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

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.***

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

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.

Contributors

Donate

Two dancers of La Danza de la Pluma 2014, Los Angeles City Hall

Indigenous Language Identification Card carried by LAPD