Indigenous People of Latin America

1
Indigenous People of Latin America!
2
Some Indigenous Populations

• Quechua
• Tzeltal
• Mayan- 6 million today
• Lancandon, Guatemalan

3
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.
4
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 1950s 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

5
Recent deforestation only a few kms.from the
Lacandon community of Najá.
A verdant crop of "fertilizer" beans in the
organic garden,Casa de la Cultura, Lacanjá.
6
Modern communities

• By the 1970s, 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

7
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.

8
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.

9
Quechua

• 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

• Tukuy kay pachaman paqarimujkuna libres
  nasekuntu tukuypunitaj kikin obligacionesniycjllat
  aj, 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)

10
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.
11
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.

12

• Poverty indigenous people less affected by
  macroeconomic trendspoverty 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

13
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.

14
Evo Morales Bolivias New President

• First Indigenous President in Bolivia to be
  elected
• Trying to help economic crisis and curb poverty
• Cuts his own presidents salary by 1,800 per
  month to pay for more schools and doctors
• Nationalize gas companies, tax the wealthy
• Head of coca growers union

15
International Day of Indigenous Peoples

• Celebrated August 9th, declared by the UN in
  1994.

16
International Decade of theWorld's Indigenous
Peoples December 1994, United Nations proclaimed
19952004

• Low human capital high poverty rates

17
Sources

• About Quechua Culture
• lthttp//www.ullanta.com/quechua/gt
• lthttp//lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/indigenous/gt
• http//lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/indigenous/
• Rigoberta Menchu
• lthttp//nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1992/tum-bi
  o.htmlgt
• http//www.global-vision.org/interview/menchu.html
  
• Mayan Culture
• lthttp//www.indians.org/welker/maya.htmgt
• lthttp//home.uchicago.edu/mmday/Tzeltal.htmlgt
• http//www.tzeltal.org/index.shtml
• Rosario Castellanos
• http//www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longter
  m/books/reviews/bookoflamentations.htm
• World Bank- Latin America Indigenous People
• lthttp//web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIE
  S/LACEXT/0,,contentMDK20505834pagePK146736piPK
  146830theSitePK258554,00.htmlgt