Group activity 4

Group 4: Mestiza Nation: A Future History of My Tribe

5. The grandmother and grandfather have very different reactions to the girl without a mother. How do these reactions illustrate tensions around race, family, and belonging?

The grandfather is a bit hostile and doesn’t want the girl without a mother in his house. He believes the girl is growing up to look “more like [her father] every day,” who is presumably a Native man (98). The grandmother was more fostering of the girl and wanted to “correct her mistakes as a mother” (99). However, both grandparents were still not comfortable with the girl’s mixed race seen in her appearance. The girl was also distant from that aspect of her culture, as her parents weren’t mentioned in the story.

6. The story ends with a shift into a dreamlike or mythical space, where the girl enters another world. How do you interpret this ending? What does it suggest about Indigenous survival and futurity?

We interpreted this ending as the girl connecting with her Indigenous background and finding community. The girl found aspects of herself within the people, and she was welcomed by the others which is shown through the sharing of baskets and the girls showing her how to make a skirt (101). We think the woman represents the dedicated spirit of Indigenous groups to welcome Natives of all backgrounds with a collective sense of respect and understanding.

7. Miranda describes her own ancestry as mixed, including Indigenous, white, Mexican, and Jewish heritage. How does this complexity challenge conventional ideas of identity and nationhood?

This complexity might challenge Miranda's ideas of identity and nationhood because growing up Miranda never had a mother figure to look up to, therefore she grew up around a father and siblings who looked nothing like her, challenging her thoughts of identity. “Her father was why the little girl was different from her older sister and brother. They were light-skinned, with clear blue eyes and hair the color of cornflakes. But the girl without a mother was cinnamon-colored, with thick dark hair, vivid against her family” (97).

8. What does Miranda’s vision of a “Mestiza Nation” suggest about the future? Do you see this as a hopeful vision, a warning, or something else? Why?

When Miranda mentions her vision of a “Mestiza Nation” she is not only suggesting seeing a future of hope, but a future where mixed identities are recognized as powerful instead of being shamed upon. In the quote “When I look toward the next seven generations, I imagine this is the kind of story that my descendants will tell, seven generations from now, in the future mythology of the Mestiza Nation” (97). Miranda envisions her descendants being proud of their background and continuing the story of survival and continuity.