Culture is infrequently considered as an important factor regarding developmental psychology, and differences in culture are often mentioned from a deficit perspective. Research on children’s autonomy continues to be based on European American children’s experiences and parenting practices (Rogoff et al., 2017). The present study aimed to understandthe dynamics of culture and parenting values in European American and Mexican Indigenous families and how these parental values support children’s autonomous behaviors in the home and community. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 sets of mothers living in California and their two children ages six to ten. The interviews explored children’s daily experiences, cultural values, and parenting practices. Phenomenological analysis was used to identify group differences in children’s levels of autonomy across ten activities. Results showed that Mexican Indigenous heritage children were more likely to have embedded autonomy in activities benefiting the group such as in translating for others, helping at the store, and getting their things ready for school; whereas European American children were more likely to have individualistic autonomy in self focused activities like choosing their extracurricular activities or spending time in the neighborhood. Children from both groups were equally likely to over report their own autonomy in comparison to their mothers, however, Mexican Indigenous heritage children significantly underreported their autonomous behaviors compared to European American children. This study shows how cultural variation plays a role when it comes to children’s independence towards individual leisure activities, compared to collaborative helping tasks.