8 Latinas Who Are Proudly Embracing Their Indigenous Heritage

If you follow Mayelli Ayala on social media, you will see a beautiful display of Danza Azteca Videos, anti-racist advocacy, and links for accessible health screenings. She's the first to say what the dances mean to her.

"There are many reasons why I feel proud, but most importantly, empowered, in practicing the traditional Conchero ways of Danza Azteca Chichimeca," she tells POPSUGAR Latina. "Simply the connection you make with the instruments around you that leads you to feeling the ultimate freedom, through your steps and your prayers. Being able to have that connection makes me feel proud and honored that I can experience that." Her advice to others? "My biggest recommendation to other Latinxs searching for clues of their own Indigenous backgrounds is to have conversations with their elders. Asking questions gives so much information. I hope that I can continue sharing my life with others to let people know: WE ARE STILL HERE."

Where to find her:

@mayelliquetzaliztli

Cece Meadows is the Founder and CEO of Prados Beauty, an inclusive beauty brand that seeks to uplift and inspire. The company's line celebrates Indigenous and POC beauty and launched their "Matriach Line" on Indigenous Peoples' Day of this year. Her life is an inspiring story of how we can redefine and reclaim our own sense of beauty and belonging by embracing who we are. "Our resilience always makes me so proud. My people, Yaqui and Comanche have both survived genocide and erasure," she tells us. "When I think about the progress in the Indigenous community and the work that still needs to be done, I feel such a sense of responsibility. I feel in my spirit that my grandparents and my ancestors are guiding me in every step that I take. I used to feel like I didn't belong when I was younger, stuck between generational traditions and western culture of what beauty and success should look like. As I have come full circle into who I am, I am so proud of my family for being steadfast and adamant in teaching us our traditions, languages and heritage."

Where to find her:

@pradosbeauty

@cecemeadows

Alejandra Ortiz, better known in the Indigenous community as "Warukuma," is a Borikua of Taîno descent and a traditional cultural practitioner, archaeologist, educator, promoter and defender of the Ancestral Indigenous Caribbean culture. She gives insight into how non-Indigenous people can uplift the native Latinx community. "One of the ways in which "amayauna" (non-Indigenous people) can support native peoples is by respecting and valuing the worldview, beliefs and rituals of Indigenous cultures, since many times our cultural practices are frowned upon or are looked without a mind of understanding cultural diversity," she says. "A very strong way to uplift Indigenous people is when you interact with Indigenous cultures, do not appropriate their traditional practices to mix them with practices or beliefs of other peoples, thus creating a whole 'new culture'. This "New Age Indigenous culture', in a certain way is another version of colonization towards Indigenous Ancestral cultures." Ortiz recommends that folks take the time to educate themselves and make an effort to understand Indigenous culture, instead of judging it from the Western perspective of seeing the world. "We must also respect the places where current Indigenous communities live and their natural resources, not violate our rights and support us in our struggles to protect our Mâmona (Mother Earth), who is our livelihood and we must always remain ingratiated with Her," she adds.

Where to find her:

@espiritu.ancestral

Jessica Tlazoltiani Zamarripa is the co-founder of the Institute of Chicanx Psychology in Austin, Texas. Her work with the institute has been to help others root and reclaim their own ancestral lineage and heal intergenerational trauma. Through Nahuatl language and inspiration, she and her husband Dr. Manuel Zamarripa work to empower others through ongoing courses at the Institute. "We have deep strengths in the teachings and the medicines that our ancestors left for us," she tells POPSUGAR Latina. "Though many of them got burned and destroyed in the invasion/conquest, we kept the sacred fire alive in the kitchens with the mujeres. We kept the stories and orally passed down the medicines and the rituals and the ceremonies through cuentos, platicas and cantos. We have powerful energies for everything that is: fire, water, wind, cosmos, tierra, all of our hearts, sacred directions and much, much more." Zamarripa believes that there are so many energies and concepts left from our ancestors to help guide our way. "There's an undeniable magic of who we are, the resilience, the medicine, the relationships to the natural world, natural cycles like the seasons and the cycle of our breath. Magic in our relationships to all that exist.
We can't deny… We have so many cultural wounds and yet, so many cultural
strengths to help us be resilient to address those cultural wounds," she adds.

Where to find her:

@xicanpsych

Medicine woman Dra. Rocio Rosales Meza works with others on to heal ancestral and intergenerational trauma. A self-identifying Xicana, Indigenous woman in diaspora, Meza is a medicine woman practicing Indigenous Earth medicine and was initiated into the Q'ero Inca lineage. She says that we are arriving at a time when people are seeking a connection to their heritage, ancestry, and the earth. "We all have to do our part to put that forth. Now is the time to end destruction and reconnect to the earth," she says. "Our ancestors are calling us back to remember who we are. Decolonial work is about how to live our life in a way that's in harmony with the earth. It's about living in balance with the greater collective. Ask yourself how you can tend to the earth. We are people of the earth. Your connection to the land is what will help you remember." Dr Meza has upcoming courses on decolonization work and healing, and information can be found on her website.

Where to find her:

@dr.rosalesmeza

Author Juliet Diaz is an Indigenous Taina woman from Cuba and a first generation American daughter of immigrants from Cuba. As a bestselling writer of books on spirituality and mysticism, including Witchery and Plant Witchery, the ritual of connecting to spirit and ancestors is very sacred to her. "People forget that connecting to their ancestors is simple; it is not as complicated as some make it seem," she tells us. "They are there with you RIGHT NOW. Listening, holding you, supporting you, whispering wisdom into the very vessel your Spirit lives in. An easy and powerful daily practice is to sit with them and commune. I have an ancestral altar, and that is where I do most of my ancestral work and prayers; however, you do not need an altar to connect and or communicate. Sit in nature, go to the rivers, waterfalls, oceans, lakes, you can sit in the park under a tree. All you have to do is start the connection by simply having a conversation with them. Talk about your day, your dreams, your fears, hopes, and visions. The more you do this, the more you will start to feel them, hear them, and receive their wisdom and message more clearly." She discusses this more in her newest book, The Altar Within, which takes readers through the deep work of decolonizing their spirituality.

Where to find her:

@iamjulietdiaz

Artist Ayala has gained a notable following on Instagram with her colorful portraits of Latina icons like Selena and Celia Cruz. She discusses her journey to reclaiming her own Indigeneity and has advice for anyone looking to do the same. "I came across a quote once that really resonated with me. It read, 'I am proudly indigenous because my mother & grandmother were not allowed to be.' Like many who were born into identifying with Latino culture, our racial identity has been completely stripped from us due to colonization," she says. "Through the struggle and survival of my ancestors, I have the opportunity of self actualization. Sharing the history of the native people of the Americas, colonization and the African diaspora will greatly support Indigenous people. A vast number of people who identify with Latino culture do not even know they have very high percentages of Native American blood in their DNA. There is also something to be said about our Indigenous people at the border who are suffering from generations of trauma and poverty. There is still barely any representation of Native American people in all forms of media, especially within Latinx media unfortunately, and this needs to change. Ayala says she suspected she had Indigenous ancestry because of history and also her physical features. But was curious about what her numerical breakdown looked like. "A DNA test revealed I am 80% Indigenous. It was a physical and emotional confirmation of what I already knew," she adds. "My family was never able to embrace being Native American with pride and in seeing my results I have a stronger sense of self esteem. I would recommend this experience for other people who were born into identifying with Latino culture but are racially Native American."

Where to find her:

@artbyayala

Born and raised in Los Angeles, self-identifying Xicana Indigena Claudia Serrato is an Indigenous Culinary Anthropologist. She studies the foods of her ancestors as a way to help herself and others find a physical and spiritual sense of grounding. She says there is much wisdom to be gained in learning of the earth and foods consumed by early Indigenous people.

"There is so much to learn from the eating habits of our Indigenous ancestors. To start, they ate food that was geographically localized," she says. "Not too close but not too far. They also ate ecologically, that is, in cosmic alignment with all of creation. Indigenous foodways, diets, and eating habits were also seasonal. They tasted the Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Eating habits were also sustainable. Food did not go scarce. People knew how to eat in balance. Naturally, the food was organic. Our Indigenous ancestors did not know the taste of GMOs, artificial flavors, and unnatural additives. Most importantly, our Indigenous ancestors eating habits were Native. That is, Indigenous to space, place, and time." Serrato suggests an easy way to remember from the eating habits of our ancestors is to remember that an eating habit always arrives with a lesson whether it's local, ecological, sustainable, seasonal, organic, or native.

Where to find her:

@xicana_indigena