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Show 72 which is in process, in transformation, cannot but introduce a digression into this change; and the Indian for centuries has been intermingling with the White, with the Creole and with the resulting Mestizo; and this increasing intermingling is a change to be reckoned with. Nevertheless--he writes-"The principal usefulness of the definition rests in its permanence." From there stems the obvious difficulty of the definition now occupying us. And he goes on to offer various historic and sociological considerations. From a biologic point of view, somatic traits are not the most noteworthy, but rather simply one of the constituent elements. Perhaps greater importance should be given to the cultural aspect of the question, although the cultural intermingling is as deep as the biological; and among these aspects the linguistic stands out ("which should be considered as a separate criterion"), the useful guide and favorite refuge of the census-taker. Notwithstanding, Dr. Caso speaks of another trait to which he attaches the most importance: the consciousness of belonging to an indigenous group; although, on the other hand, he recognized the difficulty today in capturing it, by reason of its being subjective, and by reason of the feeling of inferiority which centuries of neglect have implanted in the Indian. Concerning that which is Indian per se, the following joint definition which the author makes, with reservations, on the Indian and on that which is Indian, is digressive: "He is Indian who feels himself to belong to a native community, and a native community is that one in which predominate non-European somatic characteristics, which speaks by preference a native tongue, which possesses in its material and spiritual culture native elements in strong proportion; and which, finally, has a sense of social isolation among the surrounding communities which makes it distinguish itself from the settlements of white and mestizo alike." Finally, in one of his best passages, Dr. Caso states that the important thing for Indianism is not to define the individual, but rather to define "the conjunction of those individuals living within one cultural framework, which conjunction feels itself to belong to a native culture, and which presents characteristic problems different from the problems of the mestizo population either in the rural districts or in the cities of our nations." 1949 Editorial, "Incremento de Actividades Indigenistas," America Indigena, IX, No. 4 (October, 1949), pp. 263-266. Resolution of May 11, 1949 was approved by the United Nations Organization and the United Nation's Economic and Social Council was ordered to study the American aborigines in collaboration with its specialized agencies and the Inter- American Indian Institute. It is probable that Unesco will also help. 1953 Lipschutz, Alejandro (Chile), "El Movimiento Indigenista, y la Reestruc |