This article argues that indigeneity is a battlefield related to political economy, a transnational political space where multiple subjects contest and negotiate the management of lives and territories. Through the narratives of the Coca indigenous community of Mezcala (Mexico) - caught up in diasporic flows - I illustrate how a transnational community navigates its indigeneity within the workings of neoliberal governance via migration and tourism. On the one hand, I explore how the rhetorics of 'development' andmestizajeact together as an epistemological frame shaping mentalities within communities to favour power relations and influencing the construction and use of indigeneity. On the other hand, I identify how indigenous peoples go beyond the strategic use of their indigeneity and dignify it to strengthen their communities and advance political projects. I envision that by reaching its diaspora, it might be possible to defy capitalist/colonialist relations, logics, and plans.
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