I am Indian:

By the white men's mistake

When they arrived in this land that my ancestors governed.

I am Indian:

Because the white men stigmatized me

In order to crush me and discriminate against me.

I am Indian:

Because the white men call

All the men of this continent so.

I am Indian:

And now I am proud of this word

With which the white men laughed at me yesterday.

I am Indian:

And now I have no shame that they call me so

Because I know the historical mistake of the white men.

I am Indian:

And now I know that I have my own roots

And my own thought.

I am Indian:

And now I know that I have my own face,

My own eyesight, and my own feelings.

I am Indian:

And now I know that I am truly Mexican

Because I speak the Mexican language, the tongue of my ancestors.

I am Indian:

And now my heart becomes so happy

Because a new day is coming, a new sunrise.

I am Indian:

And now I feel this sadness will soon end,

And once again my heart can smile and be stronger.

I am Indian:

And now I can contemplate the beauty of the dance,

And listen to the music and the singing.

I am Indian:

And now I can see and listen

Again to the elders.

I am Indian:

And now I am rooted again in the land,

Our mother land.

Nahuatl Poem

Coyote wants us to live

our communal lands

our communal labor

our native tasks

our native speech

that's why he wants us to forget

our native clothes

our native way of life

our native way of thought.

all that is ours

all that we produce

all that the milpa produces