Are Mexicans Indigenous?

The answer to this question is quite complicated and will take a fair bit of explanation so please bear with us.

History of Humans in the Americas

The Land Bridge:

Although there is no exact date for when humans first arrived in the Americas there are several prevailing theories. The most common one of course being the land bridge theory. During the last ice age between 19,000 – 8700 BC, sea levels were 100 feet below the modern-day. This was due to vast quantities of water being frozen in glacier form.

During that last ice age, the Bering Sea as we know it today was actually a land bridge reaching all the way to Siberia. It is thought that around 14,000 years ago stone age hunters and gatherers followed game across this land bridge and became the first humans to settle within the Americas.

It is also believed that gradually these settlers then headed deeper into the Americas, traveling south in small groups. Due to the ongoing effects of the ice age these groups remained small because conditions were not conducive with large settlements or nomadic tribes.

Today's Indigenous peoples likely descend from a now-vanished ancient group known as the Paleo-Siberians. In DNA testing Indigenous Americas DNA has little in common with modern-day Siberians but in 2019 a 10,000 year old skeleton found in Siberia did show notable similarities to modern-day Native peoples in the Americas.

Earliest Known Indigenous Peoples in Mexico

The first evidence of human presence in what we know as Mexico today was chips of stone tools found near an ancient campfire. Carbon dating suggests this fire burned over 10,000 years ago but humans in the region almost definitely predate this.

Findings in South America show habitation as far back as 16,000 years and those peoples would have passed through the Mexico region on their way south from North America.

Evidence suggests that cultivation of maize, tomatoes and beans began in this region which was grown in vast quantities. This abundance allowed the early hunter gatherers of the region to settle down to a more stationary agricultural lifestyle.

Around 5,000 BC villages of collective farmers would have developed. The resulting advances in this region such as religion, vigesimal numeric systems and farming techniques would over time spread further south.

The Olmecs

The first known society in Mexico, the Olmecs, flourished in the region between 1200 – 900BC. This society left its mark in the form of giant head sculptures and was mainly located around San Lorenzo and later La Venta in Tabasco.

The Olmecs held on as a society until about 600 BC but gradually declined and separated. It was by 300 BC that agricultural villages sprang up in southern Mexico.

Later Civilizations

Over the centuries civilizations rose and fell in Mexico including the Mayans (250 – 900 AD), Toltec (900 – 1520 AD), and the Aztecs (1300 – 1521 AD). These were impressive, advanced and sometimes brutal cultures all arising from those original humans who had crossed the land bridge.

The First Europeans in Mexico

It was in 1519 that Hernan Cortes first arrived in Veracruz from Spain. When Cortes arrived the Aztec King Moctezuma II initially mistook him to be the serpent god Quetzalcoatl and invited him to Tenochtitlan. This would prove to be disastrous for the Aztecs as on his way to the city Cortes found new allies and in 1521 he attacked Tenochtitlan, conquering the Aztecs.

Cortes proceeded to colonize the area renaming it Nueva Espana (New Spain). Within just a few decades the majority of the indigenous people in the region had been enslaved under the new Spanish rulers. The influence of European diseases also decimated the indigenous population killing an estimated 24 million between 1521 – 1605.

Other Europeans in Mexico

Over the centuries it wasn’t just the Spanish and Portuguese that settled in Mexico. During Spanish rule, an estimated 1 million other Europeans migrated to the country from nations such as:

• England
• Scotland
• Wales
• Ireland
• Germany
• Italy
• Russia
• Poland
• Ukraine
• Bulgaria
• Romania
• Hungary

This is just a short list but it is possible to find a wide variety of surprising ethnicities in the region due to this extensive immigration.

African & Asian DNA in Mexico

The slave trade in the United States is a well-recorded but unfortunate part of that nation's history but what many people forget is that Mexico also had African slaves. Beginning in the early 16th century until 1829 when slavery was finally abolished in the country there were African slaves within Mexico. The earliest came as part of the military expeditions by the early Spanish settlers.

This has left an indelible mark on the DNA of the region which many likely do not realize is there. Around 1.5 million Mexicans identify as Afromestizos. A term used to denote someone of Spanish, African and Indigenous descent.

Essentially speaking it would not be unusual for a DNA test from anywhere in South or Central America to show some African ancestry. It may not be known where it came from but based on the ethnically diverse nature of the region it would certainly be possible.

It wasn’t just the indigenous peoples and Africans who the early Spanish held as slaves in Mexico, there were others as well. Spain’s global influence also saw them transport slaves from Asia including citizens from Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Cambodia, the Philippines, and China.

It is estimated that as many as 120,000 immigrants and slaves from Asia came to Mexico during Spain’s rule. The reason this is a somewhat forgotten aspect of the DNA heritage of the region is that these Asians were often urged to identify as indigenous people of the region. This was because the Indigenous Mexicans were at that time protected against being born into slavery.

What Can Potentially Show up in Mexican DNA?

The long history of settlement in Mexico means that there are multiple ethnic groups who may contribute DNA to any modern-day individual from the region. A large number of people of Mexican descent will likely exhibit some amount of indigenous Americas DNA.

Heavy settlement from Spain and Portugal means that it would not be unusual to find DNA from the Iberian Peninsula. Also when you consider high levels of immigration from elsewhere in Europe you might find a wide variety of other potential DNA sources.

The unfortunate trade in slaves also brought African and Asian DNA into the region which also might show up in the DNA of someone of Mexican descent. It is a common misconception that most people from Mexico are a mixture of indigenous and Iberian.

The truth of the matter is that there is the potential for multiple ethnicities to be found in typical Mexican DNA. This is so much the case that there isn’t even an average ethnicity makeup that could be termed Mexican.

Are Mexicans Indigenous?

In Mexico there are 68 different groups of indigenous peoples each with their own native languages. This amounts to almost 17 million individuals who identify as indigenous in the country. This is roughly 15.1% of the entire population of Mexico which is not insignificant.

It should however be pointed out that between 85 – 90 % of Mexicans show mitochondrial (maternal) DNA with Indigenous peoples roots. Also 65% of Mexicans have Y-DNA (paternal lineage DNA) tracing back thousands of years to Europe.

The truth here is that the bulk of Mexico’s population consists of European and Indigenous DNA while only a relatively small section identifies as fully indigenous. It would be incorrect to say that Mexicans are fully indigenous although many of them do have ancestors who were native to the region.

Final Thoughts

It is not accurate to say that Mexicans are indigenous because the bulk of the population shares DNA with Europe with some also sharing connections to Africa and Asia. Roughly 15% of the nation's population refer to themselves as indigenous.

So although upwards of 90% of the country's population has indigenous roots this does not mean that Mexicans are considered indigenous. There are groups who are largely indigenous and they hold on to traditional languages and practices that date back thousands of years.

Neil Edwards

Genealogist and family-tree research specialist

Neil was born in Shropshire, England surrounded by centuries of living history. His interest in the past has been a lifelong passion leading to undergraduate degrees in both Economic History & Geography and History & Politics.

This interest in history quickly translated to family history when he moved to the U.S. in 2010. It was here that he began working on his own family tree as well as that of his American wife. That research allowed him to gain a wealth of experience working with both U.S. and European genealogical documents and studying their best uses in researching family history.

Following 9 years of honing his genealogical research skills, Neil was proud to have earned a certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University in late 2019. Neil also took part in the research process for a Duke University study into the families of 19th Century UK Members of Parliament.

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