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Identity, culture and biology in New Mexicans of Spanish-speaking descent

Nearly half of all New Mexicans have Spanish-speaking ancestors. Some of these ancestors came to the region long before it became a US State. Others came more recently from Latin America and other places around the globe.

As a result of this rich history, many New Mexicans of Spanish-speaking descent (NMS) use terms like Spanish, Hispanic, Chicano/a, Latino/a and Mexican to describe themselves and others. This website presents results from a research project that looks at how continental ancestry, health, education and other social factors map onto these self-descriptions.

Our specific research objectives were to identify ethnic substructure in New Mexicans of Spanish-speaking descent (NMS) and to examine its sociocultural and biological consequences. The questions we asked in this research are: