[2] “Hayandose”, in Beyond el Barrio: Everyday Life in Latina/o America,[3] examines the place of indigenous people within the broader scope of Latino Studies and also within the national political landscape.
The community of Yalaltecos in Los Angeles comes together collectively and participates in festivals, ceremonies, tandas and other small gatherings where they can gossip in Zapotec, share food, dance, financially and emotionally support one another, and engage in other customs and traditions from their place of origin.
The existence and practice of customs and traditions that were once thought to be exclusive to Yalálag, but that have now permeated American society, demonstrates the transnational character of Yalaltecos indigeneity that makes possible the process of Hayandose through the seizure and declaration of these ethnically-marked spaces.
With this new-found sense of belonging, the opportunity for “rally[ing] for indigenous rights and the development of hometown communities in Oaxaca, as well as to organize in the United States around immigrant legislation” no longer remains out of reach.
[4] Once a migrant se hayan, or finds themselves, they have gained a sense of belonging by affirming their cultural membership and confronting their marginalization and displacement within a space collectively or individually marked as their own in the host country.