What Got Me Started- Race & Family History

Great discussion!

What got me started with family history research, was the fact that people
always tell me that I don't look Mexican, but always ask me if I am Native
American (Indian), because of my high cheekbones, my profile, dark skin and
long black hair. So, I decided to start searching for my "Roots" a few
years ago. (Now, this whole family history research is an obsession...er...
a very important interest to me.) People ask me what tribe I am, etc. I
don't know what to say to them, except the usual answer, "Well, my mother is
Mexican and so, ya know, I probably have some native, er, uh, indigenous, er
uh, Mexican Indian in me, ya know?"
My grandmother, surname Martin del Campo (de la yegua rusa) from Jalisco,
was red-haired, white skinned and freckled, but not blue-eyed. I don't look
like her except for the tendency to get freckles. Over the past few years,
as I have worked my way slowly back in time in my research in the areas of
Chihuahua, Sonora, and Jalisco, I have yet to find any indigenous roots. In
Chihuahua, there is certainly a possibility of Raramuri (Tarahumara), but I
don't look anything like them, or Yaqui. In Sonora, there is a possibility
of Opata, though I haven't seen any photos of the Opata. If there was any
Apache, well, that would certainly explain my fiestiness and rebelliousness,
also the fact that my ancestors, the Frias's in Chihuahua were among the
early instigators of the Mexican Revolution and, on my father's side, his
ancestors were among the early American Revolutionaries! So, yeah, I'm a
bit rebellious, you might say ;) And... any Native American on my
German/Scottish father's side, well, hmmm, he never found any in his own
research on his roots.

Well, in the mean time, my mother's side of the tree just gets bigger and
bigger with more and more "Espanolas." So, why do people think I am Indian?
Well, I recently met one of my grandmother's nieces. My mother took a
picture of us together and, wow, we look more like sisters than my real
sister and I did (she is deceased now). I just marvel at this picture.
Now, the only family we have in common is the Martin del Campo's. Her
mother and my grandmother were sisters. She has the same shape to her face
as mine, so my facial features had to come from that line, though my
research is stuck still in Guadalajara. My research is very slow with that
family. Then, I thought of my mom's great-grandmother, Rita Robles. She
was my grandmother's grandmother who married Ismael Martin del Campo.

Then, I realized, what am I doing? I'm just a "Heinz 57." That's all there
is to it and, whether or not there is any native blood in me, all I can say
to that is this: We are all descended from indigenous peoples somewhere in
the world, indigenous Celts, Welsh, Irish, European, Middle Eastern, etc.
etc. We were all once indigenous to someplace.

So, race no longer drives my research. There was something that John Schmal
wrote that, if you have Mexican ancestry, the chances of having indigenous
blood is pretty certain and you won't be able to find out what, because it
was not always recorded. I beg to differ, somewhat. I have found Huichol
Indian baptism records in my research in Huejuquilla El Alto. And, I have
found Apache baptism records in my research in Chihuahua and there have been
others. This could go on and on.......but like others have said, there are
a few "Josefa Valenzuela's" in my family tree, those generic Spanish names
assigned to the native peoples of Mexico.

Well, this is a discussion that is a long one.
Later, gators!
Corrine Ardoin
Santa Maria, California