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Indigenous Identities on the U.S.-Mexico Border

When the existing U.S.-Mexico border was established, the homelands of numerous indigenous peoples were split, dividing the populations of once-whole indigenous communities. The creation of the political border has resulted in physical and ideological barriers dividing traditionally united peoples on the U.S.-Mexico border, impacting notions of local indigenous identity within their communities. For indigenous peoples on the U.S.-Mexico border, the border impacts perceptions of self and “Other” as shifting beliefs and attitudes regarding the border shape identity construction among indigenous border residents. This essay addresses the complexity of identity construction and representation for U.S.-Mexico border indigenous peoples, with a focus on U.S. indigenous community members. I argue that indigenous individuals with U.S. citizenship and belonging to indigenous nations with cultural ties to Mexico experience a complex process of identity construction that may involve shifting perceptions of self in relationship to nationality, ethnicity, and politics. While U.S. members of border indigenous nations primarily identify by community or tribal affiliation, border peoples may also identify as “Native American,” “Native,” “Indigenous,” “Indígena,” “Indian,” “American Indian,” “American,” or “Mexican” depending on social context and personal life experience. As Tohono O’odham Nation member Ramon Valenzuela states, “I am O’odham first, and American or Mexican second or third” (Archibold 2006). I further argue that conflations of race and nationality among border indigenous