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Indigenous peoples in Colombia

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Indigenous Colombians
Colombianos indigenas (Spanish)
Flag of the Indigenous Colombians
Map of the indigenous population in Colombia
Total population
Amerindian ancestry predominates
Increase 1,905,617 (2018 Census)[1][2]
Increase 4.31% of Colombia's population

c. 5,200,000 (Estimation)
~10% of Colombia’s population[3][4][5]
2%–10.4%[4][6][7] of Colombians (external sources)
Regions with significant populations
Throughout the country, especially in the Amazonía Region, Andean region and Caribbean Region
 La Guajira394,683
 Cauca308,455
 Nariño206,455
Córdoba Department Córdoba202,621
Sucre Department Sucre104,890
Languages
Spanish • Indigenous languages (including Wayuu, Sinúfana, Páez, Emberá)
Religion
Majority: Roman Catholicism
Minority: Native American religions
Related ethnic groups

Indigenous Colombians (Spanish: Colombianos indigenas), also known as Native Colombians (Spanish: Colombianos nativos), are the ethnic groups who have inhabited Colombia before the Spanish colonization of Colombia, in the early 16th century.

Estimates on the percentage of Colombians who are indigenous vary, from 3% or 1.5 million to 10% or 5 million. According to the 2018 Colombian census, they comprise 4.4% of the country's population, belonging to 115 different tribes, up from 3.4% in the 2005 Colombian census.[1][2] However, a Latinobarómetro survey from the same year found that 10.4% of Colombian respondents self-identified as indigenous.[4][5] The most recent estimation of the number of indigenous peoples of Colombia places it at around 9.5% of the population and has been growing since an all-time low of 1965, where it was estimated only 1% of Colombians were indigenous.[8] The 2023 estimate indicates Colombia as having the seventh highest percentage of Amerindians in the Americas with only Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru, and Panama having a higher estimated percentage of Amerindians than Colombia.[9]

Approximately two thirds of the registered Indigenous peoples live in La Guajira, Cauca, Nariño, Córdoba and Sucre Departments. Amazon Basin, a sparsely populated region, is home to over 70 different Indigenous ethnic groups.[1]

Both historically and in recent times, they have been subjected to violence and oppression, ranging from land theft to massacres to the targeted killings of Indigenous activists and politicians.[10]

Population history

[edit]

In the Pre-Columbian era, the total population of Colombia was estimated to be around 6 million people.[11][12] However, after Spanish conquest, the population of Colombia was lowered to only 750 thousand people, in which native peoples made up 80% of the population at 600 thousand people.[13] This would lower after independence when the population grew to 1.327 million in which natives made up 53% of the population at 700 thousand people.[14] In the 1912 census, the native population accounted for 6.3% of the population, down from the 17.8% reported in 1852, this later lowered to 1% in the 1993 Census. However, due to increased recognition from the government, the percentage of registered indigenous people grew from 1% to 3.4% in the 2005 census, and later to 4.3% in the 2018 census. [15] This demographic decline can be explained by liberal policies implemented by new republican elites, which tried to abolish indigenous collective land ownership previously recognized by the Spanish monarchy, and forced natives to assimilate in mainstream national culture. [16]As of 2023, the total population of Colombia has grown significantly to around 52 million people, in which full-blooded natives are estimated to make up around 10% of the population at 5.2 million people, the reason for the increase being due to raised awareness among Colombians about their indigenous identity and from the 1991 constitution, which gave more legal rights to indigenous communities.[17] Despite the reduction in percentage of the total population, natives make up a large part of the genetic ancestry of Colombians. A study from Rojas et al determines that the average Colombian (of all races) has a mixture of 47% Amerindian, 42% European, and 11% African, [18] with natives having the most significant contribution in this study.

Indigenous Colombians 1600-2023
Year Population % of
Colombia
1600 600,000 Steady 80%
1825 700,000 Decrease 53%
1852 421,000 Decrease 17.8%
1912 344,198 Decrease 6.79%
1918 158,428 Decrease 2.71%
1938 100,422 Decrease 1.15%
1951 157,791 Increase 1.37%
1964 119,180 Decrease 0.68%
1973 383,629 Increase 1.86%
1985 237,759 Decrease 0.79%
1993 532,233 Increase 1.61%
2005 1,392,623 Increase 3.40%
2018 1,905,617 Increase 4.31%
2023 (Estimation) c. 5,200,000 Increase 10%
Source: Colombian census [19][20][note 1]

History

[edit]

Some theories claim the earliest human habitation of South America to be as early as 43,000 BC, but the current scholarly consensus among archaeologists is that human habitation in South America only dates back to around 15,000 BC at the earliest.[citation needed] Anthropologist Tom Dillehay dates the earliest hunter-gatherer cultures on the continent at almost 10,000 BC, during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene periods.[21] According to his evidence based on rock shelters, Colombia's first human inhabitants were probably concentrated along the Caribbean coast and on the Andean highland slopes.[21] By that time, these regions were forested and had a climate resembling today's.[21] Dillehay has noted that Tibitó, located just north of Bogotá, is one of the oldest known and most widely accepted sites of early human occupation in Colombia, dating from about 9,790 BC. There is evidence that the highlands of Colombia were occupied by significant numbers of human foragers by 9,000 BC, with permanent village settlement in northern Colombia by 2,000 BC.[21]

Beginning in the 1st millennium BC, groups of Amerindians including the Muisca, Quimbaya, Tairona, Calima, Zenú, Tierradentro, San Agustín, Tolima, and Urabá became skilled in farming, mining, and metalcraft; and some developed the political system of cacicazgos with a pyramidal structure of power headed by caciques.

Colombia's Indigenous culture evolved from three main groups—the Quimbaya, who inhabited the western slopes of the Cordillera Central; the Chibchas; and the Kalina (Caribs).[21] When the Spanish arrived in 1509, they found a flourishing and heterogeneous Amerindian population that numbered around 6 million,[22] belonged to several hundred tribes, and largely spoke mutually unintelligible dialects.[21] The two most advanced cultures of Amerindian peoples at the time were the Muisca and Taironas, who belonged to the Chibcha group and were skilled in farming, mining, and metalcraft.[21] The Muisca lived mainly in the present departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá, where they had fled centuries earlier after raids by the warlike Caribs, some of whom eventually migrated to Caribbean islands near the end of the first millennium A.D.[21] The Taironas, who were divided into two subgroups, lived in the Caribbean lowlands and the highlands of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.[21] The Muisca civilization was well organized into distinct provinces governed by communal land laws and powerful caciques, who reported to one of the two supreme leaders.[21]

  • Pre-Columbian
  • The zipa used to cover his body in gold and, from his Muisca raft, he offered treasures to the Guatavita goddess in the middle of the sacred lake. This old Muisca tradition became the origin of the El Dorado legend.
    The zipa used to cover his body in gold and, from his Muisca raft, he offered treasures to the Guatavita goddess in the middle of the sacred lake. This old Muisca tradition became the origin of the El Dorado legend.
  • A lowland Zenú cast-gold bird ornament that served as a staff head, dated 490 CE. This culture used alloys with a high gold content. The crest of the bird consists of the typical Zenú semi-filigree. Regular filigree is braided wire, but the Zenú cast theirs.
    A lowland Zenú cast-gold bird ornament that served as a staff head, dated 490 CE. This culture used alloys with a high gold content. The crest of the bird consists of the typical Zenú semi-filigree. Regular filigree is braided wire, but the Zenú cast theirs.
  • Tairona figure pendants in gold.
    Tairona figure pendants in gold.
  • Golden statuette of a Quimbaya cacique.
    Golden statuette of a Quimbaya cacique.
  • San Agustín Archaeological Park (UNESCO World Heritage Site), contains the largest collection of religious monuments and megalithic sculptures in Latin America[23] and is considered the world's largest necropolis.
    San Agustín Archaeological Park (UNESCO World Heritage Site), contains the largest collection of religious monuments and megalithic sculptures in Latin America[23] and is considered the world's largest necropolis.
  • Ciudad Perdida is a major settlement believed to have been founded around 800 CE. It consists of a series of 169 terraces carved into the mountainside, a net of tiled roads and several small circular plazas. The entrance can only be accessed by a climb up some 1,200 stone steps through dense jungle.[24]
    Ciudad Perdida is a major settlement believed to have been founded around 800 CE. It consists of a series of 169 terraces carved into the mountainside, a net of tiled roads and several small circular plazas. The entrance can only be accessed by a climb up some 1,200 stone steps through dense jungle.[24]

Pre-Columbian history

[edit]
Mask used on folk ritual Kamentsa on Chaquiras Indigenous people of Colombia.

The complexity of the Indigenous peoples' social organization and technology varied tremendously, from stratified agricultural chiefdoms to tropical farm villages and nomadic hunting and food-gathering groups.[21] At the end of the colonial period, the native population still constituted about half of the total population.[21] In the agricultural chiefdoms of the highlands, the Spaniards successfully imposed institutions designed to ensure their control of the Amerindians and thereby the use of their labor.[21] The colonists had organized political and religious administration by the end of the sixteenth century, and they had begun attempts to religiously convert the Amerindians to Christianity, specifically Roman Catholicism.[21]

The most important institution that regulated the lives and welfare of the highland Amerindians was the resguardo, a reservation system of communal landholdings.[21] Under this system, Amerindians were allowed to use the land but could not sell it.[21] Similar in some respects to the Native American reservation system of the United States, the resguardo has lasted with some changes even to the present and has been an enduring link between the government and the remaining highland tribes.[21] As land pressures increased, however, encroachment of white or mestizo settlers onto resguardo lands accelerated, often without opposition from the government.[21]

The government generally had not attempted to legislate in the past in matters affecting the forest Amerindians.[21] During the colonial period, Roman Catholic missions were granted jurisdiction over the lowland tribes.[21] With the financial support of the government, a series of agreements with the Holy See from 1887 to 1953 entrusted the evangelization and education of these Amerindians to the missions, which worked together with government agencies.[21] Division of the resguardos stopped in 1958, and a new program of community development began to try to bring the Amerindians more fully into the national society.[21]

The struggle of the Indigenous people on these lands to protect their holdings from neighboring landlords and to preserve their traditions continued into the late 20th century, when the 1991 constitution incorporated many of the Amerindian demands.[21] New resguardos have been created, and others have been reconstituted, among forest tribes as well as highland communities.[21] The 1991 constitution opened special political and social arenas for Indigenous and other minority groups.[21] For example, it allowed for creation of a special commission to design a law recognizing the black communities occupying unsettled lands in the riverine areas of the Pacific Coast.[21] Article 171 provides special Senate representation for Amerindians and other ethnic groups, while Article 176 provides special representation in the Chamber of Representatives: two seats "for the black communities, one for Indian communities, one for political minorities, and one for Colombians residing abroad".[21] Article 356 guarantees Amerindian territorial and cultural rights, and several laws and decrees have been enacted protecting them.[21] Article 356 refers somewhat vaguely to both "Indigenous territorial entities" and Indigenous resguardos.[21]

By 1991 the country's 587 resguardos contained 800,271 people, including 60,503 families.[21] The general regional distribution of these resguardos was as follows: Amazonia, 88; llanos, 106; Caribbean lowlands, 31; Andean highlands, 104; and Pacific lowlands, 258.[21] They totaled 27,900,000 hectares (108,000 sq mi), or about 24 percent of the national territory.[21] Colombia today may have as many as 710 resguardos in 27 of the 32 departments.[21]

Indigenous political organization

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Individual Indigenous groups have a variety of governance structures. A number of Indigenous groups are represented through the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC - Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia). Increasing organization and agitation have sharply broadened the Indigenous land base over the past forty years. The government titled more than 200 new reserves from 1960 to 1990, with 334 total operating as autonomous municipalities by 1997.[25]

Territories

[edit]
Proportion of Indigenous Colombians in each municipality as of the 2005 Colombian census
  61.4% - 100%
  29.6% - 61.3%
  11.7% - 29.5%
  2.9% - 11.6%
  0.0% - 2.8%
  Without data
Arhuaco people in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Mountains.

Indigenous peoples hold title to substantial portions of Colombia, primarily in the form of Indigenous Reserves (Spanish: resguardos), which encompass one-third of the country's land.[1] The Indigenous Affairs division of the Ministry of Interior has 567 reserves on record, covering approximately 365,004 km2 which are home to 800,272 persons in 67,503 families.[26]

The 1991 National Constitution of Colombia defined Territorial Entities (Entidades Territoriales) as departments, districts, municipalities and Indigenous territories. Within an Indigenous Territory Entity (ETI) the people have autonomy in managing their interests, and within the limits of the constitution have the right to manage resources and define taxes required to perform their duties. ETIs are to be defined by the government in conformance with the Organic Law on Land Management. However, this law has yet to be sanctioned so in practice the territories are unregulated.[27]

Territories with predominant Indigenous populations

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Departments

[edit]
According to ethnic self-identification. Data from the 2018 Colombian Census.
Department Total population (2018) Indigenous population[28] Percentage[28]
 Amazonas 66,056 38,130 57.7
 Guainía 44,431 33,280 74.9
 Vaupés 37,690 30,787 81.7
 Vichada 76,642 44,578 58.2

Municipalities

[edit]
Municipalities with predominant Indigenous population by self-identification.[29]
Municipality Predominant Indigenous group Province Department
El Encanto Witoto Amazonas  Amazonas
La Chorrera Witoto Amazonas  Amazonas
La Pedrera Yucuna Amazonas  Amazonas
La Victoria Tanimuca Amazonas  Amazonas
Leticia Ticuna Amazonas  Amazonas
Mirití-Paraná Yucuna Amazonas  Amazonas
Puerto Alegría Witoto Amazonas  Amazonas
Puerto Arica Witoto Amazonas  Amazonas
Puerto Nariño Ticuna Amazonas  Amazonas
Puerto Santander Witoto Amazonas  Amazonas
Tarapacá Ticuna Amazonas  Amazonas
Dabeiba Emberá Katio Western Antioquia  Antioquia
Frontino Emberá Katio Western Antioquia  Antioquia
Piojó Mokaná Western Atlántico  Atlántico
Tubará Mokaná Western Atlántico  Atlántico
Usiacurí Mokaná Central Atlántico  Atlántico
Cubará U'wa Cubará  Boyacá
Güicán de la Sierra U'wa Gutiérrez  Boyacá
Marmato Emberá Katio Upper Western Caldas  Caldas
Riosucio Emberá Katio Upper Western Caldas  Caldas
Supía Emberá Katio Upper Western Caldas  Caldas
Milán Coreguaje Caquetá  Caquetá
Solano Witoto Caquetá  Caquetá
Orocué Sáliva Casanare  Casanare
Almaguer Yanacona South Cauca  Cauca
Caldono Nasa Eastern Cauca  Cauca
Corinto Nasa North Cauca  Cauca
Inzá Nasa Eastern Cauca  Cauca
Jambaló Nasa Eastern Cauca  Cauca
La Vega Yanacona South Cauca  Cauca
Morales Nasa Central Cauca  Cauca
Páez Nasa Eastern Cauca  Cauca
Piamonte Inga South Cauca  Cauca
Piendamó Misak Central Cauca  Cauca
Puracé Coconuco Eastern Cauca  Cauca
San Sebastián Yanacona South Cauca  Cauca
Santa Rosa Inga South Cauca  Cauca
Silvia Misak Eastern Cauca  Cauca
Sotará Nasa Central Cauca  Cauca
Toribío Nasa Eastern Cauca  Cauca
Totoró Nasa Eastern Cauca  Cauca
Pueblo Bello Ijka North Cesar  Cesar
El Carmen de Atrato Emberá Katio Atrato  Chocó
Chimá Zenú Lower Sinú  Córdoba
Chinú Zenú Sabanas  Córdoba
Momil Zenú Lower Sinú  Córdoba
Purísima de la Concepción Zenú Lower Sinú  Córdoba
San Andrés de Sotavento Zenú Sabanas  Córdoba
Tuchín Zenú Sabanas  Córdoba
Barrancominas Piapoco Guainía  Guainía
Cacahual Curripaco Guainía  Guainía
Inírida Puinave Guainía  Guainía
La Guadalupe Curripaco Guainía  Guainía
Morichal Puinave Guainía  Guainía
Pana Pana Curripaco Guainía  Guainía
Puerto Colombia Curripaco Guainía  Guainía
San Felipe Curripaco Guainía  Guainía
Miraflores Tucano Guaviare  Guaviare
Íquira Nasa North Huila  Huila
Mapiripán Sikuani Southern Lower Ariari  Meta
Puerto Gaitán Sikuani Meta River  Meta
Aldana Pasto South Nariño  Nariño
Contadero Pasto South Nariño  Nariño
Córdoba Pasto South Nariño  Nariño
Cuaspud Pasto South Nariño  Nariño
Cumbal Awá South Nariño  Nariño
Guachucal Pasto South Nariño  Nariño
Ipiales Cofán South Nariño  Nariño
Mallama Awá Piedemonte Costero  Nariño
Potosí Pasto South Nariño  Nariño
Ricaurte Awá Piedemonte Costero  Nariño
Santacruz Awá Los Abades  Nariño
Sapuyes Pasto La Sabana  Nariño
Túquerres Pasto La Sabana  Nariño
Colón Inga Putumayo  Putumayo
Mocoa Kamëntsá Putumayo  Putumayo
Puerto Leguízamo Witoto Putumayo  Putumayo
San Francisco Kamëntsá Putumayo  Putumayo
San Miguel Cofán Putumayo  Putumayo
Santiago Inga Putumayo  Putumayo
Sibundoy Kamëntsá Putumayo  Putumayo
Orito Emberá Chamí Putumayo  Putumayo
Villagarzón Inga Putumayo  Putumayo
Mistrató Emberá Pacific Risaralda  Risaralda
Pueblo Rico Emberá Pacific Risaralda  Risaralda
Quinchía Emberá Chamí Western Risaralda  Risaralda
Palmito Zenú Morrosquillo  Sucre
Sampués Zenú Sabanas  Sucre
San José de Toluviejo Zenú Morrosquillo  Sucre
Coyaima Pijao South Tolima  Tolima
Natagaima Pijao South Tolima  Tolima
Ortega Pijao South Tolima  Tolima
Albania Wayuu Upper Guajira  La Guajira
Dibulla Kogi Upper Guajira  La Guajira
Distracción Wayuu Lower Guajira  La Guajira
Hatonuevo Wayuu Lower Guajira  La Guajira
Maicao Wayuu Upper Guajira  La Guajira
Manaure Wayuu Upper Guajira  La Guajira
Riohacha Wayuu Upper Guajira  La Guajira
Uribia Wayuu Upper Guajira  La Guajira
Carurú Tucano Vaupés  Vaupés
Mitú Cubeo Vaupés  Vaupés
Pacoa Cubeo Vaupés  Vaupés
Papunahua Cubeo Vaupés  Vaupés
Taraira Tanimuca Vaupés  Vaupés
Yavaraté Cubeo Vaupés  Vaupés

Major ethnic groups

[edit]
Muisca Community in the Colombian locality of Bosa, Bogotá.

According to the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC), there are 102 Indigenous groups in Colombia.[30] The ethnic groups with the greatest number of members are the Wayuu (380,460), Zenú, (307,091), Nasa (243,176) and Pastos (163,873). These peoples account for 58.1% of Colombia's Indigenous population.[31]

Highland peoples refer to the cultures of the Andes and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of Colombia, while lowland peoples refer to the inhabitants of Chocó, Amazonía, Guajira and the Caribbean Coast, the Urabá Region and other non-mountain cultures.

Name Traditional Language Language Family Population (2005)[32] Population (2018)[32]
Wayuu Wayuunaiki Arawakan 270,413 380,460
Zenú Zenú Zenú 233,052 307,091
Nasa Nasa Yuwe Paezan 186,178 243,176
Pasto Pasto Barbacoan 129,801 163,873
Emberá Chamí Chamí Chocoan 29,094 77,714
Emberá Cholo Chocoan 37,327 56,504
Sikuani Sikuani Guahiban 19,791 52,361
Pijao Pijao Cariban 58,810 51,635
Emberá Katío Catío Chocoan 38,259 48,117
Awá Awa Pit Barbacoan 25,813 44,516
Mokaná Mocana Malibu 24,825 37,099
Yanacona Yanacona Quechuan 33,253 34,897
Arhuaco Ikʉ Chibchan 22,134 34,711
Misak Namtrik Barbacoan 21,085 21,713
Inga Inga Kichwa Quechuan 15,450 19,561
Wiwa Wiwa Chibchan 10,703 18,202
Coconuco Coconuco Barbacoan 16,492 18,135
Kankuamo Kankui Chibchan 12,714 16,986
Kogui Kogi Chibchan 9,173 15,820
Wounan Wounan Chocoan 9,066 14,825
Piapoco Piapoco Arawakan 3,508 14,661
Witoto Witoto Witotoan No data 14,142
Cubeo Cubeo Tucanoan 3,926 14,074
Tikuna Ticuna Ticuna-Yuri 7,879 13,842
Muruí Muruí Witotoan 6,444 12,029
Baniwa Karu Arawakan 4,340 11,946
Muisca Muysccubun Chibchan 14,051 11,265
U'wa Uw Cuwa Chibchan 7,581 10,649
Puinave Puinave Puinave 4,318 8,984
Totoró Totoró Barbacoan 6,289 8,916
Kamëntsá Camsá Camsá 4,879 7,521
Quillacinga Quillacinga Quillacinga No data 7,333
Eperara Siapidara Eperara Chocoan 3,853 7,047
Sáliva Sáliva Piaroa–Saliban 3,035 4,783
Emberá Dobidá Dobidá Chocoan No data 4,233
Tukano Tucano Tucanoan 2,016 4,075
Kizgó Kizgó Barbacoan No data 3,974
Quechua Kichwa Quechuan 481 3,688
Desano Desano Tucanoan 2,179 3,641
Yukpa Yukpa Cariban 4,761 3,610
Wanano Wanano Tucanoan 1,305 3,312
Ambaló Namtrik Barbacoan No data 3,278
Coreguaje Coreguaje Tucanoan 1,767 3,257
Cocama Kokama Tupian 2,204 3,221
Bari Bari Chibchan 5,923 3,018
Guayabero Jiw Guahiban 617 2,960
Cuna Tule Dulegaya Chibchan 2,383 2,610
Siona Siona Tucanoan 1,829 2,599
Polindara Polindara Barbacoan No data 2,499
Emberá Chamí (Cañamomo Lomaprieta) Chamí Chocoan 21,628 2,225
Amorúa Amorúa Guahiban 464 2,211
Muinane Muinane Bora–Witoto No data 2,113
Makuna Makuna Tucanoan 612 1,962
Kofán Cofán Cofán 1,657 1,816
Macahuán Macahuán Guahiban No data 1,764
Ette Ennaka Ette taara Chibchan 1,614 1,701
Siriano Siriano Tupian 544 1,658
Yukuna Yukuna Arawakan 396 1,582
Tuyuca Tuyuca Tucanoan 444 1,467
Piaroa Piaroa Piaroa–Saliban 720 1,127
Piratapuyo Wanano Tucanoan 814 1,106
Tatuyo Tatuyo Tucanoan 381 1,091
Indigenous Ecuadorian (other than Otavaleño) Kichwa Quechuan 407 1,088
Bora Bora Bora–Witoto 933 1,047
Carapaná Carapaná Tucanoan 482 1,040
Bara Waimajã Tucanoan 208 1,004
Tanimuka Tanimuka Tucanoan 342 991
Yagua Yagua Peba–Yaguan 1,007 984
Achagua Achawa Arawakan 796 980
Yurutí Yurutí Tucanoan 377 969
Barasano Barasana Tucanoan 351 905
Cuiba Cuiba Guahiban 769 895
Andoke Andoke Bora–Witoto 136 820
Kawiyarí Kawiyarí Arawakan 233 809
Miraña Miraña Bora–Witoto 274 759
Nukak Nukak Puinave-Maku 1,080 744
Matapí Yucuna Arawakan 71 618
Dujos Tama Tama 56 611
Yeral (Tupi) Nheengatu Tupian No data 565
Karijona Karijona Cariban 425 525
Masiguare Masiguare Guahiban 268 522
Hitnu Hitnu Guahiban 676 513
Ocaína Ocaína Bora–Witoto 285 412
Wipiwi Cuiba Guahiban No data 299
Letuama Letuama Tucanoan 202 285
Nonuya Nonuya Bora–Witoto 31 258
Andaki Andaki Andaki No data 248
Tariano Tariana Arawakan 197 210
Otavaleño Kichwa Quechuan 975 210
Guane Guane Chibchan 812 200
Pisamira Pisamira Tucanoan 151 196
Baniva Karu Arawakan No data 187
Nutabe Nutabe Chibchan No data 178
Indigenous Venezuelan Wayuunaiki Arawakan 8 157
Kakua Kakua Kakua No data 147
Tanigua Tanigua Tiniguan No data 145
Yamalero Yamalero Guahiban 63 142
Yaruro Yaruro Yaruro No data 136
Betoye Betoye Betoye 394 127
Taiwano Taiwano Tucanoan 166 123
Yauna Yauna Tucanoan 99 105
Mapayerri Mapayerri Mapayerri No data 104
Calima Calima Calima 76 102
Quimbaya Quimbaya Quimbaya 163 94
Tsiripu Tsiripu Guahiban 17 75
Mayan (Guatemalan) Kʼicheʼ Mayan 7 65
Guariquema Guariquema Guariquema No data 62
Panche Panche Cariban 8 55
Makú Cacua Puinave-Maku No data 50
Indigenous Peruvian Quechua Quechuan 98 44
Tayrona Tayrona Chibchan 19 43
Indigenous Brazilian Nheengatu Tupian 306 36
Jupda Hup Nadahup No data 33
Je'eruriwa Yucuna Arawakan No data 29
Makaguaje Makaguaje Tucanoan 125 24
Indigenous Bolivian Aymara Aymaran 3 22
Chiricoa Chiricoa Guahiban 46 19
Indigenous Panamanian Ngäbere Chibchan No data 16
Guanaca Guanaca Guanaca 12 14
Yarí Yarí Yarí No data 14
Chitarero Chitarero Chitarero 161 10
Indigenous Mexican Nahuatl Uto-Aztecan 12 5
Juhup Hup Nadahup No data 4
Hupdu Hup Nadahup No data 1
Yuri-Carabayo Carabayo Ticuna-Yuri 26 No data

Struggle for rights

[edit]

Indigenous people comprise 4.4–10% of the population of Colombia and their level of income as well as the indicators of human development as education and health conditions are behind compared to those of the rest of the Colombians.[33] During the last twenty years, there has been a remarkable increase of the interest dedicated to the concerns of Indigenous communities all over the world. Therefore, the United Nations proclaimed the disclosure of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People and in Latin America on 10 December 1994 and in Latin America. More than in any other region, this period was characterized by a wave of Indigenous movements which practised a growing political power, since the resistance of the Chiapas of 1994 until the fall of the governments of Ecuador and Bolivia.

The rise of Indigenous mobilization in Colombia is explained as a reaction of crisis at various levels: a crisis of representation, caused by the shortcomings of political parties with sufficient representation to shoulder all collectives' interests; a crisis of participation, that is the result of the lack of citizen's participation in state's business; and a legitimation crisis, due to the discrimination against some social groups.[34]

During their struggle for rights, Indigenes abandoned the armed struggle of the 1980s and the new strategy included forms of legal liberalism, a politics of identity and the use of transnational networks putting pressure on the state to achieve recognition and respect.[citation needed] This hasn't always led to success and often turned into victims of the cultural project of neoliberalism.[citation needed] Besides the cultural accomplishments there was an escalation of the acts of persecution and in the number of violations committed against them.[citation needed]

According to the Indigenous National Organization of Colombia (ONIC) there are 102 Indigenous peoples in Colombia and only 82 of them are recognized by the Colombian government. One of the main problems the Colombian Indigenous communities are currently facing is the lack of recognition of their right to be consulted. Poverty is another central aspect in order to understand the contemporary situation of the Indigenes of Colombia, which has been measured making use of the Unsatisfied Basic Needs (UBN), considering people poor who have insufficiencies in living, services and education. Facts show differences between zones: those of greater influence of poverty measured with the UBN standard are Chocó, Sucre, Boyacá, Nariño and Córdoba, with numbers that exceed the 50% of the population and those of less influence are found in Bogotá and the departments of El Valle, Atlántico and the cafetero-core: Caldas, Quindío and Risaralda. In 1986 the concept of pobreza absoluta was introduced in the nation, during a situation of crisis of governability and the escalation of the problems concerning the armed conflict. With the politics of struggle against poverty the presence of the state was tried to be consolidated in zones which were considered 'marginal', especially those areas including Indigenous population.[citation needed]

Politics between 1986 and 1990 tried to rehabilitate the marginal zones and their integration to achieve development; specific institutions were set up to work with Indigenous communities, seeing them as farmer communities which habits and forms of production had to be modernized. As a consequence, the Indigenous minorities revolted, arguing that it was not up to them to reintegrate but it was the state that had to reform his ideas and recognize them as the original Colombian population. The goal was to solve the crisis of governability by eliminating poverty, without excluding local necessities and impulse development from out of the perspective of diversity. The Indigenous communities were considered to be marginal sectors in disadvantage, a highly retarded population which had to be incorporated and integrated in greater society. The Indigenous people were not seen as a part of the diversity of the nation which participation was needed for the construction of it. This conception has survived since the colonization of the continent until now: generally, the Indigenous and also the black diversity is still seen as a negative element which has to be reduced or completely wiped out to guarantee the development and the modernization of Latin American societies.[citation needed]

Despite the Constitution of 1991 with the introduction of the multi-ethnic and multicultural character of the Colombian nation, the contemporary relation between the state and the Indigenous communities seems to be contradictory, particularly because of the presence of the demands of autonomy of the latter. Until today the Colombian government has recognized the Indigenous groups only as communities, meaning that they are considered to be culturally diverse and therefore require a different political treatment to be able to integrate them in national society. Different forms of participation have been assigned to the communities, but always in conformity with legal and constitutional regulations of the state, defined and established throughout history. Though the 1990s were a decade of mobilization and in some way a victory in terms of neoliberal multiculturalism, after twenty years of the Constitution of 1991 people have realized the need of turning to other forms of mobilization, more than legal mobilization. It has been shown that the recognition of equality is not enough; Indigenous peoples have also demanded their right to difference, that is, access to particular rights as Indigenous communities.

Many people in Colombia choose not to identify as indigenous due to the history of discrimination against them and the immense wealth gap between those who identify as indigenous and those who don't, leading to only 1% of Colombians in the 1993 census to identify as indigenous, or under a million people. During the most recent censuses however, more people have begun to identify as indigenous, from 3.4% in the 2005 census to 4.31% in the 2018 census. Many scholars estimate the true indigenous population of Colombia to be around 10% of the country’s population, or 5 million people,[citation needed] the same can be said for Afro Colombians who are estimated to be around 20% of the total population or 10 million people, despite only 6% of Colombians identifying as Afro Colombian in the 2018 census.[35][36][37]

Currently, Indigenous political participation, both in national and local elections, remains low, because of various reasons: the fragmentation of the movement due to the several groups within the Colombian Indigenous communities; the loss of the vote from non-Indigenous leaders and the low number of voters due to the fact that many who identify as Indigenous comprise a small part of the national population and most of them live in the countryside without possibilities to vote.

Notable Indigenous Colombians

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Daguerreotype of José María Melo

See also

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Bibliography

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Notes

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  1. ^ The reason for the discrepancy has mainly to do with Indigenous Colombians being undercounted in the censuses and/or choosing to identify with a different race.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Indigenous peoples in Colombia". International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. Retrieved 11 Dec 2013.
  2. ^ a b https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/boletines/grupos-etnicos/presentacion-grupos-etnicos-2019.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ "Raza/Etnia a la que pertenece". Latinobarómetro 2023 Colombia. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Informe Latinobarómetro 2018". Latinobarometro. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Informe Latinobarómetro". Latinobarometro. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  6. ^ Simon Schwartzman. "Étnia, condiciones de vida y discriminación" (PDF). Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  7. ^ Ruiz-Linares, Andrés; Adhikari, Kaustubh; Acuña-Alonzo, Victor; Quinto-Sanchez, Mirsha; Jaramillo, Claudia; Arias, William; Fuentes, Macarena; Pizarro, María; Everardo, Paola; Avila, Francisco de; Gómez-Valdés, Jorge (2014-09-25). "Admixture in Latin America: Geographic Structure, Phenotypic Diversity and Self-Perception of Ancestry Based on 7,342 Individuals". PLOS Genetics. 10 (9): e1004572. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1004572. ISSN 1553-7404. PMC 4177621. PMID 25254375.
  8. ^ Rueda, Ricardo (1974). La población de Colombia. Asociación Colombiana para el Estudio de la Población. p. 78.
  9. ^ "Raza/Etnia a la que pertenece". Latinobarómetro 2023 Colombia. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  10. ^ Alexander, Inigo. "Colombia's Indigenous population faces scourge of violence". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  11. ^ Juan Friede (1966). Invasión del país de los chibchas. Santa Fe de Bogotá: Ediciones Tercer Mundo, pp. 19
  12. ^ "Caída de la población indígena en Colombia, 1500-1630: tres escenarios" [Decline of the indigenous population in Colombia, 1500-1630: three scenarios] (PDF). Banco de la República.
  13. ^ Rosenblat, 1954: 59
  14. ^ Rosenblat, 1954: 36-56
  15. ^ Palacios, Marco (2002). Colombia. País fragmentado, sociedad dividida. Grupo Editorial Norma. p. 373.
  16. ^ Instituciones indigenistas en el siglo xix
  17. ^ Estimates from Latinobarómetro in 2018 and 2023
  18. ^ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/45822469 [bare URL]
  19. ^ "Distribución de la población colombiana según pertenencia étnica" (PDF). Documento DANE - Las Estadísticas Vitales en Colombia. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  20. ^ "Estadística de los grupos étnicos 2018". Censo General 2018. Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadistica (DANE). Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag Bushnell, David and Rex A. Hudson. "Indigenous Peoples". In Colombia: A Country Study (Rex A. Hudson, ed.), pp. 82-86. Library of Congress Federal Research Division (2010). Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  22. ^ https://www.banrep.gov.co/sites/default/files/paginas/lbr_colonial_graficos3.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  23. ^ "San Agustín Archaeological Park". UNESCO World Heritage Center. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  24. ^ "Explore the Site". Global Heritage Fund. Archived from the original on 2014-09-08.
  25. ^ Brysk, Alison. 2000. From tribal village to global village: Indian rights and international relations in Latin America. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, p. 267.
  26. ^ "Los resguardos indígenas" (in Spanish). Fundación Hemera. Archived from the original on 2008-07-12. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  27. ^ "Entidades Territoriales Indigenas", TIG: Territorio Indigena y Gobernanza (in Spanish), retrieved 2016-07-15
  28. ^ a b "Población Indígena de Colombia" (PDF). dane.gov. September 16, 2019.
  29. ^ "Autorreconocimiento étnico". Colombia en Mapas. 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
  30. ^ "Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia | Pueblos indígenas". Archived from the original on 2014-05-20. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  31. ^ "Indigenous World 2020: Colombia". IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. Retrieved 2020-08-28.
  32. ^ a b "Población Indígena de Colombia" (PDF). dane.gov. September 16, 2019.
  33. ^ "La visibilización estadística de los grupos étnicos colombianos" (PDF). dane.gov.co. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  34. ^ Benavides Vanegas, F. S. (2009) Indigenous people's mobilization and their struggle for rights in Colombia". COPAL.
  35. ^ "Colombia Under Review for Violence Against Indigenous Peoples while Protests Rage at Home". Cultural Survival. 2019-12-04. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
  36. ^ "Ford Foundation Homepage". Ford Foundation. 2024-03-12. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
  37. ^ "Colombia's government has forgotten its Indigenous Peoples". Amnesty International. 2020-08-05. Retrieved 2024-03-15.

13. http://juankbusaenz.blogspot.com/2011/

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