Reconnecting Ancestry Through Spirituality

My work connects to my roots and heritage—a showcase of reconnecting and researching Indigenous through ancestral backgrounds. Culture being erased has left the feeling of loss and heartache. Many are disconnected and detribalized from where one came from and who one is through our ancestry. Detribalized meaning being removed from a traditional tribal social structure because of colonization. Colonization is real, and it succeeded. The Indigenous Community proceeds to fight for their voices to be heard. The Colonizer's motive was to mix their pure white blood with Indigenous people to gain power and conquer society for their selfishness. Those native to Mexico (either from there or have parents or grandparents from there) cannot claim to be Indigenous and, by default, identify as White. Native communities today are divided by the idea (Natives from Mexico) of reclaiming the indigenous title. They argue that blood quantum does not determine reclaiming indigenous identities. However, ethnicity is based and reliant on blood quantum. I am not privileged to identify where my family comes from, nor do most individuals. Decolonizing our mindsets by reconnecting ancestry through spirituality will be the only way to establish recognition and regain the strength that was stolen several times.

With influences from other artists as distinct as Suchitra Mattai, Victor Escobedo, Anthony Garcia, Dimitra Milan, and Adrianne Tamar Arachne, works are constructed from both traditional and contemporary mediums as they encouraged my work in a new aspect. These pieces were entirely out of my comfort zone and touched on various ideas I usually don't work with. From installation, paintings, and mixed medium, it is a comprehensive approach to expressing old traditions into modern inventions. These works and medium choices demonstrate a process to understand the spirituality it reached to produce each piece. The horses in the various works symbolize the meaning of freedom. Butterflies means hope and transformation, while the jaguar means protection, power, and majesty. The colors red, blue, yellow, orange, black, and white are Indigenous colors, along with colonization colors from flags to traditional arts. Gold is represented in most works, showcasing how my ancestors wore gold as a manifestation of the sacred.¹ The conquistadors believed the Aztecs had tons and tons of gold, which was true. They had gold, but not as much as their imaginations viewed it.² It is also from a story about Aztec gold that the colonizers could not find, as the Aztecs relocated it because they knew they were trying to steal it.³

Pillsbury, Joanne. Gold in the Ancient Americas. Metmuseum.org. 2020, July, Retrieved June 24, 2022, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gdaa/hd_gdaa.htm
Burton, Tony. Did you know? what the Spanish conquistadors thought was gold was often only an alloy called tumbaga. MexConnect. 2021, May 31. Retrieved June 24, 2022, https://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1238-did-you-know-lots-of-real-aztec-gold-was-only-tumbaga/
Hahn, Kate. 'Lost gold of the Aztecs': 3 things to know about the new treasure hunt. – TV Insider. 2022, March 29. Retrieved June 24, 2022, from https://www.tvinsider.com/1036547/lost-gold-of-the-aztecs-dan-dillman-history/amp/