With the rise of civil rights movements in the 1960s, Mexican Americans formed the Chicano Movement to tackle the political and cultural issues their communities were facing. It was important to Chicano activists to reclaim their indigenous roots taken away by European colonization during the 15th century. This reclaiming of Indigenous identity is called Chicanismo. As time progressed, woman were being neglected within the movement and began challenging patriarchal values of their communities. During the 1980s and 1990s, Chicana feminists who were close to their indigenous roots, used it to challenge thought of gender roles. This paper explores how Chicana feminists reconstructed the Chicano Indigenous identity through spirituality, art, and folklore. To explore this topic, this paper will utilize primary sources such as books, oral histories, and artworks. This project will seek out the influences of Chicana feminists and their indigenous identity on traditional gender roles of the Chicano community. The intended audience of this paper is historians and the public who might be interested in Chicano, indigenous, and feminist studies.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alberto Rodriguez

Department of History, Political Science and Philosophy