1.
[Rarámuri] Indians live at
great distances,
separated from each other and
scattered.
They prefer to live in the ravines and canyons
and in the cold,
inhospitable mountains
where they have
their dwellings.
Their native simplicity, barbarity, laziness
and sloth
incline them to this in
preference to being reduced
to living a rational, civilized
human life.
From infancy
they are
brought up to be
mountain vaga-
bonds
with no
training in either
morals
or
proper conduct.
They are worse than
the beasts because
the animals
at least
acknowledge
their subjection to
those who put them
in cages and govern them.[i]
5.
Hispanics should work
harder at assimilation.
That’s one of the things
I’ve been saying
for a long time.
They ought not to be just codified
in their communities, but
make sure that all of their
kids are learning
to speak English,
and that they feel comfortable
in the communities,
and that’s going to
take out-
reach on
both sides,
frankly.[ii]
[i] Father Juan Ysidro Fernández de Abee, Society of Jesus, 1744, as cited in Bernard L. Fontana’s Tarahumara: Where the Night is the Day of the Moon.
[ii] Tom Brokaw, Meet The Press, 2019
Oscar Mancinas is a Rarámuri-Chicanx writer, teacher, and PhD candidate. He was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona’s Washington-Escobedo neighborhood. His books include JAULA, ROTO: A MEX-TAPE, and TO LIVE AND DIE IN EL VALLE. He splits his time between Phoenix and Mesa.
Photograph by: Charles Elizondo