While many Hispanic immigrants in the United States, such as celebrities Jennifer Lopez, have substantial Indigenous heritage, people, who self-identify themselves as Indigenous, not Latin American, form the majority of Georgia’s recent immigrants from Latin America.
Talented Jennifer Lopez is basically a Taino Indian with some Spanish and African ancestors. Readers will soon be shocked by my new book on the Sea Peoples. Taino provinces occupied far more area in the future state of Georgia than the Cherokee ever did. Their provinces of Toa and Oconee were visited by the De Soto Expedition. Oconee (okoni) is a Taino word. They were later founding members of the 1717 Creek Confederacy and so soon lost their separate identity by the mid-1700s.
Long ago, I learned this little known fact while “quietly” getting to know the indigenous peoples in Southern Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, while officially studying archaeological sites for during my fellowship. They do NOT consider themselves to be Latin American and only speak Spanish because they were forced to by their conquerors. The Mayas and Zoque, in particularly resented their Spanish Conquerors, but felt an affinity with North Americans, especially those from the Southeastern United States.
Yucatán formed a confederacy with the Republic of Texas then three times requested to be annexed by the United States. Maya leaders also contacted leaders of the Southern Confederacy during the early stages of the American Civil War about becoming a state in which the official languages would be English and Maya.
My report to the Office of Naval Intelligence repeatedly urged officials NOT to get the US Military involved with a Central American version of the Vietnam War. The Indigenous Peoples in that region considered the people of the USA and Canada to be their friends. The version of my report that went to the Cabinet had the names of an admiral and captain on them. However, apparently it was persuasive enough for President Nixon to squash all efforts to get the United States military involved in the Maya insurrections that were then occurring in Southern Mexico and Guatemala.
An Itza Maya town around 1100 AD on the Chattahoochee River. Today, many thousands of Highland Mayas live nearby in Haberahsm, Hall and White Counties, Georgia. They primarily work in the poultry, construction and landscaping industries. Chata’ Hawche still means “Carved Stone – Shallow River” in their native languages.
Despite being one of the fastest growing statesin the United States, more non-Hispanic whites are dying than the combined number of white babies born and non-Hispanic newcomers. This is why seemingly overnight the political norms are changing in Georgia.
While regular Mexican mestizos are more attracted to Texas, Oklahoma and Chicago. Georgia is attracting large numbers of Indigenous Americans from southern Mexico and Central America, most are Mayans or Maya-related tribes. The largest Maya concentrations are in the mountains of northern Georgia. They seem attracted to Georgia’s natural environment and reputation for welcoming Indians from Latin America.
Excerpt from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (6/26/2026)
GEORGIA’S GOTTEN MORE DIVERSE, CENSUS DATA SHOWS
Georgia’s population grew by more than half a million people in the past five years, and nonwhite people accounted for all of the growth.
- In fact, Georgia is now home to about an equal number of white and nonwhite residents.
- About 52% of Georgia residents are nonwhite. Slightly less than 48% are white.
- About 40% of the new residents between 2020 and 2025 are Hispanic. Another 33% are Black and 20% are Asian, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of the data.
The Americas Revealed 