Indigenous peoples holding on to traditional way of life

While communities across the country celebrate Columbus' arrival in the New World this week, many indigenous peoples of Latin America continue to protest the consequences of being conquered. In fact, Native American peoples of most Latin American countries have suffered political, economic and social disparities inflicted from 500 years of non-indigenous influences.\nIU Center of Latin American and Caribbean Studies Director Jeff Gould said most Latin American countries celebrated Columbus Day until the five-century anniversary in 1992. Before, during and since, indigenous peoples and their organizations have questioned the validity of the day that initiated profound negative effects on their culture and way of life, he said.\n"In a nutshell, there is an extremely skewed distribution of income resources and social services in most Latin American countries that is detrimental to the indigenous people," Gould said. "A personal identity is a fluid concept. However, there are certain countries in Latin America where the presence of the indigenous population is unmistakable." \nThroughout Latin America, no one typical indigenous person exists; rather, indigenous people are represented by varying cultures with varying languages. For instance, dozens of native dialects differ depending on the Latin American region in question. Most non-indigenous peoples of Latin America speak Spanish.\nGraduate student and indigenous born Francisco Tandioy, an instructor in Quechuan language and culture from Colombia, said up to 97 percent of the indigenous population died in the first 10 years after Columbus arrived in the New World. Disease was the primary cause of most deaths, although slave labor in mineral mines and plantation work often contributed to the indigenous death totals, he said.\n"After Columbus came to Colombia, we have had many land, culture and language problems. Out of the whole population of 47 million in Colombia, we are now over 1 million people," Tandioy said. "The Spanish were especially interested in gold and silver. They used Indians as a workforce under the control of Catholic church land-owners. Entire civilizations were destroyed, such as the highly developed Incas and Mayas."\nDoctoral student Mariella Arredondo said non-indigenous peoples living in Latin America often don't understand the social, economic and spiritual beliefs guiding indigenous societies. For instance, the big issue for many non-indigenous people in Peru is confusion interpreting indigenous views of natural harmony associated with the earth.\n"I don't know if words can give it justice; their world is everything," she said. "When you have big corporations starting to drill, it not only hurts the ability of indigenous people to hunt and grow crops. It hurts the earth, and the earth is a part of their family."\nIn addition, Arredondo said many indigenous peoples refer to themselves as regional peoples instead of native peoples. They call themselves "pueblos originarios," translated as "the original community of people," she said.\n"I think it's important for people to know indigenous peoples are dealing with similar issues minorities deal with here in America. For example, Latinos face lack of bilingual education in schools," she said. "A lot of knowledge is lost in both places because students are not learning in their native languages."\nFor the spring semester, Tandioy plans on adding an intermediate Quechuan language and culture class to beginning instruction to further students' interest in Latin American history, political environments and current affairs. \nGould said recent indigenous political activism has shifted government policies in many Latin American countries in favor of respecting the basic rights of native peoples. A shift in the international climate and perceptions revolved around the 500-year anniversary of Columbus's arrival in America and subsequent colonization of the continents, he said. \n"Since the early 1990s, there has been a growing recognition of human rights in cooperation with growing recognition of indigenous rights," he said. "It is important to realize that despite the achievements, the overwhelming majority of indigenous people represent the poorest sector of the Latin American population."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.