Expert: Daniel Hogan - 6/9/2005

Question
What are a Mexican's roots?  Are they the closest cousin to the "native american?"

Answer
The question really is what is a Mexican, which has as many definitions as the amount of people one asks. A modern Mexican, that is, a person born and raised in the country of Mexico, is either a pure bred Indian, of which there are several root cultures, or is a mixture of many ethnicities and cultures.
The non-Indian Mexican is mostly referred to as a Mestizo, a mixture of European and Indian blood and culture. The European side would be Spanish, French, German, Irish, Scotch, Italian, etc. There have been many European immigrations to Mexico including Americans throughout its long history. So there is no real answer for what is a Mexican. A Mexican Indian is more precise. The base cultures include Maya, Toltec, Zapotec, Yaqui and "Aztec". I mention Aztec in quotations because the jury is still out on what their roots are. Many believe the Aztecs are a branch of an American Southwest culture that immigrated south several hundred years ago, which is recent. Since these cultures are from Central and North America, therefore there has to be a connection to American Indians. I believe and there is ample evidence that these cultures had contact with each other over vast distances which before was thought impossible. I hope this helps.
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