Originally published in French by Éditions Karthala in 2012, Indígenas de la nación is a profound reflection on the political and social conditions that allow for the identification of certain groups or individuals as indigenous within the framework of the modern Mexican state, whose nationalist discourse—forged after the revolution of 1910–20 to give legitimacy to the new regime—postulates a close link between autochthony and nation. Based on a historical and ethnographic case study, this reflection is centered on how indigenous alterity is elaborated, lived, and practiced in Milpa Alta, a rural demarcation of the former Federal District (today Mexico City) comprised of 12 towns.
Milpa Alta constitutes an enclave of indigenous culture and is a core of resistance against modernity and miscegenation; its territorial organization can be traced back to the sixteenth century, and its demographic density is the lowest in Mexico City, with an above 85 percent native majority...
