N áhuatl mandatory in public schools in Mexico City

[John Sullivan, Ph.D.]

Douglas and Marcos,
	The general rule, according to my experience, is that the offering  
of government positions is one step in the standard procedure for  
buying out/ silencing leaders of social/political movements in  
Mexico. So, by definition, an indigenous leader would not be able to  
hold a government position, and continue to represent the interests  
of indians.
John

John Sullivan, Ph.D.
Profesor de lengua y cultura nahua
Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas
Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas, A.C.
Tacuba 152, int. 47
Centro Histórico
Zacatecas, Zac. 98000
México
Oficina: +52 (492) 925-3415
Fax: +52 (492) 925-3416
Domicilio: +52 (492) 768-6048
Celular: +52 (492) 118-0854
idiez at mac.com
www.idiez.org.mx
www.macehualli.org


On Aug 20, 2007, at 1:20 AM, Marcos Villaseñor wrote:

> Thanks
>
>
> On Aug 19, 2007, at 4:55 PM, Douglas Hinds wrote:
>
>>
>>> I am looking forward to read what the Indigenous leaderships says
>>> about the subject.
>>
>>> Marcos
>>
>> In response to your request (plus I too am interested) I was able to
>> discuss this with Jesus, the ex-head of Sedesol's indigenous support
>> program who is also Secretary General of the Consejo Supremo
>> Nacional Indigena, an organization originally formed in 1521 (the
>> first time the various indigenous "ethnias" had banded together) in
>> order to preserve their culture at the point they realized that the
>> invading forces could not be stopped (Guns, Germs and Steel?).
>>
>> During the 90's the CSNI was reestablished as an Asociación Civil
>> (non profit organization). However, when Amalia Garcia refused Fox's
>> offer to head the Social Development Secretariat, that position was
>> claimed by the party Fox used to get into power. (For those unaware,
>> Mexico's electoral processes are publicly funded -something the USA
>> sorely needs- and the funds are channelled only through political
>> parties).
>>
>> Then, the split between Mexico's National Indigenous Institute (INI)
>> and the Interamerican Indigenous Institute (III) became even
>> greater, when Fox changed the name to something totally different,
>> ignoring the Pazquaro Accords Mexico signed in the 1940's.
>>
>> Although the last PRI government helped form the CSNI originally,
>> the group is interested in establishing it's own political presence
>> in order to achieve the degree of autonomy that the constitution
>> (and the C169) indicates, particularly in the municipalities (which
>> include rural areas in Mexico - city governments do not exist as
>> such, except for the Federal District D.F.) in which they constitute
>> a majority and yet, often lack even a single councilman (regidor).
>>
>> Doing this requires resources that should be available this year or
>> next. (I thought that this might be of interest to some of you,
>> particularly any in Mexico that might want to collaborate).
>>
>> Getting back to Marcelo Ebrand's initiative, Jesus wasn't sure
>> whether the measure is obligatory or not but thought that it was and
>> in any case, it begins tomorrow (Monday). He too wondered where they
>> were going to get all the nahuatl instructors this will take.
>>
>> Unfortunately I still couldn't get through to Santiago in
>> Tamazunchale but I'll try again at 6 am tomorrow. IAC, Jesus agreed
>> that Santiago probably teaches *in* Nahuatl but doesn't teach
>> Nahuatl itself (although I suppose he could).
>>
>> It seems to me that if they're going to teach Nahuatl they ought to
>> teach the culture also.
>>
>> I could also check with another PRD govt. near el D.F. (Edomex) that
>> might know more about this, since it's a PRD initiative and we have
>> an established relationship with that particular local govt.
>>
>> Another thing - I used to teach language and IMO, 3 or 4 classes a
>> week of 2-3 hours each are needed in order to do much good and if
>> it's any less than that I doubt that it will take on much
>> significance, educationally speaking.
>>
>> Douglas Hinds
>>
>>
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>
>
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