The prologue to Forjando patria: pro nacionalismo, published in 1916 by leading Mexican anthropologist and archaeologist Manuel Gamio, compares the forging of metal out of an amalgam of bronze and steel to the ideal societal intermixing of Mexicans of indigenous and European descent. Through this metaphor, Gamio articulates a critique of the marginalization of indigenous people within Mexican society. In his analogy, the crucible containing the bronze that represents the mixture of Pre-Columbian indigenous cultures is overturned by the arrival of the conquest, and replaced by the steel of conquering Europeans. The liberators of Latin America: Simon Bolivar, Manuel Hidalgo, José María Morelos, José de San Martin, and Antonio José de Sucre are likened to metalsmiths, proudly pounding out an amalgam of races on the anvil of America. However, according to Gamio, this vision of a united mixed-race American nation soon dissipates, and is replaced with the reality of separate and divided nations, at which point ideals of the incorporation of indigenous people into society are forgotten. He asserts that an important task for Mexican revolutionaries will be to forge one metal from the mix of bronze and steel, or in layman’s terms, to valorize indigenous people and fully incorporate them into Mexican society.

Manuel Gamio (1883–1960) was a leading Mexican anthropologist, archaeologist, and sociologist. He was also a proponent of the indigenismo movement that advocated the appreciation and preservation of indigenous South American cultures, and fought for rights and improvements in the quality of living for indigenous people. At age nineteen, Gamio abandoned his study of engineering to work on a rubber plantation owned by his family. On the plantation, he learned Nahuatl from indigenous workers, and became interested in the study of native Mexican cultures. Gamio began studying anthropology and earned a PhD at Columbia University under the supervision of anthropologist Franz Boas. He returned to Mexico in 1910 during the Mexican Revolution and founded the Escuela Internacional de Arqueología y Etnología Americana. From 1913 to 1916, he served the Mexican Ministry of Education as inspector general of archaeological monuments. During this period he performed field work throughout the Valley of Mexico. In 1922, Gamio became the first anthropologist to examine the city of Teotihuacan, and applying Boas’s theories of cultural relativism to his study, he argued for the need for greater understanding of indigenous culture and contextual practices. Gamio’s findings influenced the Mexican revolutionary governmental policies regarding issues affecting the indigenous population of Mexico, such as land distribution, education reform, and social services. In 1916, he published the book Forjando patria: pro nacionalismo [Forging a Fatherland], which traced the development of anthropological and archaeological practice in Mexico, and advocated for greater effort in the assimilation of indigenous Mexicans. This prologue for Forjando patria: pro nacionalismo delineates Gamio’s intention to describe the practice of anthropology in Mexico, as well as asserts the necessity of incorporating the indigenous peoples of Mexico into the cultural fabric of Mexican society.