Pedagogías del Camaleón /Pedagogies of the Chameleon: Identity and Strategies of Survival for Transnational Indigenous Latino Immigrants in the US South

Abstract

Based on a 3-year qualitative research study that took place in a new immigrant-receiving community in North Carolina, the manuscript examines the implications of transnational cultural and sociolinguistic patterns of multilingual indigenous Latino immigrants (ILIs), and its effects on their survival in the US. Utilizing narrative analysis, it explores how Mexican, Salvadoran, and Guatemalan immigrants of indigenous backgrounds use survival strategies of the Pedagogy of the Chameleon to move across multiple identities, both to maintain their cultures and to survive as immigrants in the United States. This manuscript explores the ways ILIs use strategies and skills passed through strong social networks to move in and out of transnational social spaces. In addition, it raises questions about the ways multilingualism affects border mobility and transnationality as well as how undocumented families use multilingualism as a transnational bridge to facilitate their survival in a hostile US environment, the community, and in schools.