Background
From the late 18th century into the mid 19th century, dark-skinned Native Seminoles and formerly enslaved Africans banded together in Florida to protect one another from slavery. They intermingled and intermarried over decades. They became known as the Black Seminoles and were eventually forcibly removed to Oklahoma via boats across the Gulf of Mexico.
In Oklahoma, the threat of slavery surrounded the Black Seminoles, pushing many to embark on migrations seeking autonomy, sovereignty, and freedom elsewhere. One group of Black Seminoles made their way to Mexico and became known as the Negros Mascogos. In exchange for land to call their own in Coahuila, they served as border guards against Apache raiders and US Americans seeking people to kidnap and enslave.
El Nacimiento, Coahuila, remains to this day the land of the Negros Mascogos. Their culture has gone through the deterioration many tribes face from a dominant national culture intent on ignoring afrodesciendentes, as well as from youth moving away to find more job and other opportunities elsewhere. Nevertheless, an intermingling of African, European, and Mexican influences survives in a unique culmination of their identity, primarily passed on and safeguarded by the women of the tribe.
Capeyuye
One of the best examples of the Negros Mascogos' cultural fusion are the capeyuye, Spirituals sung in Creole English with a clapping beat and call and response style brought by their ancestors from the cultures of West Africa. Blending the traditions of clapping and a cappella singing, the capeyuye are still sung in English despite the tribe no longer understanding that language.
Gertrudis Vázquez
The most celebrated matriarch of the capeyuye is Gertrude Vázquez. Her image appears on murals in el Nacimiento and her voice survives in at least two known recordings of her singing the capeyuye and giving interviews. The murals, created specifically to capture the culture of the Negros Mascogos, most prominently feature women as the proponents and protectors of that culture. The art celebrates the work and voices of the women who perpetuate the culture.
Few recordings of Gertrude leading the capeyuye exist, and fewer still of the traditional songs exist since her passing. Following the recordings of Gertrude singing for which the elders were reportedly promised 500 pesos for the performance, the documentarians ultimately refused to compensate them. This having been in a period of severe drought, during which even that small amount of reimbursement would have done a lot of good, alongside the subsequent passing of Gertrude Vazquez, has led the community to safeguard their culture and traditions more closely from outsiders. This safeguarding led some to claim the culture had come to a sad end, not realizing the end of the capeyuye hadn’t come but rather the sharing of it with outsiders.
Cocina de Negros Mascogos
Less closely guarded but just as culturally sustaining are culinary traditions. While capeyuye feeds the spirit and connections to the ancestors, food sustains the body and close connections of present day existence. Laura Herrera is the custodian of what’s cooking culturally in El Nacimiento and, like Gertrude, is featured in the town murals…
