Once upon a time in old Mexico existed the Aztecs and the Toltecs (The Four Agreements) two very advanced societies. Researchers have discovered that their metropolitan social models are really effective for modern business management. One of the universities in Ciudad Juarez Chihuahua is working on bringing back this lost wisdom, creating a course in management at the college school of business.
These ancient peoples were invaded by the Spanish white man. I will leave the atrocities committed to the historians. Suffice it to say that native people became the slaves of the white master. Legend has it that this conquistador was the worst of the worst type of human being to roam the Mexican landscape. Some of this translated into taking any Indian woman they wanted. This was the birth of the mestizo on Mexican soil.
What has been obscured from the history books is that these mixed blood children were not considered humans. They were called coyotes, animals that were not worthy of a birth certificate. Modern day coyotes have emerged to the top from their lowly socio-economic caste basement level imposed by Spaniards. Jesse Almazan was a very famous Mexican American artist whose works hang in the Smithsonian Institute. He immortalized the Coyote by painting him as an abstract icon that emerged after his near death experience.
Jesse was a pioneer contributing to the birth of Chicano art but he aspired to greater heights. He joined the military and when he retired President Reagan held a ceremony honoring his service in the Rose Garden. His Coyote theme paintings are chapters in a book that tell the story of the different phases of struggle of the Mexican people.
Legend has it that the coyote was a revered and feared animal by the Native American Indians. He was a benefactor that led them to food and a trickster to be feared. This may be one reason that Mexican people are fatalistic in their outlook on life. We are a mixture of myth combined with two genetic and cultural pools. America is full of mestizos that have used their primal talents to guide companies to greater riches.
President Obama is just one other example of the best of two races and cultures. This week the symbolic Coyote is on stage for the world to see. Just like president Obama, I identify with his love of his grandmother and the loving white people who have helped me in my path. I love America and the American way of life. At the same time I love my Mexican culture and my heritage that makes me a unique Texican.
Legends of the Native American Indian tribes abound with the prophecy given to them by the white buffalo woman of how the oppressive rule by the white man would run its course. In the words of my three yearl old, “Are we there yet are we there yet?”
~Victor
