The Politics of Indigenous People in the Caribbean
For many years, political elites,especially in Cuba and Puerto Rico, have assumed the extinction of the indigenous populations of those islands, or at least their absorption into a mixed population that served as the basis of a new “indigenous” people who could then be mobilized to face outside threats, usually the North American. I have written about this in the context of the construction of a “Cuban” politically and culturally useful ethno-racial type. See, e.g., Larry Catá Backer, From Hatuey to Che: Indigenous Cuba Without Indians and the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, American Indian Law Review, Vol. 33, 2009.
A group in Puerto Rico has been working to destabilize these assumptions, as well as the racism and cultural privileging inherent in these ideologically driven histories. They have produced a film speaking to these issues noted on the United Nations Radio Spanish language Website.
Una película sobre la extinción del pueblo Taíno, oriundo del Caribe, explora el tema de la autodeterminación de la identidad indígena y las raíces de la población en Puerto Rico. Pero además reflexiona sobre la negación de los orígenes indígenas, un problema actual inspirado en el racismo y la exclusión de esos pueblos.
Reportage: La polémica sobre la existencia de los Taínos, United Nations Spanish Radio (August 11, 2010) (directed by Alex Zacharías).For those interested, a more general (and also short) broadcast on Latin American indigenous rights is also available. Los derechos indígenas y las doctrinas coloniales United Nations Spanish Radio (Aug. 9. 2010).
6. Great post that caught my attention because we are discussing in my International Human Rights law class about indigenous people rights. It is important to recognize indigenous people continue on a daily basis to struggle for their rights to land, cultural and language. Often faced with governmental tactics that directly exploit these lands at the expenses of the indigenous population. This can be seen by looking at the Belo Monte dam project. This hydroelectric dam at the center of the Amazon rainforest if developed will exploit the areas which are currently occupied by over 10,000 indigenous people forcing them to relocate, blocking migration for food supply-fish, and ultimately their survival at the expense of building this hydroelectric dam. This is controversial with pros/cons on both sides of the spectrum but a key concern should take into consideration the people currently living in these areas “indigenous people” before development.