The Miami Indian tribe was originally located in the midwest part of America. The states today are Indiana, southwest Michigan, western Ohio, and Illinois. The Miami didn’t live in teepees like some Indian tribes. They lived in tiny oval houses with walls of woven reeds.…
Four hundred years ago, Dutch colonists transported nineteen Africans to America. As time passed, modern America is home of millions to immigrants who were born in Africa. In the article, “Why I am black, not African American”, Editor John H. McWhorter illustrates that “Black” is an appropriate term for black American because this term contains the history and honor of Africa American. Obviously, America, as a nation of immigrants, is the home of Latinos which are comprised of 12.5% of total U.S. population. In the article, “What it means to be Latino”, Professor Clare E. Rodriguez argues that being a Latino means that they own their unique cuisine, music and traditions and are constantly adding new infusions of Latinos to America.…
While reading Mary Water’s Black identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities, I was intrigued by her findings on West Indian Immigrants idenidity in Ameirca. The main theme I noted throughout the book was development of the West Indians racial and ethnic Identity in America. Water’s gave a general introduction that she was raised in Brooklyn, NY. Water’s introduced her story by sharing her witness the neighborhood transform; the familiar faces she grew up with gradually began to disappear and a diverse array of ethnic people, in this case West Indian / Caribbean, started to replace her old neighbors. Walter’s personal experience, as well as being a professor and former chair of the sociology department at Harvard, inspired her to investigate into the influx of Black and West Indian population and record their American immigration experiences .…
Afro-Mexicans are a racial group of immigrant slaves of African descent that traveled to Mexico that came from Oaxaca and Guerrero, Veracruz and in some cities in northern Mexico. The history of blacks in Mexico has not been known for reasons that their relatively smaller numbers, and Mexico’s tradition of defining itself as a “mestizaje” or mixing culture. Race played a major role in the colonial Latin America,it was a unique cultural mix that incorporated African, Native American and European blood. The color of one's skin and the vast amount of non-European blood one had sadly limited their life opportunities and brought both inequality and discrimination towards…
The social conditions of colonial Latin America were that of intense social stratification, much like those of colonial India later on, except in Latin America the casta system (the precursor term to the Indian caste a.k.a Varna system) was imposed upon the people instead of already being part of their culture and society, as was the case for Vedic cultures. The people of Latin America were categorized in terms of racial admixture of the three races that could be encountered in these Spanish colonies: Africans, European Spanish, and the Natives. The Natives existed in the colonies long before Columbus and his peers discovered, explored, and claimed them. The Spanish arrived to impose Spanish rule and oversee resource production and distribution. The African peoples were brought in after it was determined that the indigenous population was unfit for large-scale slave labor.…
Puerto Rico was originally inhabited by the Taino Indians. The Taino Indians came from South America, and inhabited the island of Puerto Rico when the Spaniards arrived. The Spaniards, when they first arrived, called the island San Juan Bautista for St. John the Baptist and the town Puerto Rico. It was not until later that the two names were switched. Puerto Rico meaning rich port.…
Traditional Puerto Rican cooking has a diverse influence of historic cultures. The predominant influences include Taino Indian, Africa and Spain. The first to influence Puerto Rican cooking were the Taino Indians. Thereafter, the African slaves brought their products and methods of cooking to the island.…
When the European population sought expansion, they took a voyage to the East Indies in hope of establishing a trade route. Although, Christopher Columbus made wrong calculations, he and his men landed in a New World that would bring them great fortunes. Unfortunately, for the Natives living in the America’s the Europeans arrival would be the beginning of a terrible nightmare. In Latin Colonial America by Kevin Terraciano, there are letters and documents that give the various perspectives of people living during the initial conquest period. Native languages have been translated to English by Mattew Restall, Lisa Sousa and Kevin Terraciano in the book Mesoamerican Voices.…
The Haitian American culture has been a long-surviving and well-adapting culture. Starting with the indigenous people that occupied the island, before Christopher Columbus’ arrival in 1492. Columbus, being a conqueror for Spain, claimed the island of Haiti for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella and named it Hispaniola meaning “little Spain”. From thenceforth the indigenous people of the island were killed off during gold conquests and the ruling of the Spanish by forced labor and diseases. With very little of the indigenous people surviving, Hispaniola became a part of the Spanish rule that was forgotten.…
Throughout the years there has been much controversy on what events in history have influenced the world the most. Many scholars have agreed that both the Spanish conquest and colonization of Mexico and the Caribbean and the U.S. acquisition of Mexican and Caribbean territories are important turning points in history that have helped shape the social, economic, political and cultural characteristics of different Latin American countries. In order to comprehend the great importance of the Spanish and the American’s invasions, the reader must analyze the readings of Born in Blood & Fire by John Charles Chasteen and Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzalez. Both of these works are useful in discerning ideas that make the Spanish conquest and colonization and the U.S. acquisition similar and different. The Spanish conquest and colonization of Mexico, the Caribbean, and the U.S. acquisition of territories are similar because both had a racial and hierarchical, political and social system that rose from the transculturation of different races but different because they had different ideas on what Manifest Destiny meant, and they imposed their invasions in different ways.…
They are the earliest settlers on U.S. soil and the largest new arrivals. Mexican Americans today and face many of the same problems Puerto Ricans Faced. Being native born, immigrants, pioneers and aliens. Escandon is responsible for converting thousands of Indians he called this the Nuevo Santander. After years of taking over land and converting the native Indians.…
Native American / American Indian Any cultural group is formed by different characteristics, such as home country, language, education, and traditions, work, among others. As part of a cultural group in the United States, the American Indians are the indigenous peoples of the Americas. According to Funk and Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (2014), the name Indian is supposedly first given by Christopher Columbus who thought that the mainlands were part of the Indies, in Asia (p. 1). During the first contact between the Americas and Europe, there have been said to be over 90 million Indians living in the United States (Funk and Wagnalls NWE, 2014, p. 1).…
(everyculture.com) Of the total population, 50 percent are classified as mixed African and European, thirty-seven percent is classified as black or negro and one percent Chinese (everyculture.com). History tells African slaves were brought to Cuba and some have married their masters, which resulted to Cuban mulattos (cuban-culture.com). Other races have also come to Cuba in the past such as Russian, Chinese and European. Three dominant bloods are present in Cubans makeup: “First of these roots is that of the aborigine inhabitants; their ethnic contribution was reduced by the impact of the conquest and colonisation process. It is for this reason that the more significant roots in the Cuban nationality are Spanish and African.…
Without culture, we would be empty, boring shells. What is culture? “Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts” (Kim Ann Zimmerman). Culture is so influential that it can influence what kind of person you’ll be. Culture is music, sports, traditions, food, religion, language and more.…
Spanish: Puerto Rican vs. Mexican Puerto Rico and Mexico are two different Latin countries that have many cultural differences, but after all have a big similarity which is the language. Both countries share Spanish as their official language. Most of the Languages from México and Puerto Rico is the same, but the context in which a Mexican can use a word may be the opposite from what it will mean to a Puerto Rican and vice versa. In this essay, I will focus on the history and contribution of the Spanish language in the Puerto Rican and Mexican society. For many people who don’t know much about the history they can get informed about the culture of Puerto Rico and Mexican people.…