Los Comanches and other cultural manifestations of the genízaro (mixed Spanish-Indian) culture of New Mexico is widely recognized and belittled as a mere hybrid of the „authentic" Spanish, Puebloan and Plains Indian cultures. The politicization of identity in contemporary America promotes traditionalist revitalization movements and the genízaros seem to be caught between a rock and a hard plače, not accepted by either of the politically well established ethnicities of New Mexico. They are denied authenticity and consequently are also denied access to funds which have become available for groups that have made successful ethnic claims and achieved state recognition. In spite of this difficult situation, the genízaro culture continues to live, representing a very unique cultural complex. The case of the genízaros of New Mexico may help us better understand the politics of (self-)identification and the process of ethnogenesis as a response to material and political opportunities created by a state reluctant to endorse a common national culture.
An intriguing element of the Pueblo and Hispanic villages of New Mexico is the Matachines Dance. It is performed on different, mostly religious occasions and requires a great personal and financial commitment on the part of the participants. Where the dance tradition disappeared in the past, it is being revived in the present, and where it continues to be danced in an uninterrupted tradition, it is becoming ever more costly and exuberant. The dance draws on European Middle-Age dance dramas, but it is heavy with indigenous layers of meaning. On face value, its key protagonists - Montezuma, Malinche, Abuelos, Montezuma’s entourage and the Bull - reenact the victory of Christianity in the New World. That is the meaning the dance has for the Hispanic villages, in addition to a number of place- and time-specific meanings. While seemingly identical, the dance often carries a different set of meanings in the Pueblos, symbolizing the banishment of foreign elements and the restoration of indigenous rule. In both the Pueblo and Hispanic villages, aside from the religious and mythical significance, the dance serves to delineate and reinforce ethnic boundaries while promoting a sense of community and solidarity. The Matachines Dance thus serves as a fascinating and paradoxical example of a shared cultural praxis which reinforces perceived cultural difference.
In late 1980s – early 1990s part of local intelligentsia in Palesse region of Belarus (that is, South-Western part of the Republic of Belarus, which is also referred in English academic literature as Polesia, Polesie, Polesje and Polissya) propagated the idea of existence of independent East-Slavonic Poleshuk nationality different from neighboring Ukrainians and Belarusians. Trying to shape a new Poleshuk identity and spread it among the local population, Poleshuk identity-makers developed a wide range of activities. Alongside with the creation of Poleshuk literary language, reinterpretation of history became one of the most essential tools used by representatives of the local intelligentsia in their identity-building efforts. Poleshuk history-makers readdressed and reinterpreted the whole range of key events in the mediaeval, modern and contemporary history of Palesse tailoring them to their current ideological needs and using historical material for legitimizing alleged Poleshuk distinctiveness from their Ukrainian and Belarusian surroundings. Alternative model of history elaborated by Poleshuk ideologists often contradicted to traditional clichés of both Soviet historiography and national historiographies of independent Belarus and Ukraine and was not easily accessible for the general public.