THROWBACK THURSDAYS —
Indian — Mexican families: One of the Earliest Multiracial & Multicultural Marriages in the U.S.
In the early 1900s, when predominantly Indian Sikh men from Punjab immigrated to the United States through Canada, a cultural mixing began. Because of the numerous exclusion acts against Asians, the men could not return to India to find a wife. Since they were working in the fields of California, they began to marry the people they worked with — Mexican women. Because of the cultural similarities in terms of physical appearance and food, they were close enough to feel comfortable with each other. And, when going to the marriage registry, both marked “Brown”. This community grew, but before it could become very sizable, more Indian women began to come to the US, and the “need” to marry a Mexican woman slowly dissipated. The descendants of these Mexican-Indian couples, chose to identify as either Mexican or Indian, which also began to be reflected in the people they married. Now, there isn’t much left of this special multicultural group, but their rich history shows a beautiful image of how America could be — race and ethnicity given little attention, and people loved everyone for who they are.
