| Subject: Peter Winn, "Children of the Sun, 234-270 |
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Sing Your Li
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Date Posted: 05:29:46 05/16/02 Thu
The first Winn reading focuses on the issues that have arisen for Indians in Latin America and the different ways that they have sought to overcome these obstacles and apply political pressure in order to seek reform.
One issue is discrimination, which reflects itself in fewer education and employment opportunities for those Indians that leave their indigenous communities for the large cities. As a result, many try to pass themselves off as mestizos (mixed European and indigenous descent), learning Spanish and changing their dress, reflecting how in Latin America, the term "Indian" is defined by how someone acts, and less by color.
The reading also talks about the migration from the rural areas populated by Indians to urban areas. In Peru, for example, this was seen as a way for the society to integrate the Indians into mainstream culture and wipe out the indigenous way of life, solving the increasing possibility of an Indian uprising or the putting an end to Peru's dual society. But for Indian migrants immigrating to Lima for example, their ties to their ethnicity did not end. Instead, the successful ones would use their resources to get jobs for people back home or help develop their communities.
Also, within the cities social clubs or sports teams formed that united the migrants from their own community, and often even migrants from broader areas that would not have associated with each other otherwise.
Another issue has been the encroachment on outside groups on their communities, a result of an increased need for land and resources. The Shuar in the Amazon have tried to fight this by colonizing their land more visibly, buying cattle to fulfill the official requirements that declared the land "in use." Another problem has been the discovery of oil in the Amazon and the encroachment of lumber companies.
Such encroachment resulted in the formation of political pressure groups of the CONFENIAE that insists in the demarcation of the land, self-government and the right to have a say in what happens to the resources on their territories.
As a result of an insensitivity to its demands, it advocated a hunger strike and then widespread protest marches. There was some reform after that, such as a favorable land demarcation and a development of a public agency for indigenous affairs.
In other cases, such as Guatemala, where grassroots organizations were met by military repression, many Indians became politicized and ended up joining the Guerrilla Army of the Poor. As a result of the fear of a leftist revolution, the military launched a campaign against Indian communities and slaughtered hundreds of thousands of people.
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