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 woefully wrong 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 national leaders saw indigenous people as degenerate, backward citizens who must be replaced or reformed if the country was to become modern and prosperous.

Despite this continuity of oppression, independence did change indigenous strategies of advocacy and autonomy. Exact conditions varied from place to place, but generally, through independence indigenous people became citizens of their countries and could clamor for change as citizens.

Throughout most of the past 200 years, these different communities fought for their rights 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 global as these communities have utilized transportation and communication technologies to forge alliances 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 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.