Indigenous Activism in a Global World

Indigenous people have been fighting for their survival and autonomy since Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas in 1492 and (thinking he was in Asia) called the locals “Indians.” Columbus was terribly mistaken about where he was; regardless; the term “Indian” stuck and served as a foundational concept of European imperialism and of nationalist racism and to this day it continues to erase the incredible diversity of the aboriginal peoples of the Americas. Countries like Mexico, Brazil, and Peru contain dozens of ethnic communities and language groups with distinct histories and cultures, but under colonialism they were all treated as just “Indios,” which under the European empires signified barbarous, idolatrous, and inferior.

This didn’t change much after national independence (1810-1830), for the new national leaders saw indigenous people as degenerate, backward citizens who must be replaced or reformed if the country was to become modern and prosperous. National governments therefore used their power to break up indigenous communal landholdings in order to force indigenous farmers to stop growing food for their own local needs, and to start growing cash crops for the national economy and/or join in the nation’s workforce. Detached from their former community, many went looking for work as farm laborers (peons) on large estates or as urban workers in the region’s growing cities.

Despite this continuity of oppression, independence did change indigenous strategies of advocacy and autonomy. Exact conditions varied from place to place, but through independence indigenous people became citizens of their countries and could clamor for change as official members of the nation. Many indigenous individuals forced from their communities joined the labor movement or they joined organizations and movements advocating for farmer (campesino) and farm laborer rights. But they didn’t advocate primary as Indians; rather, they mobilized themselves as citizens and laborers of the nation.

Meanwhile, many indigenous communities survived the constant attacks on their integrity. Throughout most of the past 200 years, these different communities fought for rights, sovereignty, and freedom mostly on local terms. Each community was a small minority within the nation, and their activism was mostly targeted at municipal, state, and national political bodies in attempt to secure resources and guarantee liberties for their community. However, in recent decades indigenous activism has grown increasingly unified and global as these communities have utilized transportation and communication technologies to forge alliances within and across national borders. Rather than seeing themselves as primarily members of a local ethnicity or community, more and more they advocate as “Indians.” That is to say, they have appropriated the colonial generalization and now use it to argue that they have common experiences and common interests and are strongest when they fight together. In this, their efforts have been greatly aided by the growth of the United Nations and non-government organizations and international activists that advocate for human rights and social justice.

In the readings for this theme, you will explore this internationalization of indigenous activism and the challenges and compromises, possibilities and limits this entails.