After learning of my Indian heritage, a Chinese elder once asked through his interpreter whether my people practice traditional medicine. I replied, "Some do, many do not. It depends upon whether their community is intact." I then became curious and inquired, "Why do you ask?" After several moments he replied, "Because your people have not been invaded except for the past 500 years."

I was puzzled for many years by this exchange. One day I told the story to a woman from northern India who replied that it was obvious what he was saying. She said that whenever there was an invasion of China, the invaders killed the priests, destroyed the records and installed their "new enlightenment."
Not unlike the Asian experience, the European invaders of the Western Hemisphere tried, in the name of the Christian Church, to kill the priests, destroy the records and install their "new enlightenment."

Now, we are all aware of the dramatic population shift reported by the 2000 Census, which indicates that the Latino population will be the largest voting minority within the next decade. The stage is set for the Native American tribal leadership to join with our brothers to the south to create a unified and politically potent voice for change.

Central to this is recognizing that many people labeled "Hispanic," "Chicano" or "Latino" in the United States are, in fact, members of extended Indian families from the rural northern tier of Mexico and Central America. There is a growing movement to unite Mexican and Central American communities in the U.S. which are struggling to reconnect with their Indian heritage in spite of the Hispanic or Latino labels. They have brown faces, most speak Spanish, and they are primarily Catholic. However, their heritage cannot be traced solely to Spain-because the Conquistadors were men and brought only horses-but rather to the ancient civilizations of the Americas. Like the American Indian, their stories are of children taken from parents, and the forced adoption of the invaders' names, language, customs and religion.

Olin Texcatlipoca, a leader of the Mexica movement in Denver, Colorado, warns that the Latino-Hispanic agenda will continue to minimize the identity of indigenous peoples if it is not forced to embrace their Indian heritage as descendants of the Aztecs, Mayans, Zapotecs and Olmecs. The traditional lands of virtually all of the American Indian tribes along the Mexican and Canadian borders extended hundreds of miles into the neighboring countries, and historical trading routes extended thousands of miles farther. Because of this cultural and historical reality, the leaders of our indigenous cultures have both the opportunity and the obligation to help "close the sacred circle" and seek a reawakening of our people to their heritage and the changing economic and political climate.

As an editorial policy, approximately one-third of the articles in Native Peoples focus on the arts and lifeways of the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and South America. The magazine is considering republishing these articles in Spanish and English for use in cultural and educational programs. As a magazine board member, I would be pleased to hear of your interest in this important initiative and to learn how we can join to advance the cause of our indigenous peoples throughout the Americas.