We are Here
Indigenous Diaspora in Los Angeles
Invisible No More
Indigeneity is often erased in the im/migrant narrative of the United States. Data collection and datasets on migrant communities in particular are not exempt from this disappearing act.
Displaced Indigenous migrant communities in the United States have historically been undercounted in the Census due to many being classified under Hispanic/Latino. This is a statistical genocide - the erasure of Indigenous communities from public records and creating major barriers to accessing basic human rights like interpretation in institutions.
Two dancers of La Danza de la Pluma 2014, Los Angeles City Hall
Illuminating Data Bias
Data biases that lump Indigenous peoples under the broad umbrella of Hispanic/Latino, disappears Indigenous difference. Viewing Latinidad as a lumpsum monolith leaves no space for recognition of the vast diversity and racialized hierarchies that exist within the ethnic grouping. When visibility often translates to opportunities for advocacy and key policy interventions, invisibility can have dire consequences.
Undocu-Indigenous Fund
Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo (CIELO) began the Undocumented Indigenous Fund in April 2020 as a response to the impact of COVID-19 in Los Angeles. We initially started with the dispersal of 10 thousand dollars, which has since grown dramatically and allowed us to provide solidarity funds to approximately 2,500 Indigenous migrant families in Los Angeles. We surveyed the Undocumented Indigenous fund recipients and asked key demographic questions, such as household size and language preference. With the data collected, we generated the data density map. We are incredibly grateful to the communities that made this map possible and allowed us to map language diversity.
Undocu-Indigenous Fund
Nearly 2,500 unique households applied for CIELO's fund, signifying nearly 11,000 individuals from over 30 different unique Indigenous communities throughout Mexico and Central America.
This map depicts the nearly 11,000 fund recipients. Each glowing dot represents anywhere from 1 to 1,400 people per zip code. Click on each dot to learn more. To activate the legend, click on the icon the bottom left corner.
Just over half of respondents indicated a language other than or in addition to Spanish or English as their preferred language.
This includes over 17 different languages from 5 different language groups
Language Justice
“Unfortunately, we always made the assumption that they were all Mexican, they were all Spanish-speaking and we could get the message to them about building trust, about working with us, in Spanish”**
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 15,000 - 19,000 indigenous speakers from Latin American reside in the United States. Although "American Indian or Alaska Native" is included as a racial group in Census surveys and is intended for use by Central and South American Indigenous groups, research shows that Indigenous participants from Central and South America associated the phrase with tribal enrollment exclusive to Indigenous groups in the U.S. As a result, many identified simply as Hispanic which leads to a substantial underreporting of Indigenous migrant populations in the United States. With this challenge in mind, language has served as a proxy for Indigenous migrant presence from Mexico and Latin America in the United States.***
Memorial for Manuel Jamines
Manuel Jamines Xum
In 2010, Manuel Jamines Xum, a Maya K’iche’ day laborer, was fatally shot by two Latino officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Accounts of the incident, indicate that he was given commands by the officers in English and Spanish. However, it is likely that as a native K’iche’ speaker, Xum did not understand either of the commands.
Language as a Human Right
CIELO demands that our local public institutions - specifically L.A. Unified School District, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, L.A. County Department of Health Services, and the Los Angeles Superior Court - take actionable steps towards language access by providing interpretation services for the most commonly spoken Indigenous languages in Los Angeles. This will significantly increase positive outcomes for families and communities when interacting with these institutions, and it will create a more welcoming environment for Indigenous migrants in the City of Los Angeles.
Indigenous Language Identification Card carried by LAPD
The Indigenous language diversity map below is an advocacy tool for Indigenous communities in Los Angeles. It creates visibility of the diverse 20 Indigenous languages spoken in the Los Angeles area. It also illustrates the need to substantially expand interpretation services across the city and is an opportunity to engage in language justice for Indigenous communities in Los Angeles. Indigenous migrant people deserve the right to access health care, social services, and the court systems in the language(s) that they understand best.
Indigenous Language Diversity in Los Angeles
The word Guzuna, in the Zapotec language of the Sierra Norte, is communal work performed for the collective well-being, beyond a duty it is an honor to perform this work. This is a guiding philosophy of CIELO as we continue to make resources available to Indigenous displaced communities in Los Angeles.
CIELO is proud to give our guzuna to the Indigenous communities in Los Angeles. During this pandemic many Indigenous people find themselves in precarious economic situations.
44% of the families receiving funds reported having at least one family member working in the restaurant industry. Indigenous families have been impacted by the closure of industries like the garment sector, restaurant services, domestic work, and laundering/dry cleaning services.
Guzuna
Whether your community calls it guzuna or another name, our ancestral teachings are alive today, through hundreds of years of colonization, from our original homelands to Los Angeles, our communities will remain resilient, our traditions will give us strength and we will stand in solidarity with all our relatives.
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Los Angeles City Hall
The Oaxacan Heritage committee celebrating the second year of the Oaxacan heritage month in 2014 in front of City Hall while holding the city proclamation.
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National Indigenous Language Interpreters Conference (Est. 2018)
CIELO holds a 2-day conference annually that centers Indigenous language interpreters. The vast population of Indigenous migrants from Mexico and Guatemala has created a high demand for trained interpreters in indigenous languages in the United States. Given this need, we have held the conference annually. There is a variety of workshops that are tailored to Indigenous interpreters in real-life interpreting encounters. Professionals from government, health care, and law explain specialized concepts in the workshops. This conference also serves as a networking opportunity as well as a professional tool specifically for Interpreters of Indigenous languages.
3
Organizacion Regional of Oaxaca (Est. 1988)
The Regional Organization of Oaxaca (ORO) has organized the Guelagetza, an important event for Oaxacans in Los Angeles, since 1988 annually. The Guelagetza has been organized by primarily Zapotec communities residing in Los Angeles.
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A Conversation with Policarpo Chaj
Listen to Tu'un Dali's conversation with the late Policarpo Chaj: community organizer, K'iche interpreter, and Executive Director of the Indigenous Guatemalan community organization Maya Vision.
5
Dulce Rina Hall
Dulce Rina Hall has been one of the main places in Los Angeles where Akatekos and Q'anjob'al folks came together to celebrate the Fiesta Patronal of the town San Miguel Acatan. This event is a cultural event once a year that is a week long celebration in the town San Miguel Acatan, Guatemala. However, in Los Angeles, this would fall on a Saturday closest to September 29th and was an evening celebration. Along with honoring the patron saint, this day would also mark the coronation of the new Flor (Xumakil) de Ixim, San Miguel Acatan who would represent the community in cultural events for a year long commitment. Dulce Rina Hall holds memories of music, celebration, honoring, and community.
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Ballet Folklórico de Nueva Antequera
The Ballet Folklorico Nueva Antequera was founded by Miriam Lopez and Raul Cortes on October 2, 1999, in the city of Los Angeles, California. Its mission is to preserve and promote traditional music and dances from Oaxaca. Its goal is to keep alive the most important cultural celebration of the Oaxacan community, La Guelaguetza. Currently, Nueva Antequera has 45 active members that not only are trained to dance, but educated on their cultural background so they can contribute to the continuity and dissemination of Oaxacan culture.
7
Indigenous Literature Conference (Est. 2015)
CIELO held the first Indigenous literature conference, the only Indigenous literature conference that is catered to Indigenous migrant communities that brought together poets, writers, and intellectuals from Mexico, Guatemala, and the United States. It was held in the Los Angeles Central Library in Downtown LA from 2015-2019.
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Community Meetings
Meeting at the offices of Maya Vision in Westlake between the Indigenous organizations Maya Vision and FIOB with Indigenous peoples from Mexico and Guatemala that included Kanjobales, Quiches, Zapotecs and Mixtecos. This was an early effort to organize as Indigenous migrant communities in Los Angeles.
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Zapotec Basketball Team
Los Angeles Zoogocho (LAZ) in 1970 in Normandie Park with their award.
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Hoops
Women basketball tournament at Toberman Park a women wearing her Zapotec town of Xochix jersey
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Convite (Est. 2014)
The Convite, formerly known as the Calenda was organized by the Regional Organization of Oaxaca (ORO) under the leadership of Isai Pazos in 2014. It is the opening event of ORO's Guelagetaza. It consists of multiple communities, bands, and folklore groups coming together and closing Pico Blvd., a main street in Los Angeles, California solidifying the presence of Oaxacan communities.
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Oaxaca Heritage Month (Est. 2014)
The Oaxacan heritage month committee made up of the Organizaciòn Regional de Oaxaca (ORO), Asociación de Negocios Oaxaqueños (AON), and the Frente Indígena de Organizaciones Binacionales (FIOB) after the first Concierto de Bandas Oaxaqueñas to be held in Los Angeles.
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Food is Medicine
Zapotec women in South Central cooking for a gathering of community members
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South Central Dreams
The mural “South Central Dreams” was painted by the Tlakolulokos, a collective of Zapotec artists. It portrays a woman wearing a huipil from San Bartolome Zoogocho, a community in the Zapotec sierra. It is one of the first street murals to represent the Zapotec migrant communities in Los Angeles.
Contributors
Janet Martinez
Janet Martinez is the co-founder/ Vice executive director of Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo (CIELO) she generated the data collection points and directed the We are here mapping project alongside Mariah Tso. She is a Bene Xogsho (Zapotec) born in Los Angeles and raised in South-Central L.A. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Gender and Women’s Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, with a thesis on Indigenous migrants in the U.S. court system. Aside from her direct activism, Janet has engaged issues facing Indigenous migrant communities through her writing; she has published articles on topics including new approaches to gendered leadership in indigenous communities, and the challenges facing youths in Indigenous migrant communities. Ms. Martinez has organized the Indigenous Literature conference and Weaving Words and Rhymes for the past four consecutive years. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times , Ozy , V ogue , and Telesur . Currently, she is a host on the podcast Tu’un Dali , a podcast for and by indigenous people.
Odilia Romero
Odilia Romero is the co-founder/ executive director of Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo (CIELO); she is also an independent interpreter of Zapotec, Spanish, and English for indigenous communities in Los Angeles and throughout California. For we are here mapping project Odilia was key in outreaching to Indigenous communities in Los Angeles. She has over a decade of experience organizing indigenous migrant communities. Her organizing knowledge and experience are held in high regard, with multiple academic publications, awards, and lectures in universities across the United States, including John Hopkins, USC, and UCLA. Ms. Romero has published on the challenges of organizing in indigenous communities, developing women’s leadership, and preparing a new generation of youth. Her work has also been featured in the Los Angeles Times , the New York Times , Vogue and Democracy Now .
Claudio Ramirez Hernandez
Claudio Ramirez Hernandez is Na Ñuu Savi (Mixtec) born in Santa Maria, a farming community in the Central Coast of California. He is the office manager for Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo (CIELO) he organized the data for the We are here mapping project. Mr.Hernandez first became active in community work as a youth when he organized alongside the local working-class community of Santa Maria as a Youth Leader through the nonprofit People United for Economic Justice Building Leadership Through Organizing. Claudio went on to cofound People Respecting Others United by Diversity (PROUD) at the Pacific Pride Foundation (PPF), Santa Maria’s local LGBTQ nonprofit. PROUD helped LGBTQ youth feel safe from homophobic attitudes at school and/or at home, and provided LGBT History Awareness workshops to local high schools. His education includes an A.A. in Psychology, and a B.A. in Anthropology with a minor in Comparative Linguistics. During his undergraduate studies he co founded Cal State LA’s Language Documentation and Revitalization Space (LADORES) . He is a currently pursuing a Master’s Degree student in Anthropological Linguistics at Cal State Los Angeles. His graduate work includes language revitalization projects in his variant of Tu’un Savi (Language of the Rain, Mixtec).
Javier Morales-Martinez
Javier Morales-Martinez is the coordinator for CIELO’s food pantry program that is addressing the food insecurity that many Indigenous families currently face. He assisted in collecting the data for the We are here mapping project. He is a trilingual Zapotec born and raised in Los Angeles. He is currently a student at the University of Southern California USC and is pursuing a bachelor of music and a minor in accounting. He developed his affinity for music through his participation in multiple Zapotec brass and wind bands. As an orchestral clarinetist, Javier has performed with the American Contemporary Ballet and the New York String Orchestra. In addition to this, Javier has performed in twelve cities throughout Mexico with the Orchestra of the Americas and five cities in Asia with Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America. He has received multiple accolades as a clarinet player cementing his name as a prodigy clarinetist. His music has been featured in NPR's tiny desk concert series and From the Top’s video “This Land/Our Land” , celebrating immigrant musicians of different cultures.
Mariah Tso
Bilagáana nishłį́. Naakai dine’é Tó'aheedlíinii bashishchiin. Bilagáana dashicheii. Lók'aa' dine'é dashinalí.
Mariah Tso is a Diné cartographer and GIS Specialist at UCLA's Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies and the Million Dollar Hoods Project. Mariah compiled and analyzed the data collected by the CIELO team to create the maps and visuals for this project. Her passions and research interests include critical cartography, Indigenous methodologies, and interdisciplinary storytelling.
