Comments:
I really don't believe 99% of the Mexican people know
their blood line(s)and/or the names of their
ancestors.
I've asked people from both sides (Mexico/US) if they
knew their blood lines or if they knew the names of
their great grandfathers, and most of them answered
"they didn't know."
As far as what was written on a baptism record,
regarding race type, I wouldn't put much believe in
it.
Alberto.
--- Erlinda Castanon-Long <longsjourney@...>
wrote:
> In matters of race in the church records from Mexico
> I don't think the people being recorded had any idea
> what was being put in the record for nationality. I
> have in one family, Mejia from the District of
> Jerez, 5 children with 4 different nationalities
> listed. Mother is listed as Espanol, father is
> listed as Indio. Their children are listed as 1.
> Espanol, 2. Mulato, 3, Indio, 4 Mestiso and 5.
> Espanol... I have to assume some children were
> darker than others so the scribe made the decision
> what nationality they were making the records
> unreliable as to nationality. Also it would be to
> the advantage of the family to have a child listed
> as Espanol so I wonder if bribes were ever paid to
> insure the record would read Espanol.. just a
> thought.
> Linda
>
> Emilie Garcia <auntyemfaustus@...> wrote:
> Joseph,
>
> I guess what I meant is that an African slave, to
> me, was one like the ancestors of the
> African-Americans and Negroes of Brazil. In facial
> features and body type they look to me like the
> tribes found on the Ivory Coast or Gold Coast of
> Africa, and not like the North Africans (Ethiopians
> and Moroccans) that the Moors in Spain were
> descended from. I heard of stories of Moors who
> came to the New World with the Conquistadores. I
> didn't think they were slaves, more like indentured
> servants who could be freed. I have seen the
> descriptions of people in the microfilmed records as
> Negro, Mulato, Mestizo, Coyote, and Yndio, but not
> in relation to anyone of my ancestors I could
> identify. They were all (until 1821) identified as
> Espanol. After 1821, there are no descriptions as
> to race. In my family it is known that my mother's
> side had Piro Indian blood around her grand-father's
> time. He was born around 1854, and my father told
> me that he was a Mestizo, even though he was not
