The Mascogos (also known as ''negros mascagos'') are an

Afro-descendant The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were e ...

group in Coahuila,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Centered on the town of El Nacimiento in

Múzquiz Municipality Múzquiz is one of the 38 municipalities of Coahuila, in north-eastern Mexico. The municipal seat lies at Santa Rosa de Múzquiz. The municipality covers an area of . As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 62,710. Of these, 242 ...

, the group are descendants of

Black Seminoles The Black Seminoles, or Afro-Seminoles are Native American-Africans associated with the Seminole people in Florida and Oklahoma. They are mostly blood descendants of the Seminole people, free Africans, and escaped slaves, who allied with Seminole ...

escaping the threat of

slavery in the United States The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South. Sl ...

History

After the

forced relocation Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...

of the

Seminoles The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and ...

and Black Seminoles from Florida to

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...

, a group led by Seminole sub-chief

Wild Cat Felidae () is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a felid (). The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to the dom ...

and Black Seminole chief

John Horse John Horse (c. 1812–1882), also known as Juan Caballo, Juan Cavallo, John Cowaya (with spelling variations) and Gopher John, was of mixed ancestry (African and Seminole Indian) who fought alongside the Seminoles in the Second Seminole War in F ...

moved to northern Mexico. The group settled at El Nacimiento in 1852. They worked for the Mexican government to protect against Indian raids. Many of the Seminoles died from smallpox and many of those remaining eventually returned to the United States along with some of the Black Seminoles. In May 2017, the Governor of Coahuila

Rubén Moreira Valdez Rubén Ignacio Moreira Valdez (b. Saltillo, Coahuila, April 18, 1963) is a Mexican politician. He has a degree in Law from the Autonomous University of Coahuila (UAdeC) and in Social Sciences from the Superior Normal School of his state. He h ...

signed a decree that recognized the ''tribu de los negros mascogos'' as a "pueblo indígena de Coahuila". He said that he hopes the Mascogos can begin receiving funds from the Instituto Nacional de Pueblos Indígenas by 2018. Moreira Valdez also highlighted that the history of the Mascogos, Kickapoo and

Chinese immigrants Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, ref ...

were now included in the state's history textbooks.

Culture

Mascogo may derive from

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands The ''capeyuye'', religious songs accompanied by hand clapping, are performed at funerals, New Years and Christmas. In 2015, a capeyuye album titled ''Mascogo Soul'' featuring four Mascogo matriarchs was published. The Mascogos celebrate

Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining "June" and "nineteenth", it is celebrated on the anniversary of General Order No. 3, i ...

. During the festivities, the community is visited by family members and Black Seminoles from Brackettville, Texas. Mascogo traditional dishes include soske (a type of

atole ''Atole'' (, from Nahuatl '' ātōlli'' ), also known as ''atolli'' and ''atol de elote'', is a traditional hot corn- and masa-based beverage of Mexican origin. Chocolate ''atole'' is known as ''champurrado'' or ''atole''. It typically accom ...

), tetapún (bread made from

camote The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable. The young shoot ...

), pumpkin or

piloncillo Panela () or rapadura (Portuguese pronunciation: ) is an unrefined whole cane sugar, typical of Central and Latin America. It is a solid form of sucrose derived from the boiling and evaporation of sugarcane juice. Panela is known by other na ...

empanada An empanada is a type of baked or fried turnover consisting of pastry and filling, common in Spanish, other Southern European, Latin American, and Iberian-influenced cultures around the world. The name comes from the Spanish (to bread, i.e., ...

s and pan de mortero. The traditional costume of the Mascogo women is a long, polka-dotted dress, an apron and a kerchief tied around the head. As of 2016, the only "pure Mascogo" was 85-year old Lucía Vázquez, a result of frequent out-marriage in the community. According to Homero Vásquez, an elderly Mascogo whose mother was from Chihuahua, starting in the 1930s there was an influx of farmers to the region resulting in an increase of marriage with outsiders. There is significant migration to other parts of Mexico and the United States of the young people of El Nacimiento due to a lack of opportunities. Afro-Seminole Creole is used for the capeyuye and is spoken mostly by the elderly.

References

{{Americans abroad American diaspora in Mexico Black Seminoles African–Native American relations Mexican people of African-American descent Muscogee Indigenous peoples in Mexico Peoples of the African-American diaspora

History

Culture

See also

References