The Indigenous Roots of a Mexican-American Family

In their second collaboration together, the authors begin their narration by taking the reader back thousands of years to reveal the complex and fascinating history of Mexico's Indian tribes, and conclude with the story of nine generations of the Indian-Mexican-American Morales family. Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, an incredible diversity of aboriginal peoples lived in the area we now know as Mexico. After the conquest of the Aztecs, the greatest challenge to continued Spanish domination in Mexico lay in the northern lands of Zacatecas and Jalisco. It was here that the Chichimeca Indians waged half a century of guerilla warfare against the invading Spaniards. In the second half of the book, the ordinary lives and activities of nine generations of the Morales family are followed through three centuries as they evolve from Indian warriors to Indian peasants and, eventually, to citizens of the Mexican Republic. Then, in 1912, as the Mexican Revolution raged, the Morales family sought refuge in the United States and made its home in Kansas City. This history follows the evolution of one family through a series of cultural, spiritual, linguistic, genetic, religious, professional, and personal transformations. 2003, 5? x 8?, indices, paper, 203 pp. $26.50 M2469 ISBN: 0-7884-2469-6