Chaldeans in Mexico
By Dr. Adhid Miri, PhD
The immigration of Chaldeans from northern Iraq to the U.S., Canada, and Mexico started at the beginning of the last century. Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syriacs, and Armenians all came to the New World looking for job opportunities and a better life. Driven out by the harsh treatment of the conquering Turks, most followed family members, joining them in established businesses.
Opening new frontiers and reaching for the dream in a new land was not easy. They were farmers with little skills, limited language, poor knowledge of geography and no financial resources. Many passed through the port of New York not knowing it was an American port, ending up in Mexico or Brazil.
Little official documents are available to support the earliest travel stories; much of what we know comes from family members and community elders. The first few pioneers from Tel-Keppe to reach the New World at the beginning of the last century were Yousif Shammam (North America - Fort William, Canada in 1899), Akko Qarana, Putrus Najjar, Putrus Attalah (Brazil), Petto Goryoka, Tobia Hakim, and Jajjo Hajji (South America - Mexico in 1901).
A few immigrants came to the New World but returned to their homes years later. One of the first known immigrants, Zia Attallah, came to Philadelphia in 1889 and worked in a hotel. He subsequently returned to Iraq where he opened his own hotel. Jameel Qashat (listed as Canada pioneer #13) came to Canada in 1914 and returned to Iraq in 1923 to open restaurants and hotels. Akko Qarana went to Brazil prior to World War I, prospering there and returning to his village of Tel-Keppe a few years later. Anthony Shamouni Hanna Hermiz Kassab (father of Sami and Bassim Kassab) arrived in Mexico in 1909 and a year later, moved to Detroit.
Chaldeans in Brazil and Argentina were few and far between, with little information available; their news faded completely with time. The early pioneers to Brazil were Putrus Attalah, Dawood Pettuza Najjar, Muggy Gamshu, and Bakki Gamshu, recorded as arriving in 1926.
With the onset of World War I, the Ottoman Empire issued a decree to all non-Turkish nationals to leave Adana, Turkey and other select areas within 40 days or be drafted into the Turkish army. The majority left, reluctantly leaving behind their properties, farms and businesses. Few Chaldeans stayed behind.
In 1921, the victorious allies of the Great War were pulling out of the Ottoman territories and offered help to the non-Turkish minorities in the occupied regions (such as Adana, Turkey) to return home or travel to another destination. France offered financial support, travel assistance and refuge to Christian minorities stuck under the defeated Ottomans, encouraging immigration to Lebanon, Syria or the New World. Some went back to their village of Tel-Keppe, some settled in Beirut and many decided to go to Canada, the U.S. and Mexico via the port of Marseille, France.
Jajjo Hajji is widely considered the first pioneer in Mexico. Hajji ended up in Veracruz, Mexico after leaving Adana, Turkey in 1901. No one knows why he chose to leave Adana or why he risked travel to the unknown country of Mexico. Hajji is perhaps the second documented pioneer after Yousif Shammam (Canada 1899) to travel the New World. He spent most of his life in the Mexican town of San Jerónimo (now part of Mexico City) working as fabric salesman. His business success was crowned by the opening of a large clothing store. Learning about Hajji’s success and following in his footsteps, several other Chaldeans migrated from Tel-Keppe to Mexico and established communities in Salina Cruz, Saint Louis, Tecuala, Estabeca, Montreux, Merida Yucatan, and Mexico City.
In 1910, Marougi Qatoo and his brother Putrus Qatoo (sometimes written as Kattoo, Cato or Kado) took a 30-day boat trip to Mexico City. This was one of the first North American cities in the 20th century that Chaldeans migrated to, later moving from Mexico City to Michigan. Today, the Qatoo family’s second and third generations are well established with business and education in Mexico City.
Another concentration of Chaldeans and Arab-Mexicans is in Baja, California, along the U.S.-Mexican border. Some families have relatives in both the U.S. and Mexico, especially in states like Texas and cities of Mexicali in the Imperial Valley U.S./Mexico, and Tijuana, across from San Diego, California.
The Casab Family (also Kassa or Kassab) are examples of an extended family on both sides of the border. Tobia Cassab (father of Alfredo) and his brother Zia Cassab came to Mexico in 1910. Zia Casab had 8 daughters and 4 sons (all doctors). Dr. Ulysses Casab grew up in Ixtepec with many other Mexican-Chaldeans, eventually writing a book in Spanish about “Tel-Keppnayas” and their arrival in Mexico in the 1900s. The book will be available soon in English, with a book signing planned here in Detroit.
There are many Chaldean professionals and politicians in Mexico. José Murat Casab (born October 18, 1947) is a Mexican politician and a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party. He was Governor of Oaxaca from 1998 until 2004.
Anthony Shamouni Hanna Hermiz Kassab arrived in Mexico in 1909 and a year later moved to Detroit. At the insistence of his family members, he went back to Iraq in 1919, got married, and returned in 1967 to live in the U.S.
Petto Marwan Salem went to Mexico in the early 1900s and returned to Iraq after the end of World War I. Marougi Putrus Kas Marougi (born in Tel-Keppe in 1902) traveled to Mexico and settled in Mexico City in 1925.
Late-comers like Alberto/Waddi Attiq migrated to the U.S. first, moving to Mexico in 1960.
Dawood Shango and George Shango were two other pioneers that arrived in Mexico in 1926 and made a living selling textiles and fabrics on the railway, without speaking a word in Spanish.
Yousif (Joe) Sesi Sr., of the famed Sesi Lincoln Dealership in Ypsilanti, left Basra, Iraq with a cousin. The two arrived in Veracruz, Mexico in 1917 and worked there to establish a foothold. Sesi headed to Michigan a year later to join other pioneers like Joe Achoo and Tom Matti in Detroit.
In 1927, immigration from Iraq to Mexico was significantly halted due to visa restrictions, and travel trends shifted to the U.S. and Canada. The last two Chaldean pioneers to leave Iraq for Mexico were Darraj Yousif Rabban and Jirjes Shango. By 1929 there were fifty-five documented Chaldeans living in Mexico.
Today, Chaldean families in Mexico are scattered over many provinces. Chaldean clergy from the U.S. have made several visits to Mexico; Fr. Putrus Kattula in the sixties and more recently, Fr. Michael Bazzi from California. Without a large population in any given region, it is difficult to start a Chaldean archdiocese in Mexico.
Because of a diluted population and a community scattered over a large geographic region, there is not a strong concentration of Chaldean churches in Mexico, either. Youth groups, social organizations, and inter-ethnic marriage in the Chaldean-Mexican community have resulted in a marked language shift away from Chaldean-Sourath toward Spanish. Only a few speak Sourath, and such knowledge is often limited to a few basic words. The majority, especially those of younger generations, speak Spanish as their first language.
Chaldeans in Mexico in 1929
Jajjo Hajji
Yousif Goryoka
Shamoun Goryoka
Azziz Goryoka
Jerjies Goryoka
Oraha Goryoka
Elias Goryoka
Yacoub Goryoka
Mansour Salem
Tobbia Zia Kassab
Azziz Zaia Kassab
Elia Zia Kassab
Hanna Kacho Dabish
Saffo Katcho Dabbish
Jajjo Shamou Dabish
Tobia Al-Saour
Yousif Murad Al-Alqoush
Petto Salem
Hanna Barbat
Attisha Putrus Attisha
Hanna Hussayno
Yousif Savaya
Jirjy Savaya
Aquobi Kakos
Raphael Kakos
Asso Zaytona
Daoud Kattula
Toma Salaan
Raouf Kassab
Azziz Raouf Kassab
Abid Asso
Mikho Jajjo Sebba
Namou Summa
Mikhael Kashat
Asso Choulagh
Hermiz Martta
Zia Makhaya
Tobia Makhaya
Marougi Qatoo
Putrus Qatto
Asso Kory
Shamou Katti
Karooma Heido
Yousif Haideo
Abbaya Haideo
Faransi Shaayota
Jirjis Shounia
Hermiz Agha John
Jirjis Shango
Tobbia Yousif Twaraya
Alias Yousi Twaraya
Marougi Qasawa
Georgis Aloota
Toma Aloota
Hanna Mansour Abro
