©Roberto Calderón de Vega
ABSTRACT Since the late twentieth century, the "indigenous question" has conquered quotas of debate among the Mexican people never achieved. Both public opinion and state institutions began to be permeable to the demands of some indigenous peoples marginalized from economic, cultural and political forces since the Spanish Conquest. Thus, the Mexican-Indian duo that had been consecrated as an unfair and unequal relationship for centuries seems to react to a twenty-first century that has opened many opportunities for the understanding and the formation of a new, more equitable and plural Mexican state. The purpose of this work is the analysis of the issues considered "indigenous" in the Mexican nation, from the Spanish Conquest to the present day as well as the establishment of the great landmarks in the pro-indigenous struggle in the twentieth century. We´ll find three historical currents of thought about the indigenous, linked to historical periods: the pre-institutional indigenism, which rooted in the Spanish colonization, influenced by medieval Catholicism, paternalism, segregation, and the economic interests of Europeans; the post-revolutionary indigenism, from which emerges the modern Mexican state and the claim for social justice; and finally, the neoindigenism, more tolerant and democratic, that finally accepts the construction of a Mexican state that looks, understands and defends the diversity. We also expose an historical context divided in three stages: one from the colonization of Mexico to the end of the “Porfiriato”; one from the Mexican Revolution to 1970, with the celebration of the “Patzcuaro” Congress and the birth of the National Indian Institute; and finally, the last 40 years, including the creation of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, the Law for Dialogue and Reconciliation in Chiapas, the Commission of Concord and peacemaking and the San Andres Accords, keys to understanding the indigenous question today. Most of the sources i have consulted agree in one thing: there is a lot of work ahead to make a new mexican state, one who undertakes and protects his plurinationality. Finally, I would like to mention the assistance of Eloy Gomez Pellón, director of this work, without whose supervision this work would not have been possible.
