Indigenous People of Latin America!

• Quechua• Tzeltal• Mayan- 6 million todayLancandon, Guatemalan

Some Indigenous Populations…

The Lancandon Maya-indigenous peoples of La Selva Lacandona in Chiapas,

Mexico 500 members left

"We are not myths of the past, ruins in the jungle or zoos. We are people and we want to be respected, not to be victims of intolerance and racism." --Rigoberta Mench'u Tum, winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize.

Hach Winik (True People in their

language) • Lived in the Rainforest for Hundreds of years

= able to avoid Spanish colonization• Perhaps direct decedents of the classical

civilizations of Palenque, Yaxchilan and Bonampak

• Oral tradition in story telling classic Maya mythology

• Remained isolated until 1950’s when threatened by deforestation and massive migration

"For a people whose mythology describes the whole earth as covered with jungle, to destroy the jungle is to destroy their

world." --Didier Boremanse

A verdant crop of "fertilizer" beans in the organic garden,

Casa de la Cultura, Lacanjá.

Recent deforestation only a few kms.

from the Lacandon community of Najá.

Modern communities• By the 1970’s, the Lacandons had resettled or been

relocated by the government to three principle settlements: Lacanjá Chansayab, in the south and Najá and Metzabók (Mensäbäk) in the north of the Lacandon Rainforest

• New towns the evangelists found it easier to pursue the conversion of the Lacandons to Christianity

• Roads first started to reach the communities in the late 1970's and now there is electricity in all three villages. With the new traffic and television outside influences have come flooding in.

• Combination of traditional beliefs and modern influence ie. In the event of illness, some may choose to placate the gods with ceremonies in the god house and then go to the clinic for western medicine.

• Acceptance of certain elements ie. Some drive cars, modern dress, practice Christianity, use of modern weapons to hunt

Adjusting to Modernization• Increase in Tourism : Ecotourism park that will

include the Bonampak ruins, the Lacandon communities and parts of the Monte Azules biosphere reserve. April, 1997, the road construction and other services planned for this project are neared completion

• Sell traditional products to tourists visiting Palenque

• La Casa de la Cultura: offer the communities a way of maintaining and strengthening those aspects of their culture that they, as a community, most value. Gain greater understanding of themselves in context of the contemporary world.

The Tzeltal People

• Central highlands of southern Mexico, in the Chiapas region

• 70% of indigenous population in Chiapas

• Mayan origin, syncretic religion of Catholic and indigenous elements

• Famous for craft work- weaving, spinning, etc.

Quechua

• “Tukuy kay pachaman paqarimujkuna libres nasekuntu tukuypunitaj kikin obligacionesniycjllataj, jinakamalla honorniyojtaj atiyniyojtaj, chantaqa razonwantaj concienciawantaj dotasqa kasqankurayku, kawsaqe masipura jina, tukuy uj munakuyllapi kawsakunanku tian.” All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

• Spoken in Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Ecuador, mainly in Andean regions.

• Mainly unwritten, spoken in rural settings• Around 8 million people speak Quechua• Official language of the Incan Empire

Indigenous Languages

There are hundreds of indigenous languages still spoken today in Latin America, although there were probably as many as 1,750 before the beginning of the European invasions (Sherzer, 1991). Campbell (1997) reports between 550 and 700 languages for the whole region, citing sources from the mid-1990's.

Educational Disadvantages

• In Guatemala, for example, illiteracy is about 60% among indigenous people.

• 50% of the population speaks a Mayan dialect, yet Spanish is the national language.

• Poverty: indigenous people less affected by macroeconomic trends—poverty gap has deepened in this decade

• Education: indigenous peoples continue to have fewer years of education than non-indigenous ones. ie. Bolivia, non-indigenous children have 10 years of schooling versus 6 for indigenous; in Guatemala, the years are 6 versus 3.

• Health: less access to basic health services, low insurance rates and high levels of malnutrition

• Labor: discrimination in work place receive less wages than non-indigenous peoples

Guatemalan Indigenous Rights• “Among the nations which have suffered the most

widespread human rights abuses, unpunished atrocities, murders, terror and fear, is Guatemala. The recent historical events in Guatemala have fragmented the culture of the Mayas in many places. Displacement, refuge, exile are daily facts of life in my country. However, these things have also allowed us to learn something more in our experience of the world. In Guatemala today, there are some very courageous women who are making a stand, indigenous women, who are leading the struggle! We believe the war in Guatemala is no disgrace for the Mayas. It's a disgrace for the people of Guatemala…”

- 1978- In Panzos, a crowd of Qeqchi protested the seizure of their lands; this led to a massacre of indigenous people.

- 1980-1984 Oppressive military actions towards indigenous people- 250,000 refugees flee to Mexico.

- 1979- Rigoberta Menchu joins the Committee of the Peasant Union, founded by her father. As an advocate for Indigenous rights, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992.

Evo Morales : Bolivia’s New President

-First Indigenous President in Bolivia to be elected

-Trying to help economic crisis and curb poverty

-Cuts his own president’s salary by $1,800 per month to pay for more schools and doctors

-Nationalize gas companies, tax the wealthy

-Head of coca growers union

International Day of Indigenous Peoples • Celebrated August 9th, declared by

the UN in 1994.

International Decade of theWorld's Indigenous Peoples

December 1994, United Nations proclaimed 1995–2004

• Low human capital = high poverty rates

SourcesAbout Quechua Culture • <http://www.ullanta.com/quechua/>• <http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/indigenous/>• http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/indigenous/

Rigoberta Menchu• <http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1992/tum-bio.html>• http://www.global-vision.org/interview/menchu.html

Mayan Culture• <http://www.indians.org/welker/maya.htm>• <http://home.uchicago.edu/~mmday/Tzeltal.html>• http://www.tzeltal.org/index.shtml

Rosario Castellanos• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/reviews/bookoflamentation

s.htm

World Bank- Latin America Indigenous People• <http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/LACEXT/

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