Human Rights in Aztlan: Indigenous Heritage, Chicana/o Indigenism, and Activism since the Chicana/o Movement

The Chicana/o Movement of the 1960s and 1970s is characterized by Chicana/o activists’ utilization of cultural pride to inspire involvement in Civil Rights advocacy.  Yet, little is known by academics about why Mexican Americans decided to unite a cultural renaissance that utilized Indigenous cultural referents with political activism for Civil Rights.  The purpose of my presentation is to depict and analyze significant historic, social, and cultural influences Indigenous and Indigenist teachings had on Chicana/o civil and human rights activism in the United States, since the Chicana/o Movement.  I contend that Chicana/o activists draw their cultural and political stances from a desire to have agency over their cultural trajectory in the centuries long complex historical context of interaction among Indigenous groups, Mexicans, and Mexican Americans in both the United States and Mexico. Furthermore, I argue that activists utilized a critical pedagogy that promoted a reevaluation of cultural identity as a means to inspire civil and human rights activism.  I focus on Chicana/o activist organizations that sought civil and human rights from the U.S. government and the United Nations, as well as cultural groups that promoted Indigenist ideology using theater and ritual dance as a critical pedagogy.   I utilize archived sources to supplement oral histories that I collected from former and current activists and performers.   I conclude with recommendations on utilizing Chicana/o Movement primary sources in history curriculum as a means to instill in youth a value for cultural diversity as a means of upholding democratic ideals of equality.