Cultural Outing- Latino/a Studies Professor's Work on Trans-National Performances of Indigeneity

Micaela Diaz-Sanchez PhD Mellon Post doctorate Fellow in Latino/a Studies presents “Body as Codex-ized Word Chicana+Mexicana Transnational Performances of Indigeneity”:
For my cultural outing I attended a lecture/reading by Professor Micaela Diaz-Sanchez held by Northwestern’s Latino/Latina Studies Program. Professor Diaz-Sanchez addressed the topic of the representation of indigeneity by two different Chicana/Mexicana performance artists and how indigeneity is presented in both the artistic and political realms of modern Mexican society. Her paper focused on two distinct performances by two artists- Jesusa Rodriguez and Celia Herrera-Rodriguez. Her analysis of the two works delved into the issues of class, gender, race, and sexuality that arise within the two pieces, focusing specifically on the codification of class in the disclusion of Mexico’s indigenous peoples in modern-day Mexico. Jesusa and Celia take very differing approaches to represent the struggles of indigenous peoples in Mexico. Jesusa’s performance piece, entitled Coatlicue addresses the broader sense of indigeneity and it’s place within Mexico’s national identity. Her piece involved a giant puppet of an indigenous “mother goddess” who chides her children of Mexico for forgetting their indigenous roots and the modern political schema that is working to keep Mexican indigeneity as solely a memory. Celia’s piece is a more intimate portrayal of the influence of the indigenous as she tells her own story and the story of her family. She shows how everyday activities like ironing or opening a blanket are rooted in the collective indigenous past. Her focus is a more personal historical recover of the indigenous. With both artists, even with their differing cultural politics and aesthetic techniques, work towards addressing the issues present in modern Mexico in regards to indigenous rights and the collective embracing of the indigenous past (specifically by Chicano/as). Professor Diaz-Sanchez’s work was completely applicable to our class discussions of how performance can be used as a political tool. Her talk also briefly mentioned Cherrie Moraga’s The Hungry Woman. For our purposes, within this class, the fight of the indigenous is similar to that of the borderland people who are searching for an identity as a group who is claimed by neither side. Both artists use their differing artistic merit to fight for the rights of these groups, focusing on the class struggles that emerge as a member of an ostracized or forgotten group. In a similar vien, the borderlands are an unclaimed space that people attempt to push to the back of our collective historical memories, as though not acknowledging the truth will make a change. As these artists prove, it is only through drawing awareness to these issues that we will ever move forward.