Costa Chica of Guerrero - Afro Mexican Community

Afro Mexican Community

The Costa Chica (of both Guerrero and Oaxaca) is one of two zones in Mexico with significant Afro-Mexican populations, with the other being in the state of Veracruz. While found in most parts of the Costa Chica, the highest concentrations in Guerrero are found between Marquelia and Cuajicuilapa. Members of this group in the region are often identified by skin color. While for some, this is racism, for others it is a question of pride and identity. While Africans are described as the “third root,” along with indigenous and Spanish people as part of Mexico heritage, this is generally “forgotten” in the description of the “mestizaje” identity of Mexico, which stresses the mixture of European and indigenous.

After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, disease, war and overwork decimated the native population. In a number of areas, the Spanish brought in African slaves to replace the lost labor. The first African slave brought to Mexico accompanied Hernán Cortés in 1519, and during the colonial period there was a significant African slave population. Large quantities of slaves were brought starting in the mid-1500s and by 16th and 17th centuries; about half of Mexico City’s population has at least some African heritage with Mexico as the second largest slave importer in the Americas. The first Africans brought to the Pacific coast arrived to Acapulco brought by Spanish galleons. Many later arrivals included escaped black slaves, called “cimarrones” who found refuge in the area. However, most local stories about how Africans arrived to the area have to do with local shipwrecks, whether it was a slave ship or not. All end with the idea that they found freedom and refuge in the communities along the coast. This has to do with the loss of the history of these people as very little is written.

The Afro Mexican communities were known for round mud huts with thatched roofs, the design of which can be traced back to what are now Ghana and the Ivory Coast. However, very few of these still remain. Today, Afro-Mexican culture does not have its own language and dress but it is distinguished by body language and vocabulary, as well as a shared heritage. The culture was featured in a documentary called “Santa Negritud” by La Maga Films sponsored by Susana Harp . The history and culture of these people is also the focus of a museum in Cuajinicuilapa called the Museo de las Culturas Afromestizas .