Norteños

Encyclopedia : N : NO : NOR : Norteños

The Norteños (Spanish for "northerners"), also called Nuestra Familia (Our Family), are a coalition of Chicano gangs in North America, based in Northern California. A member of these gangs is a norteño (male) or norteña (female); based on Spanish usage, these names are often not capitalized when referring to individual members. Mexican Americans who are not gang members, but feel a strong cultural affiliation with others in Northern California, may also call themselves norteños/norteñas or simply "northerners."

The traditional rivals of the Norteños are the Sureños ("southerners"). The dividing line between Norteños and Sureños has traditionally been Bakersfield, California.

Contents

1 History
2 Symbols and culture
3 Prison rules
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

History

In the late 1960s, Mexican-American (Chicano) inmates of the California state prison system began to separate into two rival groups, Norteños (northerners) and Sureños (southerners), according to the locations of their hometowns; the north-south dividing line was near Bakersfield. Part of the motivation for the split was the desire of the Norteños to be independent of "La Eme," a.k.a. the Mexican Mafia.

As with many other gangs, Norteños have been involved in trafficking of drugs and contraband, and armed conflict with other gangs and with police. According to police investigators, a requirement for full membership in Nuestra Familia is committing at least one murder for the gang.

Federal law enforcement agencies, long unable to infiltrate the group, began to step up their investigations in the late 1990s. In 2000 and 2001, 22 members were indicted on racketeering charges, including several who were allegedly serving as high-ranking gang leaders while confined in Pelican Bay. Thirteen of the defendants pleaded guilty; the other cases are still ongoing. Two of the defendants face the death penalty for ordering murders related to the drug trade. The largest of the federal investigations was Operation Black Widow.

Symbols and culture

Norteño emblems and clothing are based on the color red; a typical norteño outfit might include a red belt, red shoes, and red shoelaces. They also favor brand-name clothing such as Tommy Hilfiger, Polo, Eckō, Dickies, Ben Davis, the San Francisco 49ers football team apparel, and the University of Nebraska's sports team apparel (especially baseball hats with the letter "N"), in red, white, and black. The use of red by Norteños and blue by Sureños supposedly derives from the standard-issue bandanas in California prisons, which were only available in those colors. In areas where Norteños are allied with the Crips, the use of colors is less straightforward since the Crips use the color blue. Many 18th street gang members have allied themselves with Nortenos in recent years. Also members of MS-13 have disbanded to make it MS-14.

Their number, sometimes used in tattoos and graffiti, is 14 (sometimes written as "X4", or in Roman numerals as "XIV"), since N is the fourteenth letter of the alphabet. The Norteños sometimes tattoo four dots on themselves, while Sureños tattoo three dots. Norte (Spanish for "north") is also a common Norteño graffiti tag. NX4 is a recent tag.

Norteños also lay claim to images of Chicano youth culture, such as lowrider cars, and of the Mexican-American labor movement, such as the sombrero, machete, and "Huelga bird" eagle, symbols of the United Farm Workers. At the same time that Norteños were first organizing in prisons and calling for liberation from the Mexican Mafia, the UFW and its leader César Chávez were folk heroes and symbols of liberation to many Chicano youths, including some gang members who had met Chávez when he was imprisoned for his union work.

Prison rules

Below is a list of rules found by a Deputy Sheriff inside the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County, California, giving some insight into the inner workings of the gang. The entire letter was written on a 2×3 card in "micro-writing" (letters being less than a few millimeters big), a trademark of many prison gangs. Spelling and grammar errors are those of the writer.

References

[Listings of all Southern California Chicano Gangs]
["Prison gang case puts role of FBI informants under scrutiny"]. San Francisco Chronicle, November 29, 2003.
["Sir Dyno's Deal with the Devil"]. East Bay Express, October 1, 2003.
["Federal indictments crack vast prison crime ring"]. Santa Rosa Press Democrat, November 29, 2001.

External links

["Nuestra Familia"] (El Andar, winter 2003)
["Nuestra Familia, Our Family," the documentary] Center for Investigative Reporting, 2005