Gente de Maiz

As Xicanx people we learn about the genocide that our people experienced at the hands of Spanish Conquistadors and the intergenerational trauma it’s left us with. Recently I learned that during the invasion of Tenochitlan the people buried sacred bundles, with the hopes that the Spanish would leave, and they would be able to dig them out and go back to their ancestral ways. It’s taken hundreds of years for us to dig out those ancestral bundles and begin to relearn those ways and pray again to Tlaloc, Coyolxauhqui, and Tonantzin. In this process of reconnecting we’ve learned about the Maiz Narratives, as Dr. Cintli writes about them, the stories that tell of our history on this continent. These stories connect us to one of the things that has been with us throughout the centuries, the sacred maiz, it connects us to our ancestors, it is who we are. Just as our ancestors domesticated the maiz and thrived with it, today it reconnects us to who we are, la Gente de Maiz. We’re thriving now, realizing we are indigenous to these lands and it is our responsibility to take care of the land that nurtures us. This piece features @lapistolera an amazing organizer from Phoenix, Arizona. She has been part of the movement to defend migrants who have been under attack by the US Government.