A gift of sage is presented by St. Croix Tribal Historic Preservation Director, Wanda McFaggen, to Paco Vasquez of the Chiapas Media Project.

Photo by Thelma Nayquonabe

by Thelma Nayqounabe

Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Reservation, Wisc.

The James Pipe Mustache Auditorium of the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College was the setting for a presentation by a young man from Chiapas, Mexico, on the Chiapas Media Project/Promedios, which provides video equipment, computers, and training to the Indigenous peoples of the states of Chiapas and Guerrero.

This activitiy is crucial in the quest for self-determination of the people who call themselves the Zapatistas, following the 1994 uprising against the Mexican Government. Paco Vasquez is a video-maker and trainer-coordinator for the Chiapas Media Project, and is sharing his people’s stories and struggles with the people of the Lac Courte Oreilles and St. Croix communities.

Paco enters the auditorium, and greets the people who have come to listen to his presentation. My first thought is that this young man looks a lot like the young men from the Ojibwe community; he could be a nephew, a son, a brother. Paco is cordial as I am introduced to him, and patiently begins to answer the first of many, many questions that will be asked during his visit.

This presentation was made possible through funds from the Honor the Earth Foundation, Minneapolis, Minn. The media project has produced 22 videos and dvds on which the stories of the Indigenous peoples of Mexico are recorded in their own words. Titles include We are Equal, Zapatista Women Speak, Defending the Forests, The Struggle of the Campesino Environ-mentalists of Guerrero, and The Sacred Land. This visit was the first ever of the Chiapas Media Project to Indigenous communities in the United States, and was part of a Lakota-Anishinaabe tour.

For a little over an hour, we listen to Paco Vazquez speak, describing the struggle of his people to acqure the basic human right of self-determination. Paco patiently explains the importance of routine tasks, which we in the United States take for granted, such as growing self-sustaining food, and he adds, “Corn is sacred and spiritual to my people.” There are many concerns about genetically modified corn, and due to lack of understanding regarding this issue, the traditional system of growing corn is being lost.

“It could be better for everyone,” Paco states quietly, referring to the quest of his people to document their struggles. The 1910 revolution of Mexico gave the people the right to own land collectively. Each community has developed their own school, make their own medicine, and are sustained by growing crops such as corn and beans, and raising cattle, all of this surrounded by the Mexican Army. “The land does not belong to anyone,” Paco explains. “We receive no funding from the Mexican Government.”

“I am from the Aztec people,” Paco says, and adds, “English is not my first language.” In the video The Sacred Land, we are able to witness the determination of the people who call themselves the Zapatistas – a beautiful image, an elderly man making an offering to the water, a concept of sky and land, masked faces, music that has a hauntingly famiiliar sound, the harsh metal of rifles.

Much has been done to improve the life of the Indigenous people of Mexico, and much more needs to be done. 70 percent of the villages have no running water. Health care and education are issues facing the people of Chiapas. In the determination to get his people’s stories heard, Paco, self assured and articulate, tells us, “You can make some movement, and you cannot move out of that. It’s like chess.”

Young women wearing masks and holding guns are visible alongside the men in the video, reminding us of the danger and difficulty of maintaining freedom for the Zapatistas. “The women are powerful and are demanding to be heard,” explains Paco. “Because of the women’s influence, most villages are alcohol free, and have very little domestic violence.” The older women are proud of the strength and determination of the younger females of their villages.

I am intrigued by the similarity of these narratives to the history of the Native peoples of North America, and I decide to attend the next event at the St. Croix Reservation in Hertel, Wisc., about an hour’s drive from the college. A traditional Ojibwe feast is being given in honor of the special guest from Mexico. I enter the building and make my way to the room where the feast is being prepared. Dishes of food and offerings of tobacco and gifts are carefully being placed on the floor in the center of the room. People chat quietly, and voice greetings to each other.

I can see Paco and his friend Susan sitting near the front of the room. The room grows silent as an elderly man begins a prayer in Ojibwe. Paco is attentive and respectful during this ceremony, and later an exchange of traditional gifts takes place. Afterwards, students and faculty gathered around a fire behind the youth center to exchange stories of Native struggles in the United States and Mexico.

The following day includes a return to the Lac Courte Oreilles community, and an interview at the tribal radio station. Dennis White, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School administrator, arrives to escort Paco to the tribal school to tour some of the classrooms. The final activity of the day will include a visit to the Ojibwe Language class at the Lac Courte Oreilles college.

Once we are settled into the classroom, Paco begins again to answer questions about himself, his country, his people. We discover that Paco lives near Mexico City and he tells us that a proper greeting in his country is “How is your heart feeling, honorable man or woman?”

His people are called Nahua, and many of their customs are a mixture of Christian and traditional beliefs. In response to a question of whether he is treated differently because he is Nahua, Paco answers, “Liberation comes from yourself. I think it’s changing. With power comes responsibility. I am happy with what I am doing. I am finding people who have similar struggles.”

Following this classroom exchange, the Native American Studies Department has prepared a traditional meal of wild rice, venison, fish and vegetables in honor of Paco’s visit. More gifts are exchanged. David Bisonette, Ojibwe Language instructor, presents Paco with a gift of maple syrup, and explains the process of gathering and preparing the sweet liquid. Later, the group will make a trip to the historic Pipestone Falls site near the edge of the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation.

Two cultures, so similar and so different. The struggles are the same for both. Self-determination, the need to know the past, and a hope for the future. I am impressed by the self-assured, articulate, and determined young man from Chiapas, Mexico, Paco Vazquez. This is a story of his visit to the land of the Ojibwe in Wisconsin.