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. While working on a rubber plantation owned by his family, Gamio learned Nahuatl from indigenous workers, and became interested in the study of native Mexican cultures. He studied anthropology and earned a PhD at Columbia University under the supervision of anthropologist Franz Boas. Gamio 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. 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], in which this essay was published. The book traces the development of anthropological and archaeological practice in Mexico, and advocates for greater effort in the assimilation of indigenous Mexicans. In one way or another, Gamio’s classification scheme outlined in this essay mirrors his anthropological approach. His method for “integral research” focuses on the population and the environment as a holistic subject and, moreover, accounts for evolution over time. It also reflects his novel definition of a native base centering on not just race or language, but also on the preservation of significant pre-Hispanic forms and institutions. Just as in his other writing [See, for example, “La dirección de las bellas artes,” document # 1125366], Gamio adapts Franz Boas’s theory of relativism to a Mexican context.
