(Un)becoming indio: situating the meaning of the term ‘indio’ in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

ABSTRACT Dominican use of the Spanish term indio to describe skin color and Black-white 1 mixture has sparked debates in academic and social spheres for decades. Despite vehement (inter)national opposition, ‘indio’ has flourished as a perceivable and linguistically intelligible category of meaning in the Dominican Republic (DR). Although research on the Dominican racial setting has frequently engaged the term, existing studies do not elaborate indio’s multiple and evolving meanings. This article uses a broad range of data to trace indio’s complex and often contradictory journey to becoming an integral part of Dominican identities and considers whether, in light of a 2011 government pronouncement, the term is also poised for a process of un-becoming. The discussion analyzes what indio means in the DR, and the examination of Dominican alignment with the term reveals a great deal about race and identity in the country.