Nicaraguan Indigenous Organizations

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Since the mid-twentieth century, indigenous organizations in Nicaragua have historically formed in response to economic, political, and cultural injustices and to create infrastructure for self-governance. They most often represent their motives and goals as pan-indigenous and do not employ Marxist or Leninist ideas or language of class struggles. Although many organizations stress Miskitu ethnicity, language, and history, most major Nicaraguan indigenous organizations have advocated on behalf of indigenous peoples in general.

Nicaraguan indigenous groups[edit]

Indigenous organizations are composed of persons belonging to several indigenous groups that live in Nicaragua. These include the Miskitu, the Sumu (also known as the Mayangna and the Sumo), the Ulwa, the Sutiava (also known as the Xiu), the Garifuna, the Nahoa (also known as Nicarao), the Cacaopera (also known as the Matagalpa), the Chorotega (also known as Mange), and the Rama. Most indigenous persons either live in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACCN) or the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACCS), although almost all indigenous groups can be found across all departments and autonomous regions of Nicaragua.[1]

Chart of Indigenous Populations by Department / Autonomous Region[edit]

[1]

Indigenous Group National Population Population in

RACCN

Population in

RACCS

Population in

Boaco

Population in

Carazo

Population in

Chinandega

Population in

Chontales

Population in

Estelí

Population in

Granada

Population in

Jinotega

Population in

León

Population in

Madriz

Population in

Managua

Population in

Masaya

Population in

Matagalpa

Population in

Nueva Segovia

Population in

Río San Juan

Population in

Rivas

Cacaopera 15,240 238 17 2 8 15 3 20 7 269 11 43 199 25 14,341 8 1 33
Chorotega 46,002 85 216 15 31 495 14 167 54 6,595 54 25,415 272 7,233 1,060 4,204 2 90
Garifuna 3,721 89 1,095 76 78 170 67 126 85 160 141 42 625 109 218 104 38 48
Miskitu 120,817 102,806 7,398 4 36 86 55 64 19 8,139 79 7 1,754 62 152 72 51 33
Nahoa 11,113 31 33 24 20 167 28 30 30 248 103 22 588 824 186 24 - 8,755
Rama 4,185 208 1,239 71 73 179 79 107 65 158 130 83 989 148 238 143 223 52
Sumu 9,756 6,786 89 31 29 54 33 26 28 2,201 53 17 189 68 91 33 10 18
Sutiava 19,949 16 21 - 5 132 6 19 4 29 19,347 9 228 63 40 10 3 17
Ulwa 698 49 7,398 28 22 50 21 24 42 46 48 13 146 39 51 25 10 16

Nicaraguan indigenous organizations[edit]

Prior to the Sandinista Revolution (1962-1978)[edit]

Association of Agricultural Clubs of the Río Coco: 1967-1972[edit]

Organized in the midst of the Somoza Dynasty as a response to deflated prices for agricultural products and international reform initiatives, the Association of Agricultural Clubs of the Río Coco (ACARIC) was organized by Miskitu farmers living within communities along the Río Coco to strengthen their local economies and to structure community collaboration efforts.[2] ACARIC originally received funding from both Nicaraguan organizations, such as the National Development Institute (INFONAC), and United States organizations, most notably United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS).[2] While most organizational efforts were directed at collectively setting prices to sell and buy food products from—generally—non-indigenous merchants,[3] liberation theological methodologies were utilized by Gregorio Smutko and other Capuchin missionaries within newly developed educational curricula to develop singularity among the Miskitu.[2]

Alliance for the Progress of the Miskito and Sumu: 1974-1979[edit]

After the decline of the ACARIC, Miskitu Moravian ministers assembled |Alliance for the Progress of the Miskito and Sumu (ALPROMISU) as a liberation theology-based indigenous organization aimed at community capacity building, resource management, and allocating power away from Creole religious officials and to the Miskitu people[2] while continuing to structure market prices for Miskitu and Sumu farmers.[3] With the end of kampani taim and the subsequent loss of income, religious networks became vital to support a broken indigenous economy.[4] Rural Moravian churches became common venues for ALPROMISU meetings; by not congregating in urban centers, assemblies remained homogeneously indigenous.[3] Gregorio Smutko and other educated ministers continued to train Miskitu religious officials and others to appropriate Christian and Hebrew religious narratives as their own by infusing Miskitu culture into local doctrines.[3] "Imagined community"[5] building by ALPROMISU and religious networks eventually developed passed a strictly Miskitu nation to a larger pan-indigenous movement as they joined the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP). Even with international support, directors of ALPROMISU were not able to effectively organize to achieve indigenous rights under the Somoza dynasty.[6]

During the Sandinista Revolution and the Contra War (1979-1990)[edit]

Miskitu, Sumo, Rama, Sandinista All Together: 1979-1986[edit]

Immediately following the successful overthrow of the Somoza state by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), ALPROMISU issued a declaration of demands to Daniel Ortega, the head of the new Sandinista government.[7] ALPROMISU sought to obtain self-governance and the incorporation of indigenous language into educational reform programs.[8] Soon after, however, ALPROMISU would be reorganized and renamed Miskitu, Sumo, Rama, Sandinista All Together (MISURASATA) under the new leadership of General Director Steadman Fagoth and Brooklyn Rivera,[7] although Fagoth, with tremendous public support, would exercise control over MISURASATA.[2]

MISURASATA would soon publish General Directions (1980), outlining indigenous people's place in Nicaragua and a strong sense of unity with the Sandinistas against exploitative foreign powers.[9] However, MISURASATA was determined to establish autonomy for indigenous peoples and commissioned a mapping project so that indigenous lands and resources could be defined. Following the publication of the map in MISURASATA's next publication, Plan of Action 1981, MISURASATA leadership were arrested. Soon after, two militant factions separated from MISURASATA: MISURA, led by Steadman Fagoth, and Los Astros.[10]

In the absence of Fagoth, Rivera became leader and spokesperson of MINSURASATA.[11] Rivera, framing the Nicaraguan indigenous movement in terms of international human rights, continued to negotiate for indigenous land holdings. His actions were not seen as aligned with the national agenda and was subsequently seen as an enemy of the state after the Contra War broke out in December 1981.[10] In part to garner forces for MISURA, Fagoth condemned Rivera on the radio by accusing him of working for the Sandinistas; within months, Rivera would leave Nicaragua for Honduras.[2] By 1982 RIvera and other MINSURASATA members were fighting the FSLN with other counterinsurgency forces, including the United States funded Revolutionary Democratic Alliance (ARDE) based in Costa Rica and led by Edén Pastora.[2]

Los Astros: 1981-1982[edit]

Approximately 60 Miskitu men left MISURASATA in response to Fagoth's leadership practices and created Los Astros. In December 1981, they fire the first gunshots against Sandinista military. Although they were not funded by the United States, the FSLN believed that they—and the other indigenous groups—had aligned with the United States to overthrow them. Consequently, the FSLN would send troops up to the Río Coco to attack indigenous rebel groups, resulting in the displacement of over 10,000 Miskitu. The military response would later be known as Navidad Roja, or Red Christmas.[10]

Miskitu, Sumo, Rama Unity: 1981-1985[edit]

After release from prison, Fagoth was allowed to go to the Caribbean coast to see his parents before leaving to study in Bulgaria. Instead, he fled to Honduras where he would recruit Miskitu men over the radio to join his newly formed counterinsurgency group, Miskitu, Sumo, Rama Unity (MISURA). The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), supportive of Fagoth's anti-communist rhetoric would fund his efforts to overthrow the Sandinista government.[7] The Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN) also supported MISURA.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b INICE (2005). VIII Censo de Población y IV de Vivienda: Volumen I, Población: Características Generales. Managua, Nicaragua: El Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos. pp. 184–188.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Hale, Charles (1994). Resistance and Contradiction: Miskitu Indians and the Nicaraguan State, 1894-1987. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp. 125–126, 156, 241. ISBN 9780804722551.
  3. ^ a b c d Baron, Pineda (2006). Shipwrecked Identities: Navigating Race on Nicaragua's Mosquito Coast. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. pp. 137–144. ISBN 978-0-8135-3943-0.
  4. ^ Hawley, Susan (1997). "Protestantism and Indigenous Mobilisation: The Moravian Church among the Miskitu Indians of Nicaragua". Journal of Latin American Studies. 29: 111–129. doi:10.1017/S0022216X96004658. S2CID 143270214. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  5. ^ Anderson, Benedict (2010). Imagined Communities: Reflection on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso. ISBN 978-0-86091-546-1.
  6. ^ Baracco, Luciano (2011). ""We Fought For Our Land": Miskitu Insurgency and the Struggle for Autonomy on Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast (1981-1987)". AlterNative. doi:10.1177/117718011100700304. S2CID 219974357. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  7. ^ a b c Baracco, Luciano (2011). National Integration and Contested Autonomy: The Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua. New York, New York: Algora Publishing. pp. 122, 131. ISBN 978-0875868233.
  8. ^ Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne (2005). Blood on the Border: A Memoir of the Contra War. Brooklyn, New York: South End Press. pp. 10. ISBN 9780896087415.
  9. ^ Baracco, Luciano (2005). Nicaragua: The Imagining of a Nation: From Nineteenth-century Liberals to Twentieth-century Sandinistas. New York, New York: Algora Publishing. p. 142. ISBN 978-0875863924.
  10. ^ a b c Bryan, Joe; Wood, Denis (2015). Weaponizing Maps: Indigenous Peoples and Counterinsurgency in the Americas. New York, New York: Guilford Press. pp. 86–87. ISBN 9781462519927.
  11. ^ Clifford, Staten (2012). The History of Nicaragua. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 110. ISBN 9780313360381.
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