ABSTRACT

In Mexico City stands a large stone with a text that explains why the Mexicans face so many problems in defining their identity (Groote and Druijven, 2001). On the Plazas de las Tres Cultures, a church built by the Spaniards one can read: 'On August 13, 1521 heroically defended by Cuauhtemoc Tlatelolco fell under the power of Hernan Cortes. It was neither a triumph nor a defeat; it was the painful birth of the Mestizo people that is the Mexico of today'. It is not only striking that a country carves these self-humiliating words in stone at one of its prime monuments; it also shows the divided nature of Mexican identity. This schism in Mexican identity stems from there being three principal cultural groups. They are; the Indigenas, the 'original' occupants of the area that nowadays constitutes Mexico (about 15 per cent of the population); descendants of colonists from Spain (10 per cent) and a mixture of these two, the Mestizo (75 per cent) (Fischer Weltalmanach, 2001).