, culture and language use. Wealthy people paid to change or obscure their actual ancestry. Many indigenous people left their traditional villages and sought to be counted as mestizos to avoid tribute payments to the Spanish. Many indigenous people, and sometimes those with partial African descent, were classified as mestizo if they spoke Spanish and lived as mestizos.

In general, the countries with a majority mestizo population today are Mexico, with the largest population, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Guatemala, Paraguay, and Venezuela. In Bolivia and Peru, mestizos form the second largest group.

In some countries like Costa Rica and Chile, sources such as the CIA classify the population into a single "white and mestizo" or "white and white-Amerindian" group, leading to a combined figure of over 95% in each country. In Argentina and Uruguay, the mestizo population form 4% to 8% of their respective populations.

In Mexico, the degree of admixture varies with region, although population mobility in recent decades has changed this somewhat. Generally, the degree of indigenous Amerindian ancestry among Mexican mestizos increases as one goes south, and conversely, decreases the more one goes north. This pattern reflects both the preferential trend of Spanish settlement (actual settlers, not concentration of cities founded by Spaniards) in central and northern regions during the colony and also the greater concentration of Amerindians that inhabited the central to southern regions.

A representation of a Mestizo, in a Pintura de Castas from Mexico during the Spanish colonial period. The painting illustrates "A Spaniard and Amerindian, produce a Mestizo".

Noted mestizos migrating to Europe

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2010)

Martín Cortés, son of the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and of the Nahuatl-Maya indigenous Mexican interpreter Malinche, was one of the first documented mestizos to arrive in Spain. His first trip occurred in 1528, when he accompanied his father, Hernán Cortés, who sought to have him legitimized by the Pope.

There is also verified evidence of the grandchildren of Moctezuma II, Aztec emperor, whose royal descent the Spanish crown acknowledged, willingly having set foot on European soil. Among these descendants are the Counts of Miravalle, and the Dukes of Moctezuma de Tultengo, who became part of the Spanish peerage and left many descendants in Europe. The Counts of Miravalle, residing in Andalucía, Spain, demanded in 2003 that the government of Mexico recommence payment of the so called 'Moctezuma pensions' it had cancelled in 1934.

The mestizo historian Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, son of Spanish conquistador Sebastián Garcilaso de la Vega and of the Inca princess Isabel Chimpo Oclloun arrived in Spain from Peru. He lived in the town of Montilla, Andalucía, where he died in 1616. Also, the mestizo children of Francisco Pizarro were also military leaders because of their famous father.

Starting from the early 1970s and throughout all of the 1980s, Europe saw the arrival of thousands of Chileans, many of whom were mestizos, seeking political refuge during the dictatorial government of Augusto Pinochet. Today, there is a growing number of mestizo immigrants in Western Europe, primarily from Ecuador and Colombia.

Spanish East Indies

Philippines

In the Philippines, "mestizo" is a term used to denote Filipinos of mixed native (Austronesian/Malay/Malayo-Polynesian) and any other non-native ancestry.

Guam and Northern Mariana Islands

In the former Spanish colonies of Guam and Northern Mariana Islands, 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. Because most Guamanians and Northern Mariana Islanders were also given Spanish surnames during their occupation by the Spanish crown via Mexico City and Madrid, persons of white American and other non-Spanish European descent with Spanish surnames may be mistaken having such descent.

Related concepts

Mestiço - Brazil

This section may stray from the topic of the article. Please help improve this section or discuss this issue on the talk page. (August 2010)

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 European and African ancestry are described as mulato. Cafuzos (known as zambo in the English language) are the production of Amerindian and African ancestors. The Mixed Race Day (June 27) is a official date in States of Amazonas, Paraíba and Roraima.

Métis - Canada

This section may stray from the topic of the article into the topic of another article, Métis people (Canada). Please help improve this section or discuss this issue on the talk page. (August 2010)

This section may stray from the topic of the article into the topic of another article, Indian Act. Please help improve this section or discuss this issue on the talk page. (August 2010)

Louis Riel, Canadian Métis.

French Colonial empire 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 Europeans, usually French, English, and Scottish laborers or merchants employed in the North American Fur Trade. Their history dates to the mid 17th century, and they have been recognized as a distinct people since the early 18th century.

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. In Northern Manitoba some communities spoke Bungee, a combination of Gaelic, Cree, and Ojibwe. Bungee is now extinct.

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 is estimated that there are 350,000 to 400,000 Métis Nation citizens in Canada, although many Métis classify anyone as Métis who 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 do not receive the benefits granted to First Nation peoples. 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.

Biracial/Multiracial - United States

This section may stray from the topic of the article into the topic of another article, multiracial. Please help improve this section or discuss this issue on the talk page. (August 2010)

In the United States, the term "multiracial" is used to identify individuals of mixed racial heritage. "Mixed-blood" is the most common term for Native Americans mixed with any other race.

The old English language cognate of mestizo is "mestee", a word originating from the Middle French term "mestis", which is translated to métis in the modern French language. It was widely used by people of mixed White and Native American ancestry before the American Civil War in the 19th century. After the Civil War, the One-drop rule started to include Black people, and the word fell into disuse — except for members of the old tri–racial ethnic groups such as Melungeons, Brass Ankles, Chestnut Ridge people (or Mayles), and Redbones.

Nearly half (48%) of the 35 million Hispanic and Latino Americans counted in the Federal 2000 Census self-identified as "White", and another 3/7 (42%) as "Other". Multiracials came in at 6%. 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 a Native American Shoshone guide of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Jean Baptiste can be found depicted on the United States dollar coin along with his mother, Sacagawea. Prior to 1848 it was unclear where the Canada-US border lay, and later still before it was enforced. Many Metis lived in Montana and North Dakota.

Hawaii has the highest percentage of Multiracial Americans; mixed-race individuals form roughly 21% of Hawaii's population.

See also

• Casta
• European colonization of the Americas
• Spanish colonization of the Americas
• Indigenous peoples of the Americas
• Viceroyalty of New Spain

Publication

• Batalla, Guillermo, and Philip Dennis. Mexico Profundo: Reclaiming A Civilization. Univ of Texas Pr, 1996. ISBN 978-0292708433
• Wang S, Ray N, Rojas W, Parra MV, Bedoya G, et al. (2008) Geographic Patterns of Genome Admixture in Latin American Mestizos. PLoS Genet 4(3): e1000037. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000037
• "Genetic Study Of Latin Americans Sheds Light On A Troubled History" - Science Daily
• Duno Gottberg, Luis, Solventando las diferencias: la ideología del mestizaje en Cuba. Madrid, Iberoamericana – Frankfurt am Main, Vervuert, 2003

References

External links

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive and inappropriate external links or by converting links into footnote references. (May 2010)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mestizo

• The 1921 Mexican Census
• The Construction and Function of Race: Creating The Mestizo
• Bolivia: Indigenous and Mestizo Power Flexes Muscles
• Día Mundial del Mestizo (Spanish)
• Brazilian Mestiço Movement (Portuguese)
• Métis National Council
• Vistas: Visual Culture in Spanish America 1520-1820