Partiendo la madre: Borders, Thresholds, and Transnational Sites of Belonging

This essay explores the various inflections behind the colloquialism partiendo la madre as it relates to the recursive migratory movements of the Hñähñu, an Indigenous community split between central Mexico and the southwestern United States. I examine transnational sites of belonging and creative modes of resistance enacted by this community in order to maintain the integrity of their pueblo, 80 percent of which has migrated to the United States. Drawing from the term partir, which can mean "to leave," "to split," and "to cleave," I explore the limits and possibility of translation as a form of connection in the face of difference, and the social and political possibilities that arise at the breaking point of being "split open."