INDIGENOUS IDENTITY IN THE MEXICAN CENSUS

By John P. Schmal


 

The Mexican Republic of the Twenty-First Century, boasting more than a 100 million inhabitants, has evolved from many indigenous nations five centuries ago into a single national entity, with Spanish as its primary language.  But beneath the Spanish culture and language, the indigenous identity of the Mexican people is unmistakable.  It is manifested in their appearance, their culture and spirituality and, to some extent, in their language and traditions.  Few of the original Indian cultures still exist in their pure and untainted forms, but most are present in some form in various traditions, customs and religious practices.  

 

In the twelve censuses between 1895 and 2000, the Mexican government has asked its citizens to answer a wide variety of questions.  In many ways, the Mexican census has been much more detailed than the United States census, asking questions about age, disability, nativity, literacy, language, and economic status.   

 

However, for the most part, the census has not been able to gauge the level of indigenous identity beyond the criteria of those who actually speak indigenous languages.  In 1895, 26.09% of persons five years of age and older in the Mexican Republic spoke indigenous languages.  By 1940, this figure had dropped to 14.8%.  It dropped farther to 11.2% in 1950, 7.5% in 1990 and 7.1% in 2000.  The linguistic status, however, does not necessarily explain if a Mexican citizen feels that he or she is an Indian by blood, by culture, or tradition.  However, the 1921 and 2000 Mexican Federal Censuses stand out as exceptions.  In these two censuses, performed 79 years apart, we get a unique view into the ethnic identity of the Mexican people.  

 

In the 1921 census, Mexican natives were asked if they fell into one of the following categories:  

  1. ÒInd’gena puraÓ (of pure indigenous heritage).
  2. ÒInd’gena mezclada con blancaÓ (of mixed indigenous and white background)
  3. ÒBlancaÓ (of White or Spanish heritage).
  4. ÒExtranjeros sin distinci—n de razasÓ (Foreigners without racial distinction).

 

 

The five states with the largest populations of Òind’gena puraÓ were:
 

  1. Oaxaca Ð 675,119 persons
  2. Puebla Ð 560,971 persons
  3. Veracruz Ð 406,648 persons
  4. MŽxico Ð 372,703 persons
  5. Guerrero Ð 248,526 persons

 
Because the populations of the various states vary widely, the percentage of pure indigenous persons in a given state may provide us with a different set of results.  The five states with the largest percentages of Òind’gena puraÓ people are:

 
  1. Oaxaca Ð 69.17%
  2. Puebla Ð 54.73%
  3. Tlaxcala Ð 54.70%
  4. Chiapas Ð 47.64%
  5. Yucat‡n Ð 43.31%
 

In the 1921 census, the status ÒInd’gena Mezclada con BlancaÓ implied that a person was of mestizo origin.  Persons classified by this identity usually did not speak Indian languages, but still felt an attachment to their indigenous roots. The five Mexican states with the largest populations of ÒInd’gena Mezclada con BlancaÓ were:

 

  1. Jalisco Ð 903,830
  2. Guanajuato Ð 828,724
  3. Michoac‡n Ð 663,391
  4. Veracruz Ð 556,472
  5. Distrito Federal Ð 496,359
 

 

The states with the largest percentages of ÒInd’gena Mezclada con BlancaÓ were:
 

  1. Sinaloa Ð 98.30%
  2. Guanajuato Ð 96.32%
  3. Durango Ð 89.10%
  4. Zacatecas Ð 86.10%
  5. QuerŽtaro Ð 80.15%

  The states with the largest populations of ÒBlancaÓ or White persons were:
 
  1. Distrito Federal Ð 206,514
  2. Chihuahua Ð 145,926
  3. Sonora Ð 115,151
  4. Veracruz Ð 114,150
  5. MŽxico Ð 88,660
 

 

In percentage terms, the ÒblancaÓ classification was most prominent in these states:
 

  1. Sonora Ð 41.85%
  2. Chihuahua Ð 36.33%
  3. Baja California Sur Ð 33.40%
  4. Tabasco Ð 27.56%
  5. District Federal Ð 22.79%
 

 

Seventy-nine years later, the 2000 census attempted to determine the number of Mexican people who considered themselves to being indigenous, without reference to language.  In order to calculate the indigenous people, the census used three criteria:
 

     

  1. Persons who speak indigenous languages (aged 5 and over)
  2. Persons aged 0 through 4 who live in indigenous households
  3. Persons who consider themselves Indian but do not speak an indigenous language.
 

The five states with the largest numbers of persons classified as ÒInd’genaÓ in the 2000 census were:

 

  1. Oaxaca Ð 1,648,426 persons
  2. Chiapas Ð 1,117,597
  3. Veracruz Ð 1,057,806
  4. Yucat‡n Ð 981,064
  5. Puebla Ð 957,650
 

The five states with the largest percentages of Indigenous people were:

 

  1. Yucat‡n Ð 59.2%
  2. Oaxaca Ð 47.9%
  3. Quintana Roo Ð 39.3%
  4. Chiapas Ð 28.5%
  5. Campeche Ð 26.9%
 

In contrast, the five states with the largest numbers of persons who spoke indigenous languages and were five years of age or more were:

 

  1. Oaxaca Ð 1,120,312 speakers of indigenous languages
  2. Chiapas Ð 809,592
  3. Veracruz Ð 633,372
  4. Puebla Ð 565,509
  5. Yucat‡n Ð 549,532
 

Of great interest to some people would be the states with the least populations of indigenous persons in the 2000 census:

 

  1. Aguascalientes Ð 3,472 persons 
  2. Zacatecas Ð 4,039 persons
  3. Colima Ð 6,472 persons
  4. Coahuila Ð 7,454 persons
  5. Baja California Sur Ð 11,481 persons
 

In terms of percentages, the five states with the smallest percentages of indigenous persons were:

 

  1. Zacatecas Ð 0.3%
  2. Coahuila Ð 0.3%
  3.  Aguascalientes Ð 0.4%
  4. Guanajuato Ð 0.6%
  5. Nuevo Le—n Ð 0.8%
 

 

While many of the inhabitants of Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, and Guanajuato do have indigenous roots, the level of assimilation and mestizaje that took place in these areas over the last four centuries has diminished the original Indian identity.  

The indigenous identity of the Mexican people is hard to quantify and classify from one state to another, from one linguistic group to another, so census statistics cannot be considered entirely reliable.  However, the 1921 and 2000 censuses do give us the best view of indigenous identity, when compared to other census years.  

 

© 2004, John P. Schmal.  All rights reserved.  

 

Sources:  

 

CONAPO, Cuadro 1. Poblacion Total, Poblacion Indigena, y Sus Caracteristicas.Ó  

Departamento de la Estadistica Nacional, Annuario de 1930 (Tacubaya, D.F., Mexico, 1932), pp. 40, 48.  

Instituto Nacional de Estad’stica Geografia e Informatica (INEGI), Estados Unidos Mexicanos. XII Censo General de Poblacion y Vivienda,  2000, Tabulados Basicos y por Entidad Federativa. Bases de Datos y Tabulados de la Muestra Censal.Ó

 

Schmal, John P.

Indigenous Mexico: A State-by-State Analysis (manuscript in progress, 2004).

 

 

 

 

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