Summary of Now Peru Is Mine

goitys on June 9, 2019

In Now Peru Is Mine: The Life and Times of a Campesino Activist, Manuel Llamojha Mitma and Jaymie Patricia Heilman present a testimonio of Llamojha’s lifelong activism and struggles against socioeconomic and racial oppression in Peru—and across the globe, to some extent—throughout the 20th century. Now Peru Is Mine illustrates the idea that nonviolent resistance, especially activism involving the written word, can be far more effective than violent means with respect to achieving social progress.
The book begins by outlining the events of Llamojha’s early life that led him on his activist path. Although Llamojha was born to an indigenous peasant family in a community with a severely low literacy rate, his father taught him to read and write at a young age. Llamojha witnessed the abuses of the hacendados firsthand, and these injustices, in conjunction with his literacy, inspired in him a desire to lead and make a difference. He initially intended to become a priest, but was unjustly rejected as a result of his race and class. He then joined the military, planning to use his service as the jumping-off point for a revolution, but was dismissed for these very same revolutionary inclinations. Over time, Llamojha learned more about the systems of oppression operating in Peru, through books, word of mouth, and his personal observations. He became secretary general of a migrant club in his community, challenging the local authorities.
Next, Llamojha and Heilman focus on Llamojha’s activism with the Jhajhamarka hacienda. Llamojha would use his ever-present typewriter, as well as makeshift seals and other “official” devices, to compose complex legal documents. The authorities constantly harassed him, occasionally forging documents to brand him a communist. Llamojha observes that he was in jail so often that it became like home to him. He was even forced to fake his own death at one point in order to evade arrest. This constant turmoil was difficult for his family to handle at times. While Llamojha was in jail, he also continued his activism. Eventually, he was elected personero legal of Concepción, a position to which he continued to be reelected over the years.
Llamojha was later elected secretary general of the Confederación Campesina del Perú, and in the sixties he traveled to various socialist countries, including Cuba, the Soviet Union, and China. Llamojha criticized the brand of communism practiced by the USSR, favoring instead the peasant-oriented communism of Mao’s China. Upon his return, Llamojha was jailed for an entire year. Unfortunately, in the seventies, schisms developed within the CCP in response to the state-enforced agrarian reforms of the Velasco military government. Llamojha and others opposed the regime because they felt the reforms were insufficient, and disempowered the peasant class. During this period, various other disputes also arose within the left.
Next, Llamojha and Heilman recount likely the darkest period in Llamojha’s life: the loss of his son Herbert. Herbert was wrongfully arrested on suspicion of involvement in a terrorist attack perpetrated by the Shining Path. Disturbingly, he was turned in by Llamojha’s own brother, who was apparently sympathetic to the hacendado cause. The Shining Path later attacked the prison in which Herbert was being held, and he escaped, but he was never officially seen again. This tragedy profoundly devastated Llamojha and his family. In this regard, Llamojha and Heilman present a pointed critique of violent revolutionary tactics like those employed by the Shining Path and other militant organizations.
Now Peru Is Mine addresses issues that are echoed within a plethora of scholarly works, including Waskar Ari-Chachaki’s essay “Between Indian Law and Qullasuyu Nationalism: Gregorio Titiriku and the Making of AMP Indigenous Activists, 1921-1964.” Both works demonstrate the power of literacy in terms of organizing movements and effecting social progress. Like Llamojha, intellectual activist Gregorio Titiriku had a father who taught him to read and write early in his life. Like Llamojha, these abilities inspired and allowed for Titiriku’s career as an activist. Finally, for both Llamojha and Titiriku, the knowledge of and familiarity with the intricacies of their respective governing institutions provided by literacy was instrumental in their success. This connection is important because it demonstrates that the effectiveness of Llamojha’s writing-oriented, nonviolent resistance is not an isolated aberration. These forms of activism work across the globe and across historical time periods, not just in Peru and not just during the period of Llamojha’s work.
Llamojha and Heilman’s message regarding the importance of this kind of resistance can be seen in one passage in the book in particular, which depicts some highly meaningful images. In Chapter Two, “‘I Made the Hacendados Tremble’: Defending Jhajhamarka Campesinos, 1948-1952,” specifically on pages 47 through 52, Llamojha and Heilman describe how Llamojha used his typewriter and makeshift stamps to draw up documents. Llamojha recounts that he used to carry his typewriter wherever he went so that he would always be prepared to draft petitions, formal requests, memos, and the like, if the situation should present itself. He goes on to explain that he would then take these documents directly to the national government himself, bypassing the local authorities. In doing so, Llamojha was time and time again able to win important rights and protections for his people, going so far as to “make the hacendados tremble.” The image of Llamojha carrying his typewriter around wherever he would go is especially striking because it contrasts so strongly with more traditional images of revolutionaries carrying guns and other weapons. Llamojha’s example affirms the adage that the pen (or typewriter, as the case may be), is truly mightier than the sword.
Works Cited
Ari-Chachaki, Waskar. “Between Indian Law and Qullasuyu Nationalism. Gregorio Titiriku and the Making of AMP Indigenous Activists, 1921-1964.” Bolivian Studies Journal/Revista De Estudios Bolivianos, vol. 15, 2011, pp. 91–113., doi:10.5195/bsj.2010.11.
Mitma, Manuel Llamojha, and Jaymie Patricia Heilman. Now Peru Is Mine: the Life and Times of a Campesino Activist. Duke University Press, 2016.

Indigeneity and Land

hernandezo on June 9, 2019

One of the things that came to mind when reading the readings this week was what it means to be indigenous. The reason that this is something that I thought about frequently was because of what we read in Now Peru Is Mine by Manuel Mitma Llamojha and Jaymie Patricia Heilman. Llamojha explains on pages 11-12 about how he prefers to describe himself as a campesino versus calling himself Indian, Quechua, Aymara, or even indigenous. Although, the author does say, “His understanding of what it means to be a campesino is one that melds ethnic, class, and historical identities, and he is both passionate and explicit about his indigeneity.”1 It’s interesting that he chooses to use a social-economic label to describe himself. Although, it’s worth noting that he denounces the word “indian”, Llamojha says:
“Discrimination began when the Spanish took America. They categorized all the natives of the continent as ‘Indians,’ as people of another country, another world. I always felt proud when they called ‘Indian.’ When Christopher Columbus came to America, he thought that all the inhabitants of America from India. So I was proud when they said ‘Indian’ to me, because that meant I was from India.”2
This reminded me of conversations with my father who spoke to me of the remnants of indigenous lifestyle in his home pueblo of Pomoca, Michoacán. While he also shared the same sentiments about the use of the word “indio” or “indian” to describe himself as someone who comes from indigenous descent, he preferred to call himself a “campesino”, but used the two terms fairly interchangeably. His rationale for this was that as a Mexican with indigenous roots, he also resonated with the idea that being called “indian” further carried on a legacy of colonialism. While my father never explicitly said this, he felt it was wrong to call his fellow indigenous Mexican people with the incorrect name because they indeed weren’t from India, and therein lies a form of belittling and taking away from the strength and pride there is in indigeneity, and having colonizers rename and stick a name onto a people.
On a different note, the reason he strongly resonated with the word campesino was the fact that he felt that as a farmer, he saw the agricultural component, the physical labor that came with the lifestyle, and the spiritual connection to the land, as a means to fulfill the needs of his people were far more important than what demarcated him as indigenous, or “indio”, in geographic and racial terms. Just because he was darker skinned than other people in his pueblo and just because he didn’t live in the urbanized parts of Michoacan wasn’t what deemed him indigenous or being of indigenous descent. I think this proves to be a very valuable insight as to what it means to be indigenous. There’s merit in the work of cultivating land and creating a lifestyle and whole community based around that labor. It weaves together societies, fortifies relationships, gives these communities capital and a means of creating and contributing to national commerce. While most of the customs, language, and religions of that my dad said were forgotten and lost over the years, the land they owned and cultivated over generations were their claim to a past that is out of reach.
I think the thoughts that my dad had about indigeneity also find themselves expressed in the thoughts that Llamojha’s words and beliefs as well. As a result of his upbringing on an hacienda and being of indigenous descent, he also lived a life of extraneous labor and knew that the land was an integral part of indigenous people’s lives and identities. A lot of the denunciations he made were always tied to land. Whether it was unfair treatment and unjust labor conditions/hours for campesinos or the acquisition and claiming of lands that belonged to campesinos; all these are rooted in the lands that were owned by the people.
Hence, why the preservation of land, and moreover, the owning of these lands by the people that have been there for centuries, is arguably the most important component to indigenous rights. While my father himself didn’t unfairly lose lands at any point, he often points to the injustices American settlers imposed upon the Mexican people through the taking of lands above the current U.S border. So, he used that often times to describe a more universal struggle of the indigenous people we have been reading about that often had their lands unjustly taken, by coercion or by force. It brings us time and time again to the discourse over land and the claims that indigenous people have to them outside of the jurisdiction of the law that is often created thereafter only to tear indigenous people from the lands.
Works Cited
1. Mitma, Manuel Llamojha, and Jaymie Patricia Heilman. Now Peru Is Mine: The Life and times of a Campesino Activist. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2016. 11-12.
2. Mitma, Manuel Llamojha, and Jaymie Patricia Heilman. Now Peru Is Mine: The Life and times of a Campesino Activist. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2016. 11-12.

Indigenous Rights Organizations Working in Latin America Today

hernandezc2 on June 9, 2019

As I class, we found different indigenous rights organizations working in Latin America today. Below, you can see a list of a couple indigenous rights organizations located in different Latin American countries. In addition to a description of the work the organization is doing and their mission, you can also find the link to their website and social media page.

Bolivia

Confederación de Pueblos Indígenas de Bolivia (CIDOB), or Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia

Website: http://www.apcbolivia.org/org/cidob.aspx
The Confederación de Pueblos Indígenas de Bolivia (CIDOB), or Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia was founded in 1982 and is an organization that represents 34 distinct lowland indigenous groups in Bolivia. The information about the confederation is APCBolivia, a “plurinational communications agency.” It is unclear to me whether APCBolivia is the larger non-governmental organization, and CIDOB is a chapter, or if CIDOB is its own organization. Regardless, according to the CIDOB website, at the structural level, the confederation seeks to foster unity and solidarity among indigenous peoples from different tribes, to preserve the independence of indigenous organizations from external interference, and to include indigenous women’s voices at every level of decision-making. The confederation, in how it relates to the state and the public at large, means to represent indigenous peoples and “search for their effective incorporation and participation in political, social, economic and cultural decisions” of Bolivia “in the areas of local, regional, national and international development.”
The organization’s website details its specific strategies of how it promotes these goals — since its strategies and functions are various and specific, I have not listed all of them here, but there is a subsection of the site where you can find these details. As we have studied the history of indigenous peoples in Bolivia, it may be evident why such an organization needs to exist — there needs to be economic uplift, recognition of sovereignty and land, etc.

Chile

Colectivo de Comunicación Mapuche, or the Mapuche Communication Collective

Website: http://www.mapuexpress.org/?page_id=2056
Colectivo de Comunicación Mapuche, Mapuche communication collective
This organization works definitively apart from the Chilean government in the region of La Araucanía where the majority of the Mapuche people live. Their main purpose is as a multi-platform news source to generate indigenous consciousness throughout the region and country. Running stories in both Spanish and mapudungun, the Mapuche language spoken by over 260,000 people, the organization creates a well informed network of activists to mobilize for the Mapuche community. Their goals are explicitly stated as anti capitalist and autonomist.

Comunidades Mapuche en Conflicto Arauco – Malleco (also known as CAM)

Website: https://www.nodo50.org/weftun/
The Comunidades Mapuche en Conflicto Arauco – Malleco (also known as CAM) is an organization of Mapuche people in Central and Southern Chile. Unlike other areas of South America, the colonization of Southern Chile was slow and more about claiming land from Argentina than from the indigenous peoples. By the time colonizers arrived in Mapuche territory in the mid 1800s, they were organized and prepared to fight. The Mapuche have continued to fight since the beginning, and never recognized the Chilean state’s authority over them, refusing the identity of “Chilean” entirely. However, the chilean state has continued to encroach on Mapuche lands. As a result of the Pinochet regime, chile has a neoliberal government system, and the government will continually sell Mapuche lands to private companies. These companies force Mapuche off their land by replanting native forests with monocultures of Pine and Eucalyptus, which destroy soils such that traditional agriculture cannot take place. CAM, under the direction of Héctor Llaitul and Ramon Llanquileo, two inimitable Mapuche organizers, has been fighting back against this environmental siege by setting fire to monoculture forests and replanting traditional farms. Although it does appear to be a powerful and unified campaign, their lack of public materials indicated that they have given up on obtaining their rights through the Chilean bureaucracy.

Colombia

The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia or ONIC)

Website: https://www.onic.org.co/
The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia or ONIC) is an organization network for the indigenous communities of Colombia to organize and demand their political rights. As a result of their composition, the participants are representatives from various nations in Colombia and, although they recognize all the people’s different languages, all their materials are in Spanish. This group has been active in Colombia since the 1970s. The biggest threats to these organizations are the different violent actors that target them in the country, and the strong neoliberal system in place in Colombia that encourages the construction of megaprojects that endanger many of these communities. This is especially challenging in Colombia where the state’s development project align with the interests of right wing militias in the country and as a result of this deadly alliance you’ll have a case such as the current construction of Hidroituango, a major development project over mass graves of the victims of paramilitary groups.

Ecuador

Ecuador Runakunapak Rikcharimuy, or the Movement of the Indigenous People in Ecuador

Website: http://www.ecuarunari.org.ec/
The Kichwa name for this Indigenous Rights organization in Ecuador is Ecuador Runakunapak Rikcharimuy and it translates to “Movement of the Indigenous People in Ecuador” but also known as the Confederacion Kichwa del Ecuador–Ecuarunari. They are a fairly new founded organization with their founding date being 1972. The current president of the org (2016-2019) is Carlos Perez G and Kanari del Azuay. They represent politically 12 ethnic groups of the Ecuador region. In addition, it is a registered member of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Andes (CAOI).
List of what they want:

Improve the living conditions of the Indigenous peoples of Ecuador and plan to do so through improvement of education, health, housing, and food security.
Seek broad, democratic, equitable and conscious participation of the affiliated organizations of the Ecuarunari in the effort to ascertain the social, cultural, scientific, technological and economic development of its members.

On their website their mission statement is:
“We have built a past, we are in a present [sic], and want to continue with the future, strengthening the processes of organizational structures, and generating new expectations, such as the participation of children, young people; also, spaces for debate, gatherings of music, of peoples, to maintain life. Form new cadres, leaders and never let our organization end, but continue with the historical process.”

La Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica (COICA) or The Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA)

Website: http://coica.org.ec/historia/
La Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica (COICA) or The Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) is an indigenous organization of international convergence that focuses its efforts on the promotion, protection and security of Indigenous peoples through the defense of their ways of life, principles and social, spiritual and cultural values. COICA was born on March 14, 1984 in the city of Lima-Peru, during the First Congress of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin, in which participated: AIDESEP, Peru; CONFENIAE, Ecuador; CIDOB, Bolivia; ONIC, Colombia; and UNI, Brazil. Within this bigger organization, AIDESEP is more specific to the region of Peru. Some of their projects include: supporting infrastructure projects, mining, and projects by the National Bank in the Brazil Amazon, conserving biodiversity and ecosystem function in the Amazon, implement programs to mitigate emissions from forestry practices, and recognition and response to growing forest loss in the Amazon.
Primary focuses of the organization include: sustainable living, land and natural resources, their own legal systems, strengthening ancestral wisdom, economic development, and systems of communication and access to technology.

French Guiana

FOAG (Federation of Amerindian Organizations of Guiana)

Website: http://foag.over-blog.com

The FOAG (Federation of Amerindian Organizations of Guiana) aims to represent the interests of the indigenous people of French Guiana at a regional, national, and international level. French Guiana is the second-largest region of France, and due to its status as a French Territorial Collectivity it is often ignored by NGOs — as France doesn’t need aid from them. Around 9.000 indigenous persons live in Guiana (5% of the global population), among six different ethnics — the Kali’na, the Arawak, the Palikur, the Teko, the Wayāpi, and the Wayana. The FOAG defends the interests of every one of them, and its members are all native to these ethnics. The FOAG cooperates with the COICA (Confederation of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazonian Basin) to fight for indigenous rights and to promote indigenous cultures and languages in Amazonia. It is interesting to notice that all their materials are in French though. In Guiana, the FOAG fights to promote self-development and self-governance of indigenous people. The actions of the organization are mainly informative, as they spread news via their blog. Nevertheless, they regularly address officials and representatives of the government. Recently, the FOAG opposed the “Montagne d’Or” (Golden Mountain) project, a project of the exploitation of a gold mine in the North of Guiana that would have a disastrous impact on the environment.

Guatemala

The National Coordination of Widows of Guatemala (la Coordinadora Nacional de Viudas de Guatemala: CONAVIGUA)

Website: http://conavigua.tripod.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Conavigua-Guatemala-457506251121355/
The major participants of this group are Guatemalan women whose husbands were killed in the Guatemalan Civil War. The objectives of this group include food, peace, equal education, protection for widows and mothers, protection for indigenous women, socioeconomic equality, and equal rights for indigenous communities. The group also seeks integration to la Unidad de Acción Sindical y Popular (UASP), a major union organization in Guatemala. CONAVIGUA, as well as the community the organization represents, faces some serious threats, in addition to the factors that led to the creation of the group in the first place. According to the website, members of CONAVIGUA have been threatened with violence by government soldiers for speaking out.

Mexico

The Popular Indigenous Council of Oaxaca “Ricardo Flores Magon,” also known as CIPO-RFM

Websites:
https://intercontinentalcry.org/a-look-at-the-cipo-rfm/
http://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/Popular_Indigenous_Council_of_Oaxaca_%22Ricardo_Flores_Magón%22.html
https://www.nodo50.org/cipo/
The Popular Indigenous Council of Oaxaca “Ricardo Flores Magon,” also known as CIPO-RFM, is a grassroots rights organization mostly comprised of 2,000 rural indigenous activists in Oaxaca, Mexico. Their goals include, but are not limited to, promote and defend their human and cultural rights as individuals through non-violent community-based actions for environmental conservation and basic human necessities.

Peru

Matsés Movement

Website: http://www.matses.org/
Matsés Movement promotes tribal subsistence and economic stability for tribes in the amazon, specifically Matsés communities. The board of the NGO is entirely run by indigenous leadership. They are located in Peru, and one of the issues they are combating is that the Peruvian government gave rights to search for oil on their land to a Canadian oil company. They view this as a threat to their community’s livelihood. Further, they call attention to how government aid and infrastructure does not extend into their region, which increases the poverty of the people. They note on their website that the only government presence are teachers whose salaries are paid by the Ministry of Education. In addition to raising awareness about the encroachment on their land, this movement also wants to improve the quality of schools and living situation in this region. The major participants seem to be elected members from different Matsés communities. They speak their native language, but their website did mention that the government does support teachers giving a bilingual education. The website is primarily in English, but they do have the option on some pages to translate it into Matsés and Spanish.

The Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest(La Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana or AIDESEP)

Website: http://www.aidesep.org.pe
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs8G_cAIVzIPqyrC7tK_qig
Twitter: https://twitter.com/aidesep_org?lang=es
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aidesep/
The Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest(La Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana or AIDESEP) is an organization that advocates for the indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon. Their mission includes claiming the territorial integrity of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, establishing and strengthening indigenous self-governance, and further developing their indigenous economy—just to name a few. Some of their goals include solving socio-environmental conflicts, promoting indigenous women and youth, and intercultural education and healthcare. The AIDESEP has a Board of Directors, that consists of six members, each of which comes from different villages across Peru. The organization is made up of 64 indigenous groups, and despite the differing languages they may have, the website is run primarily in Spanish. Their major political struggle, or at least what they are continuously demanding from their government, is to not only receive their rights (land, bicultural education, etc.) but to be able to conserve and maintain them. The AIDESEP has a Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and further publications like pictures, videos, and articles on their website to increase their outreach in social media.

Chaikuni Institute

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/institutochaikuni
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chaikuni
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/institutochaikuni/
The Chaikuni Institute is a grassroots collective which works for a truly sustainable future for the Peruvian Amazon. The organization is located in Iquitos, Peru and according to their website they “investigate, promote, and protect” a form of life known as sumak kawsay. Sumak Kawsay translates to a “good living” in harmony with one’s communities, oneself, and most importantly, our living, breathing environment. The organization works with indigenous people in the following three operational branches: Intercultural Education, Permaculture, and Human and Nature Rights.
In terms of language, the non-profit organization predominantly uses Spanish and Quechua. This is interesting because the leadership of the organization does not consist of many indigenous people. The majority consists of immigrants from different countries such as Spain, Norway, and different African nations. In addition to the indigenous people within the organization, every member of the administration feels strongly about working to preserve the Amazonian environment. There are various threats to the ecology of the Amazon. The organization aims to overcome the ecological devastation, poverty, corruption, and cultural homogenization caused by modernization, globalization, and extractive industries.

“Casa Trans Zuleymi”

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ZULEYMITRANS/events/?ref=page_internal
Website: https://hovupipumu.jimdo.com/casa-trans-zuleymi/
Article: http://agenciapresentes.org/2017/10/23/asi-funciona-la-primera-casa-trans-peru/
A refuge home for transgender women in Peru. It is a resource center situated in Lima, that helps trans-feminine people with STI(STD) testing, DIN registration (Identification), housing, education, and mental support. They also offer assistance in filing cases of domestic abuse, discrimination, etc. In a news story about Casa Trans, it was stated that “Many of them are migrants from the jungle of Peru,” which I am assuming to mean that there must be indigenous peoples being helped too. There are awareness videos on their Facebook and they receive funding from a nonprofit based in the US.

Who is Indigenous? A Question of Indigeneity Throughout Latin America

jfrancoportfolio on June 8, 2019

The term that has been the hardest for me to understand throughout the term is indigenous. At the beginning of this course, I heavily attributed this term to the word native, meaning originating from, as I mostly commonly associate this term to plants and herbs. However, as the term has gone on I have noticed that the meaning of indigenous varies within different countries and peoples, especially in the case studies of Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, and Chile we have focused on.
The piece by Andrew Canessa, “Who Is Indigenous? Self-Identification, Indigeneity, And Claims to Justice in Contemporary Bolivia”, further explores the meaning of indigenous by analyzing the complexity of indigeneity in Bolivia in terms of identification of self and entire communities. Canessa describes how the term indigenous is heavily associated to the ideas of hunter-gatherers and nomads. Most notably the word indigenous is thought closely to stand for “primitive” in relation to the ancestors of humankind. Although this is the initial thought when discussing the term indigenous, Canessa acknowledges that who is indigenous and what it means to be indigenous throughout Latin America is complex and variable among different individuals and time.
An aspect of indigeneity could include language, specifically the language of Quechua in the case of Bolivia, but many indigenous languages throughout Latin America also contribute to this. Although language is an important factor to indigeneity, it is not a binding requirement since there are many individuals who do not speak Quechua, such as the president Evo Morales, and still identify as indigenous. Indigeneity can also be identified through jobs worked, such as that of farming and agriculture, that also reflect social class. Plus, geographical setting was a key role to some individuals who identify as indigenous through their ties to land pre- and post-colonialism. However, it is not always the case or required as seen through the cases of migrants who have been forced off their land. One of the biggest challenges that comes with self-identification when it comes to indigeneity is the relevant political issues that rise up, since many take the identity of indigenous as a political position. As Canessa points out in this article, this brings up the question of who gets a say when discussing indigenous needs and rights if those who identify as indigenous do it in varying ways.
Defining this term is also a bit subjective in many cases, as one may wonder if the term indigenous is meant to be an inclusive or vastly exclusive term. In some areas, this word is very exclusionary since it requires the individual to be, look, live, work, and identify a certain way in order to be able to identify or be accepted as indigenous. This may leave those who do not fit these standards exactly, or at all, to be unacknowledged.
The piece “Transnational Settler Colonial Formations and Global Capital: A Consideration of Indigenous Mexican Migrants” by Lourdes Gutiérrez Nájera and Korinta Maldonado attempts to describe and understand the relationship between the migration of indigenous communities into spaces influenced by settler-colonialism. The authors discuss the underlying question of how settler-colonialism influences indigeneity in terms of social order and relations to the land. The article mentions how the migration led to a sort of “Indigenous Resurgence” among the Mixtecs, Zapotecs, and Mixes people from the state of Oaxaca, Mexico into the surrounding area of Los Angeles. Specifically, the Zapotec people have been noted to have left a big impact in the city of LA, in a space that has become known as “Oaxacalifornia”, through the formation of enclaves, restaurants, and stores. Also, they even formed local organizations such as bands, basketball teams, dance groups, and festivals or parades of cultural celebration. This specifically reflects how the indigenous communities of migrants from Oaxaca, Mexico were able to develop their indigeneity even in this transnational space they found themselves in. The article analyzes the question of indigeneity through migrants who are no longer in the land their culture and way of life contributes to. But despite this, the indigenous communities of the Mixtecs, Zapotecs, and Mixes people show how their indigeneity can be lived, practiced, embraced, and supported despite the distance and space they live in today.
Also, this term can serve to be inclusive in other areas, as there is no exact definition of the word, leaving it to be more general including everyone who wishes to identify this way. However, there are even some homologous terms in other countries, such as our current case study of Peru where the people prefer the term campesino, which in a sense implies indigenous descent but more importantly acknowledges a socioeconomic status. Although, there is no straightforward or single definition for the term indigenous, the themes and complexities that its understanding entails is important in order to begin, or continue understanding indigeneity as a whole.

Political Activist in 20th century Peru: Manuel Llamojha Mitma

hernandezc2 on June 8, 2019

(photo credits: Llamojha, Concepción, 2013. Author photo.)

Summary:

Born on May 3rd, 1921, Manuel Llamojha Mitma fought without the use of violence for the land rights and national inclusion of campesinos. Llamojha preferred the term campesinos to Indigenous because it allowed people to feel more connected to their Quechua ancestry and got rid of the labels given to them by the Spanish and higher officials in Peru. His captivating story is organized through Jaymie Patricia Heilman’s own writing using a mixed range methodology including excerpts from documents written by Llamojha, testimonials from Llamojha and his family members, and archival records. Throughout his life, Llamojha recalls the immense struggles faced by him and members of his community including the lack of sufficient, good quality land and the discrimination and mistreatment from hacendados and the Peruvian government. One persistent struggle Llamojha faced was being accused of being part of the Peruvian Communist Party- Shining Path in the 1980s which was responsible for the deaths of 69,000 Peruvians. These accusations forced Llamojha and his family to flee their home and live in the city of Lima for almost two decades. Nevertheless, Llamojha continued his work as an activist. His ability to read and write, which was not common among campesinos at that time placed him in a position of leadership among other campesinos in rural Peru.

Quotes:

“Campesinos have fought so much and suffered so much, during colonial times and republican times, too. We need the future world to know about this, the suffering of the campesinos.” ((Jaymie Heilman and Manuel Llamojha Mitma, Now Peru Is Mine: The Life and Times of a Campesino Activist (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2016),14.))

“We used to write ‘indigenous campesino community’ because representatives of the high authorities came and said ‘you are an indigenous community.’ So we accepted that and started to write documents and memos, always writing ‘indigenous campesino community.’ But later, we wanted to suspend use of that word. ‘Why should we write that?’ we asked.”((Jaymie Heilman and Manuel Llamojha Mitma, Now Peru Is Mine: The Life and Times of a Campesino Activist (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2016),12.))

“Because I was the only boy in the pueblo who knew how to read, no one else, the kids followed me around.” ((Jaymie Heilman and Manuel Llamojha Mitma, Now Peru Is Mine: The Life and Times of a Campesino Activist (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2016),25.))

“I organized a tenants’ union and we began the struggle. I started to draw up documents. I went with my typewriter. I drew up documents and got peasants to sign them. I always walked around with my typewriter, I wrote petitions, and got all the people to sign.” ((Jaymie Heilman and Manuel Llamojha Mitma, Now Peru Is Mine: The Life and Times of a Campesino Activist (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2016),49.))

“You have to struggle. You have to organize the masses well and not abandon them. You have to continue the struggle until you attain all the peasantry’s goals, until you attain the goals of the pueblo, which needs to liberate itself from the clutches of tyranny.” ((Jaymie Heilman and Manuel Llamojha Mitma, Now Peru Is Mine: The Life and Times of a Campesino Activist (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2016),188.))

Tag: Peru