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Yucatec Maya Organizations in San Francisco, California: Ethnic Identity Formation across Migrant Generations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Shannan L. Mattiace  and
Patricia Fortuny Loret de Mola
Shannan L. Mattiace
Affiliation:
Allegheny College
Patricia Fortuny Loret de Mola
Affiliation:
Center for Advanced Study and Research in Social Anthropology (CIESAS)
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Abstract

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Using results of field research among Yucatec Maya in San Francisco, we compare two types of migrant associations: hometown associations (HTAs) and social service agencies, specifically in terms of the use and expression of ethnic identity. We argue that HTA leaders rely on a regional identity based largely on a sense of shared culture, which reproduces the dominant and widespread view of ethnic identity in Yucatán, namely that the Maya are not an indigenous people per se. In contrast, leaders of the social service agencies explicitly utilize indigenous identity in their programming and services. We maintain that the latter are reconceptualizing Maya identity, adopting a US multicultural framework that emphasizes ethnic difference as a basis for making claims for resources and rights.

Resumen

Resumen

Este documento se deriva del trabajo etnográfico realizado entre gente maya yucateca en San Francisco, California. El objetivo central es examinar la transformación de la identidad étnica a través de las generaciones de migrantes. Con este propósito describimos las estrategias de operación de dos tipos de organizaciones de migrantes, las llamadas casas del migrante o hometown associations, que en Yucatán se conocen como federaciones y que incluyen diversos clubes, y dos agencias de servicios sociales. El argumento central sostiene que los líderes de las federaciones exhiben una identidad regional, fundada en un sentido de cultura compartida que tiende a reproducir un punto de vista generalizado sobre la identidad en Yucatán, que afirma que los mayas yucatecos no son indígenas. Los campesinos yucatecos no se han organizado hasta el momento en torno a una identidad indígena y tampoco se auto asignan las categorías de indios, mayas o indígenas. En contraste, los líderes de las organizaciones no gubernamentales, Asociación Mayab e Instituto Familiar de la Raza, utilizan en forma explícita la identidad indígena, tanto en sus programas de atención como en los servicios que ofrecen. Aquí sustentamos que los últimos han reconceptualizado la identidad maya, adoptando un marco que es propio del multiculturalismo norteamericano, en el que se enfatiza la diferencia racial como la base para reclamar recursos y derechos.

Type
Research Reports and Notes
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , 2015 , pp. 201 - 215
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 by the Latin American Studies Association

Footnotes

The authors wish to thank Tomas Nonnenmacher, Mirian Solís, and Gabriela Vargas for their helpful comments and careful reading of this article. Special thanks also to Quetzil Castañeda for his meticulous reading and to the anonymous LARR reviewers whose constructive suggestions greatly improved the final product. We also thank the many individuals whom we interviewed in San Francisco, both named and unnamed. María Ausencia Estrella provided warm hospitality and conversation in San Francisco. We are especially indebted to Ángel Granados for his generosity and abundant enthusiasm. We thank the A. W. Mellon Foundation for its financial support of our fieldwork.

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