Gabriela Salgado Mercado

I am Gabriela Salgado Mercado, professional, wife, mother and student. My great-grandparents and paternal grandparents are of Indigenous descent while my maternal great-grandparents and grandparents have Spanish heritage. Therefore my parents are mestizo and that makes me of the same race as well.

The artwork that I chose to carry out this research work on is based on the conversations that I have had lately with my father and the connection we have with it.

The sixteenth-century stone Baptismal Font is located in Viceregal Museum in Zinacantepec, Mexico and is carved by the hands of Indigenous people. It is carved in a manner which reflects the colonial mix of Indian and Spanish styles. Zinacantepec´s distinctive font, measuring more than one meter in diameter by 1.5 meters in height, is made from an enormous cylindrical monolith which forms a large basin on top of a pedestal. The basin is carved around most of its exterior with written words, symbolic motifs and medallions on the majority of its surface. Perhaps its most arresting aspect is the inscription that winds around the basin just below the rim. It is a legend inscribed in Náhuatl, which reads as follows:

Indeed, I noticed there are Indigenous contributions to this impressive piece. Even though the greater population of Zinacantepec was ethnically Otomí, the Náhuatl language was employed as the lingua franca among Indigenous communities of Central México after the arrival of the Spaniards.

At the lip of the basin is a carved cord that wraps around the entire rim. This symbol, so prevalent in the art of specifically Franciscan monasteries, is a sign of simplicity and penance, recalling the same cord that is always fastened around the waist of the brown cloak of a friar of the order of Saint Francis. The four medallions around the basin illuminate some particular scenes of Christian belief, including the Annunciation of Mary.

In Mexico, an attempt has been made to eliminate Indigenous cultures by different means from the time of the Conquest to the present (Sandoval, 2009). However, it is in Capitalism that the hegemonic culture is presented in greater contradiction with the different Indigenous cultures.

The hegemonic culture projects a world in which workers must be exempt from their personal ties with the land and other means of production. Symbols, and sacred festivals are emptied of meaning and traditions dissolve so that “free workers can be created” (Marx, 2011).

Given its conception of unity with nature, the Indigenous culture has a sacred connection with the land that is carried out through a complex system of religious activities and rituals. This has led the State to combat this culture through “Indiophobia”, the rejection of all Indigenous cultural manifestations (Sandoval, 2011), the intention is to generate a culture more adapted to capitalist exploitation. In this sense, it is observed that the cultural contradictions between Capitalism and the way of life of the Indigenous people put the latter in a situation of marginality. This shows that development in the region has an “Indiophobic” character that seeks to eliminate Indigenous culture through abandonment and discrimination, among other means. Marginalization of Indigenous people occurs in different dimensions, such as educational, economic, health, housing, etc., compared to the non-Indigenous population. It is clear that Indigenous people have access to less than what is considered necessary for a good quality of life (Chenaut, 2015).

I realize how some monuments have interrupted colonization over the years. Many monuments emphasize a social paradigm in which we have all believed because of what we were taught in school.

This time, I reflected deeply on the monument of Christopher Columbus, made by Guillermo Cardenas, which is located just one block from my house. The monument is located on the main avenue, a place full of life with activities for families, restaurants, and shops. I wonder why this monument occupies such a special place even though the arrival of the Spanish in America meant bad news for Indigenous peoples.

The diseases brought from the Old Continent, the violence used to occupy territories and look for hidden treasures, and the abuse of them through forced labor, being treated as slaves, harmed the Indigenous population. Spanish cities replaced the larger Indigenous centers (located in what is now Cuzco, Peru, and Mexico City), and those who did not voluntarily surrender to the new power were killed or disappeared.

These tangible instances help us to remember and create a personal relationship with our history and cultural identity, and with social justice, but having a tangible historical object with which we can connect is not the same as learning history. I am left with the following reflection when talking about historical monuments and their difference from real history: What matters more? The cult of people? Or the events of the past?

Returning to the Baptismal Font which is the focus of this inquiry, my ancestors were baptized in this font with holy water, the symbol of purity. The relationship of the human being with water goes beyond the survival of the body, dignity, and justice. It is spiritual. Water does not know or identify with any race, culture, ethnicity, or religion; it is in the thought systems of all civilizations.

A principle common to all of them is the contemplation of water as an element linked to life and union with the world. I could hear the sound of the water since the great silence that was around allowed me to feel the connection between the place and myself. In my art, you can see a fish made by myself with small pieces of colored paper, which represents the symbol of baptism since fish come from the water.

The Baptismal Font seems to function as an ultimate symbol of colonization, as Indigenous people participated in its creation in representing the settler colonial religion. The fish also seems to bring life to the font, highlighting the Indigenous interconnectedness with land. The fish seems to disrupt the anthropocentric vision of colonial conquest and exploitation of Indigenous people and lands.