Los Negros Mascogos de Coahuila, México

This map shows the position of the El Nacimiento relative to the México and Texas border. Not quite a border town, El Nacimiento was established as the land of los Negros Mascogos further into México to protect the people from kidnappers looking to sell them into slavery in the U.S. Click image for an article en Español about the Mascogos.

South of the border between México and Texas, there lives a people who are descended from West Africans and Seminole Indians. Their culture is a unique blend of traditions from their ancestors, a blend that's been blooming in the shade of trees in Coahuila. The women of the tribe protect and perpetuate this blending of culture through traditions of song and food that honor the different parts of their identity and the unique combination of community they create.

Their ancestors' journey to freedom in and within México was not easy but again and again they proved themselves resilient in the face of much grief and many hardships. The culture they defend today honors that grief and hardship, alongside the joys that blossomed between. In many ways, it still has components that honors all those separate parts of their ancestors' lives and brings the many identities of those ancestors (primarily Gullah, Seminole, and Spanish) into a delicately constructed web, a web which acts as a safety net and bolster for who they are today. They are the tribe of los Negros Mascogos and they have made their homes in Texas and México.

sign for El Nacimiento
Photograph of a large, flat-faced rcok between two roads that has been made into a sign. It has been painted yellow and reads: "El Nacimiento Tribu Negros Mascogos & Seminol's." The paint behind the word "Mascogos" is in a yellow that doesn't quite match the rest and is also present in scattered dabs all over the sign, as though someone went to touch it up but did not have access to the original yellow. The word "Mascogos" being surrounded by this off-yellow gives the impression it maybe used to say something else and was painted over. That is only speculation, however--I didn't find any mention of this sign other than multiple pictures of it taken by visitors.

Safeguarding a Culture

 

The culture of Los Negros Mascogos is a blend of many into one and its oldest traditions are safeguarded and passed down by the elder women of the tribe. This in itself is an ancient cultural tradition and part of their matrifocal society they likely brought to America with them when they were kidnapped from West Africa.

While many aspects of their culture blend the many into one from spiritual and naming practices to clothing, the two aspects of their culture I will be most heavily focusing on are customs of food and song.

The tradition of songs called the capeyuye honors West African ancestors as well as those who survived and escaped slavery. During the ceremony-like communal singing, the people use the rhythm to collectively remember and honor everything their people went through to be where they are today.

Their traditions of culinary preparation and food sources honors Seminole as well as Gullah traditions in a fusion alongside the Norther Mexican cuisine of their found home. La comida is an important aspect of Mascogo physical and spiritual sustenance.

Click any of the links below to explore more.

Historical Context

Capeyuye

Comida

Further Reading

This article (en Español) gives a brief overview of Mascogo history and was the source of the two photos on this page. There are more photos in the article.

Dreaming with the Ancestors: Black Seminole Women in Texas and Mexico by Shirley Boteler Mock is an in-depth exploration of the history and culture of the Mascogos. It included extensive research into the timeline of the people's travels in the Americas as well as conversations with multiple elderly descendants of the tribe.