These dolls represent the Huichol, indigenous people of Nayarit, Mexico, where my mom immigrated from My grandma and her 6 kids migrated to Oregon in the 1990s, hoping to find work and better education. All of my grandma's kids had picked up a job by 16 years old, my mom started working around 14 years old. For a long time, my mom couldn’t afford to take a trip to Nayarit, since finances were a struggle and she was a single mom. Soon after giving birth to me, she started working full time, and over time, in a cannery and has been for the last 18 years. Even though my mom wasn’t able to travel back home, my grandma and tia could. 20 years ago they brought these dolls to my mom. They now sit on a chimney in my oldest brother’s room. Since migrating to the States, my mom graduated from high school, had 7 kids, bought her own home, became a U.S. citizen, married a man who looks out for us like his own kids, and finally visited Nayarit in 2017. Written on the pedestal of the dolls on the right is “Memory of Nayarit.” So to serve as a reminder to my mom and family of our roots. Regardless of what my family goes through and where we stand today, our blood is from Nayarit, Mexico.

– A

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant