Indio: Creation of the Myth
Three out of four Dominicans are of mixed European and African descent making it the nation with the highest amount of mulattos in the Americas. When asked to describe the Dominican race and identity, most people will contend Dominicans are not pure, but a mix. Second only to Brazil, the Dominican Republic has the largest amount of categories for race and color. Colors range from blanco (white), trigueño (wheat), indio or canela(brownish), moreno (dark brown), and negro (black), Indio being the most popular form of expressing race and color. Indio alludes to the indigenous people that presided in the island before the colonial era, but by acknowledging their Indigenous race, Dominicans fail to acknowledge their African ancestry.