The Open Wound Final Exam Project

This paper will argue that the healing of “La Herida Abierta” (the open wound) is one of the most important concepts impressed upon us by Chicano studies over the last 50 years. The open wound can be characterized by many different generational scars in many different societies, but in my paper I will focus on the effects of Spanish and American Imperialism on Latinx culture.  By examining the detrimental effects of the elimination of indigenous religious practices, the creation of the Mexico/American border, and the war on drugs I will show the people both inside and outside the community there are cultural/emotional wounds that have been created and the importance of actively engaging in healing practices for these wounds to create a better world for future generations to live in.

America has had a long history of imperialism, but we will begin much farther back in history during the Spanish Inquisition. During the Spanish inquisition when Spain was colonizing communities of color, they were eradicating all other religions besides Catholicism. Many indigenous communities that were colonized practiced Brujeria. This is a broad term encompassing many religious practices of indigenous peoples across the world. It was especially important to indigenous women of the time as Yu mentions in The Young Brujas…:

“...in the 16th century, women of all social levels lost most of their legal autonomy after marriage—while their husbands retained the right to beat their wives or have illicit affairs. So, rather than counting on a judiciary and religious system that would only let them down, women turned to sexual magic and witchcraft to combat omnipresent patriarchal domination. But soon, due to colonization, brujería became a taboo practice that warranted prosecution and, for those considered full-blown witches, execution. The negative stereotype of the bruja as an evil enchantress has lingered culturally ever since”(p. 2-3)

Brujeria during this time was a way women were able to empower themselves and hope for a better future by taking matters into their own hands, as well as connecting with their ancestors. 

“[The religion] is very oral, you can’t just read the book about it and get it. You have to get taught through oral education and an elder” (The Young Brujas… , p. 4).

By eliminating these religious practices and replacing it with the patriarchally dominated Catholicism, the indigenous populations were hit with gender oppression, cultural oppression, and a disconnection from their ancestors. A deep open wound was created by the stereotype of the Bruja as well. This trauma was internalized and passed down many generations causing a deep disconnection from their roots and possibly causing spiritual disease such as “espanto” for not honoring their dead with their religious practices. Such a disconnection has been known to cause issues with learning, mental health, and adaptation to stressful situations. 

Some time later, we begin to see the US start to establish its border between its own states and Mexico. We see this effects chicanos in a number of ways described by Anzaldua:

“[We were] denied direct information regarding our tribal affiliations. Since our
origins are usually in the southwest and México, Chicanos’ Indian roots
encompass a range of nations including Apache, Yaqui, Papago, Navajo,
and Tarahumara from the border regions, as well as dozens of Native tribes
throughout México.”(p. 142 Curandera of conquest) 

The establishment of this border cut into areas that were home to both Native Americans/Mayans as well as Mexicans. These people lived for centuries or even millenia Sin Fronteras, or without borders and freely crossed the land as they pleased. Sin Fronteras is a concept that one's heritage is inherently rooted in the land you were born on and the culture you live in, not the country that claims to own the land you exist on. Once these borders were established this cut off families and cultural groups from each other legally due to the establishment of border enforcement. From this separation we see many wounds created through the separation of family as well as the division of identity created in mestizas or those with mixed ethnic backgrounds. Hartley touches on this by mentioning Anzalduas’ writings:

“She also points out the tendency among some Native women to see Chicanas
as appropriationists who continue “the abuse of native spirituality and
the Internet appropriation of Indian symbols, rituals, vision quests, and
spiritual healing practices like shamanism. Some natives put Chicanas/os
on the side of the dominators and claim our fantasies are similar to those of
‘whites.’”(p. 142, The Curandera of Conquest)

This mixed culture forced upon Chicanos by Spaniards and Americans alike causes divisions among their own people for practicing religious and medicinal traditions that date back to their own ancestors. This is another example of an open wound that is especially deep since it is an ancestral division amongst genetic heritage that is very hard to repair. They are lumped together with the colonists even though their own ancestors were victims of the colonists' oppression. Many within Chicano culture and especially outside Chicano culture do not realize the deep division these historical sins of imperialism have caused and they must be recognized in order to be healed. 

This brings us to the war on drugs. The necessity for this war was largely created by the establishment of the US/Mexico border, as well as the results of the United State's imperialist policies. The US’s economic and resource domination of various countries in South America as well as the establishment of NAFTA created an economic crisis in Mexico and South America that has caused many people in those countries to lose their jobs and resort to either immigrating to America or turning to the lucrative drug trade where much trauma can occur. We see this mentioned in The Power of Stories:

“Juan Rodriguez’s family fled violence-torn Colombia in 1995. Colombia was the third-largest recipient of U.S. military aid in the 1990’s. It was a front line in the U.S. drug war, which forced many Colombians to flee their country and come to the United States”(The power of stories, P. 8).

Once the families arrive in the US they can experience a plethora of problems that make every day life much harder than it needs to be. Things like native hostility, racism, and financial aid problems for students occur frequently. We saw this happen to Rodriguez when he reached out to his counselor to apply for colleges in The Power of Stories. He was a very bright student and had dreams of going to a prestigious university. When he reached out to his counselor he was questioned about his immigration status and when he mentioned he didn’t have documentation she told him that he’s “illegal” and not supposed to be there. He was told he was unable to go to college because documentation is required so he should go back to his own country to pursue education there. This made him deeply depressed and nearly sabotaged his grades, only for him to later find out that what she said was not just racist and aggressive, but completely untrue. 

These open wounds are a large cause of the division we see amongst a great number of people in the world today. To see peace among nations we must recognize our open wounds and work to heal them together. There are many opportunities to provide remedios or curacions to alleviate the pain caused by them. A remedio or curacion can be interpreted as a healing act. One such healing act we’ve seen to help alleviate the damage done by the creation of borders and the war on drugs was by the California government through the California DREAM act. This act established access for undocumented students in California to private scholarships and financial aid. 

It is vital for those outside the community to recognize the suffering imperialism has caused and move to help those affected heal from these traumas by establishing more programs like this. This can be done in many forms such as religious/spiritual practice recognition and education, defunding of deportation operations, chicano/native american cooperation movements, establishment of more financial aid programs for migrant education, and greater efforts to restore economic prosperity to countries in South America. Overall, Chicano studies legacy of identifying “La Herida Abierta” has benefitted a multitude of communities in providing a lens all of us can see through to recognize the wounds created by imperialism that have decoupled us from our heritage and divided the communities of the world at large. Through the recognition and healing of these wounds we can learn both inside and outside the Chicano community to relate to the people around us and create a more harmonious world. 


Does this paper answer the prompt below:

What is the most important issue ( social, political, economic, philosophical, and historical) that Chicanx studies has provided to its students (YOU!) over the last 50 years? Now that you have completed this course, what do you think is most important for Chicana/o/x or Latinx people to learn about and why OR what do you think people who are not part of the community need to know about the experiences of this community?
Your task is to demonstrate and teach the important topic/issue/theme through the final project.

ask
 Mark "x" when complete
Create an outline for yourself to organize your thoughts.
This should include:
Brainstorm your presentation style: recorded presentation, a recorded conversation/interview, development of community resource or website, or by creating some visual art (painting/media/skit/zine). 

Your initial thoughts on the prompt. They do not need to be fully formed but there should be a brainstorm on each question.

What 3 key terms will you use? You can just list the key terms and why you think they are important. 

What course material might you cite? 

 

Complete the project.
Finalize your presentation style: recorded presentation, a recorded conversation/interview, development of community resource or website, or by creating some visual art (painting/media/skit). 

Make sure to include 3 key terms 

Make sure you have at least 2 citations from course material 

Make sure you answer all parts of the question clearly and with detail. 

 

Submit your project.

It is your responsibility to make sure the video and any links or uploads work. If I can't read or open your file that means I can't grade your final.

Final exam projects or short papers will be uploaded to Canvas here> Final Exam Project by 5/22/24 or 5/15/24 for 15 points extra credit.