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Albert Mondia ,,Student #562751 SPAN150 001

Indigenous Peoples of Latin America

The indigenous, also called native people of Latin America endured a past of massacre
and genocide unprecedented in the history of mankind. Their population was reduced to
20% since the arrival of Columbus till the middle of the twentieth century. The most
recent occurrence took place in El Salvador in 1932 whereby 32000 natives of the Pipil
tribe were massacred by the fascist ruling elite who held power until 1979. The Maya
likewise had a similar past, but to a lesser extent because of their great ability to fight.
Never the less, during a 50 year period ending officially in 1915 an estimated 40 to 50
thousand people died.

Ecuador on the other hand didn’t suffer such devastating consequences with the
exception of the period of the rubber boom of the early twentieth century. Slavery
dominated this period forcing the natives to be subjected to oppressed squalid conditions
with no rights. They were forced to adapt to the Mestizo way. These people were a mix
of white of mainly Hispanic origin and native blood. They constituted 60% of the
population while the natives reached a meager 20%. The Mestizos were organized,
educated and vastly superior socially, economically and politically. They did not
recognize the various indigenous people living in various regions nor their basic rights as
Ecuadorians. The three main regions were: the coast with the “Awas”tribe,the Amazon
with the “Secoyas”tribe and the Andes with the “Quechwa”tribe who had the largest
population consisting of 3 million people. Eventually, they began revolting demanding
recognition of their diverse culture and language as well as their right to their land. They
demanded an increase in salary and better benefits. More importantly, they wanted an end
to the existing feudalistic like system found in the agricultural regions. Haciendas or
farms or ranches were controlled by the elitists or estate owners called “Haciendados”
with native workers subjected to their commands. By late 1960 Ecuador was
experiencing change.

In 1972 the first indigenous confederation was formed called “Ecuarunari” and involved
onle the Quechuas. In 1980 the Amazon nationalities formed the“Confenie”confederation
(confederation of the indigenous nations of the Amazon region of Ecuador). Then in1986
another confederation was formed and its objective was to help all the indigenous people
of Ecuador. It was called “Conaie” (confederation of indigenous nationalities of Ecuador)
and was very powerful. It was formed by the union of the previous two confederations. It
was shortly after when demonstrations and uprisings began to occur.

1990 marked the beginning of indigenous protests by having the first national strike.
They closed all roads and demanded to be heard if not they would start a revolution and
they will demand an international body to come and help. Later, In August of 1991 the
Conaie occupied the National Legislature demanding talks between government and
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natives. At the same time the Haciendados hired security forces to safeguard their
haciendas from the violent protests of the natives. In 1992 fourteen natives were killed
because of the violent tactics used by their security forces prompting government
intervention, however, only after strong complaints from international human rights
organizations. From this time on substantial success was realized by the natives in their
fight for recognition. Of the several successes was the question of land claims. Seven out
of fifteen land claims were settled and financial support to regain their land was also
achieved. It should also be noted that in that same year the UN proclaimed an
“International Year of the World’s indigenous People” and a forum of indigenous peoples
was subsequently formed. It was to last ten years. This didn’t mark an end to uprisings
though. 1994 was another year of protests and in 1995 Peru and Ecuador went to war
over a border dispute displacing the thousands of natives living in that region. Unesco
finally stepped in and assisted in bringing an end to this war.

Ecuador has been plagued with strikes, protests and uprisings till present day. Progress,
however, is prevalent. With the new Constitution of 2008 the Qechua and Shuer
languages became official languages. It also redefined Ecuador as a plurinational and
multicultural state. Intercultural education exists and neocolonization practices were
abolished paving the road to an improved social justice and equality. Probably the most
important change that came about was the “Non forfeitable ownership of communal
lands” giving the indigenous people right to their land.

This success spilled over into neighboring countries of Peru, Bolivia and Brazil since the
various regions (coast, Amazon and Andes) are shared by them. International networks
were formed and now have a sound role in this plight for improvement of native life. The
economical as well as the ecological impact from the presence of the international oil
companies is equally addressed and controlled. Even though much still has to be done to
achieve more improvement in the recognition of native rights the road has definitely been
paved.