Mestizo facts for kids
Mestizo (say it: meh-STEE-tzo) is a Spanish word. It describes a person who has both European (often Spanish) and Native American family roots.
Mestizos first appeared when Spain ruled many parts of what is now Latin America. Often, a mestizo had a Spanish father and a Native American mother. Today, mestizos make up a big part of the population in many Latin American countries. They are also a large group in Mexico, which is the biggest Spanish-speaking country.
During the time of Spanish rule, many Native Americans became Roman Catholic. They also started speaking Spanish instead of their own languages. This happened because European people were seen as more important than Native Americans and Africans. Because of this, many Native Americans improved their social status by calling themselves "mestizos." This was seen as better than being called "indios."
What is an Indo-Mestizo?
Indo-Mestizo (also called Cholo) is a Spanish term. It describes a person who is mostly Native American (about three-quarters) and partly Caucasian (about one-quarter).
You can find Indo-Mestizos mostly in Eastern and Southern Mexico. They also live in Northern Central America, Ecuador, southern Peru, and Bolivia.
Indo-Mestizos usually have more Native American features. However, they might have lighter skin with Native American features. Or they could have darker skin with some clear Caucasian features.
Some famous Indo-Mestizos include Maya Zapata, George Lopez, and Danny Trejo. People call them Indo-Mestizos because of how they look.
Images for kids
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A casta painting by Miguel Cabrera. Here he shows a Spanish (español) father, Mestiza (mixed Spanish–American Indian) mother, and their Castiza daughter.
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Luis de Mena, Virgin of Guadalupe and castas, 1750. The top left grouping is of an indio and an española, with their Mestizo son. This is the only known casta painting with an indio man and española woman.
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Casta painting showing 16 hierarchically arranged, mixed-race groupings. The top left grouping uses cholo as a synonym for mestizo. Ignacio Maria Barreda, 1777. Real Academia Española de la Lengua, Madrid.
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A statue of Gonzalo Guerrero, who adopted the Maya way of life and fathered the first mestizo children in Mexico and in the mainland Americas (the only mestizos before were those born in the Caribbean to Spanish men and Indigenous Caribbean women).
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Chavela Vargas Mixed-Costa Rican Born - Singer
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Keylor Navas Mixed-Costa Rican - Real Madrid Goalkeeper
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Painting of the First Independence Movement celebration in San Salvador, El Salvador. At the center, José Matías Delgado, a Salvadoran priest and doctor known as El Padre de la Patria Salvadoreña (The Father of the Salvadoran Fatherland), alongside his nephew Manuel José Arce, future Salvadoran president of the Federal Republic of Central America.
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Mestizo-Mestiza, Peru, circa 1770.
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José Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize winner, former President of East Timor.
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Brazilian footballer Ronaldo
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The dance group Joyas Mestizas ("Mestiza jewels") performs at the Fiestas Patrias Parade, South Park, Seattle, 2017
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Statue of José Vasconcelos in Mexico City
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Español, India, Mestizo.
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Castizo, Mestiza, Chamizo. Miguel Cabrera 1763.
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Mulatto and Mestiza, produce Mulatto, he is Torna Atrás [throwback]" by Juan Rodríguez Juárez
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Mestizo, India, Coyote. Miguel Cabrera 1763.
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De mestizo e India, sale coiote (From a Mestizo man and an Indigenous American woman, a Coyote is begotten).
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Mestizo, Albarazada, Barcina.
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Mestizo, Mestiza, Mestizo Sample of a Peruvian casta painting, showing intermarriage within a casta category.
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1919 Barrientos family in Baracoa, Cuba, headed by an ex Spanish soldier and his Indigenous wife
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See also
In Spanish: Mestizo para niños
