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Pic 1: Olmec giant head stone sculpture, Xalapa (Click on image to enlarge) |
Na ni indio --- Yo soy indio --- I am Indian
Na ni indio:
ipampa iquino nech tocatique coyome
queman asilo ipan yancuic tlaltipactli.
Yo soy indio:
porque así me nombraron los hombres blancos
cuando llegaron a esta tierra nueva.
I am Indian:
because the white men named me thus
when they arrived in this new land.
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Pic 2: Detail from mural by Diego Rivera, Palacio Nacional, Mexico City (Click on image to enlarge) |
Na ni indio:
ipampa mocahcayaque coyome
queman asico campa tlanahuattaya nocolhua.
Yo soy indio:
por ignorancia de los hombres blancos
al llegar a estas tierras que gobernaban mis abuelos.
I am Indian:
because of an error of the white men
when they arrived in the land governed by my grandparents.
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Pic 3: Model of Mexican market woman pot seller, Museo de las Américas, Madrid (Click on image to enlarge) |
Na ni indio:
ipampa iquino nech manextihque coyome
tlen ica huelis nopan nenemise
ihuan nech pinatise.
Yo soy indio:
porque así me señalaron los hombres blancos
para justificar su dominio y discriminación.
I am Indian:
because that is how the white men labelled me
in order to crush me and discriminate against me.
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Pic 4: Detail from a mural by Antonio González Orozco, Hospital de Jesús Nazareno, Mexico City (Click on image to enlarge) |
Na ni indio:
ipampa iquino tech tocatique coyome
nochi timasehualme tlen ni yancuic tlaltipactli.
Yo soy indio:
porque así me llamaron los blancos
a todos los hombres de este Continente.
I am Indian:
because that is what the whites called us
all the people of this continent.
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Pic 5: Detail from a mural by Diego Rivera, Palacio Nacional, Mexico City (Click on image to enlarge) |
Na ni indio:
ihuan nama ica nimotlacanequi ni tlahtoli
elen yalhuayca ica nech pinatiyaya coyome.
Yo soy indio:
ahora me enorgullece esta palabra
con la que antes se mofaban de mí los hombres blancos.
I am Indian:
and now this word fills me with pride
the word which yesterday the white men used to jeer us.
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Pic 6: Detail from a painting, Museo de las Américas, Madrid (Click on image to enlarge) |
Na ni indio:
ihuan nama amo nipinahuia ma quino nechilica
ipampa nimati mocuapoloque coyome.
Yo soy indio:
ahora no me avergüenza que así me llamen,
porque sé del error histórico de los blancos.
I am Indian:
and now it causes me no pain that they call me this
because I know the historical error of the whites.
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Pic 7: Detail from a mural by R. Anguiano, National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City. (Click on image to enlarge) |
Na ni indio:
ihuan nama nimati nipixtoc
nonelhuayo ihuan no tlalamiquilis.
Yo soy indio:
ahora sé que tengo mis propias raíces
y mi propio pensamiento.
I am Indian:
and now I know that I have my own roots
and my own thoughts.
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Pic 8: Detail from a mural by Diego Rivera, Palacio Nacional, Mexico City (Click on image to enlarge) |
Na ni indio:
ihuan nama nimati nipixto noxayac,
notlachialis ihuan nonemilis.
Yo soy indio:
ahora sé que tengo rostro propio,
mi propia mirada y sentimiento.
I am Indian:
and now I know that I have my own face
my own look and my own feelings.
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Pic 9: Detail from a screen mural painting by Roberto Cueva del Río (Click on image to enlarge) |
Na ni indio:
ihuan axcan nimati melahuac ni mexicano
ipampa nitlahtohua mexicano,
tlen intlahtol tocolhua.
Yo soy indio:
ahora sé que soy verdaderamente mexicano,
porque hablo el idioma mexicano,
la lengua de los abuelos.
I am Indian:
and now I know that I am truly Mexican
because I speak the Mexican language,
the language of my grandparents.
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Pic 10: School girls, San Isidro Buensuceso, near Puebla (Click on image to enlarge) |
Na ni indio:
ihuan nama tlahuel niyolpaqui
ipampa huala yanquic tonati,
huala yancuic tlanextli.
Yo soy indio:
ahora se alegra mucho mi corazón
porque viene un nuevo día, un nuevo amanecer.
I am Indian:
and now my heart is happy
because a new day is coming, a new dawn.
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Pic 11: Two women from San Isidro Buensuceso, near Puebla, a village where Nahuatl is widely spoken (Click on image to enlarge) |
Na ni indio:
nama nimachilia tlamisa cuesoli,
sampa niyolpaquis ihuan nimoyolchicahuas.
Yo soy indio:
ahora siento que pronto acabará esta tristeza,
otra vez podrá reír mi corazón y ser más fuerte.
I am Indian:
and now I feel that this sadness will soon end,
again my heart will be able to laugh and be stronger.
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Pic 12: Concheros dancers watching others perform (Click on image to enlarge) |
Na ni indio:
ihuan nama sampa yeyectzi nicaqui
ayacachtlatzotzontli ihuan xochitlatzotzontli.
Yo soy indio:
ahora puedo contemplar la belleza de la danza,
eschuchar la música y el canto.
I am Indian:
and now I can contemplate the beauty of the dance,
and hear the music and the song.
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Pic 13: Stone sculpture of an elderly couple, National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City (Click on image to enlarge) |
Na ni indio:
ihuan nama sampa niquinita
ihuan niquintlacaquilia huehuetlacame.
Yo soy indio:
ahora puedo escuchar
la palabra de los ancianos.
I am Indian:
and now I can see and hear
anew the elders.
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Pic 14: Detail from mural by Diego Rivera, Palacio Nacional, Mexico City (Click on image to enlarge) |
Na ni indio:
ihuan nama sampa nech nelhuayotia tlaltipactli:
tonana tlaltipactli.
Yo soy indio:
ahora vuelve a enraizarme la tierra:
nuestra madre tierra.
I am Indian:
and now the earth returns to give me roots,
our mother earth.
Sources:-
• Canto nuevo de Anahuac: Yancuic Anahuac Cuicatl - Poesía Nahuatl by Natalio Hernández, Editorial Diana SA de CV, Mexico DF, 1994
• Corn Is Our Blood: Culture and Ethnic Identity in a Contemporary Aztec Indian Village by Alan R. Sandstrom, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 1991.
Picture sources:-
• Pic 1: photo by Karel Baresh/Mexicolore
• Pix 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14: photos by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore
• Pic 4: photo by Eva Sánchez Fernández/Mexicolore.
This article was uploaded to the Mexicolore website on Jun 28th 2020