A Comparison of Immigration Stories

Dear Philip Deloria,

I'm not sure if this is a fair compassion or not, but the way you describe European colonists creating a new identity for themselves in America reminded me of the journey of Mexican immigrants. In his novel Becoming Mexican American, George Sanchez tells the story of how many Mexican immigrants to America created a new culture that merged both their traditions in Mexico and the cultural norms in America. For example, Mexican immigrants who typically practiced their religion as a community adapted to practice their religion at home when they came to Los Angeles. Similarly, European colonizers tried to balance their traditions from Europe with the new environment in America. For example, many Europeans in the middle colonies celebrated May Day, a traditional holiday in Europe, but adapted it to include the performance of an Indian war dance. You argue that in through adopting parts of Indian culture, Europeans “created a new identity—American—that was both aboriginal and European and yet was also neither” (36). Just as Mexican immigrants created a entirely new identity, neither fully Mexican, nor fully American, colonists created an identity that was neither fully European or fully Indian. The experiences of each of these immigrants shows how much identity is influenced by the culture with which one is surrounded by.

From,
Shannon

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