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000045 Visit since
| Location
of indigenous peoples in Mexico… continues - 2nd Part |
by Prof. German Estrada
July 15, 2002. | ILO
Provisional Acts, Seventy-seventh Meeting, Geneva, 1989
Incorporated to the
National Mexican Legislation World Bank Definitions 3.
The term "indigenous Peoples", "indigenous ethnic minorities",
"tribal groups", "scheduled tribes", describe social groups
with a social and cultural identity distinct from that of the dominant society
which renders them vulnerable to being disadvantaged in the process of development.
For purposes of this Directive, the term "indigenous peoples" will be
used to refer to these groups. "The indigenous peoples
can be identified and possess, in differing degrees the following characteristics:
a) attachment to ancestral territories and to their natural resources;
b) self-identification, and identification by others, as members of a distinct
cultural group;
c) an indigenous language, often different from the national
language;
d) presence of customary social and political institutions, and;
e) systems of production primarily oriented towards self-subsistence. World
Bank, Operational Directive OD 4.20: Indigenous Peoples, September, 1991 What
is a Community for Us Indigenous People? A territorial
space demarcated and defined by possession A common
history, communicated orally and from one generation to the next
A variant
of a language of the original peoples with whom we identify
An organization
which defines the political, cultural, social, civil, economic, and religious
A communal system of defining and administering justice In
order to understand each one of these elements there must be a commonality of
concepts about what constitutes communal, collective, complementary and integral
whose terms are defined as follows: The earth as mother
and as our territory
Consensual assemblies for decision-making
Free
services by authorities in the service of the community
Collective work as
a recreational and social act
Rites and ceremonies as expressions of communal
rights Floriberto Diaz, More than Things, with People:
The Communal Geometry, Revista Ojarasca, Mexico, Nov. 1997 5.
The inescapable and obvious Mexican reality is the cultural diversity of its indigenous
population interacting with other mestizo populations. Because of this, Mexico
is a multicultural, multi-linguistic country with two types of civilizations in
contact for the past 500 years. The process of interaction is not only one of
historic syncretism but also of the differentiation and amalgamation of various
populations. The cultural diversity of indigenous populations has its origins
in the heterogeneity of the pre-Hispanic cultural panorama and the various forms
of appropriation and occupation of the land which took place during the formative
periods of the societies which are today at various stages of articulation in
the Mexican society. It is therefore noteworthy, that there is no legal definition
in Mexico of what constitutes the indigenous population as is the case in other
countries. Neither are biological or racial definitions in use, although in the
common language the term "indigenous race" is still sometimes used (although
without any scientific or anthropological foundation, as with other racial terminology).
Geographic Distribution of Indigenous Peoples 6.
The indigenous population is distributed over all the states of the Mexican Republic
and the Federal District of Mexico City, the nation's capital. A typology of various
states can be postulated as follows: Next week you can
read the 3rd and final part of Chapter 2 about the LOCATION of the indigenous
people in Mexico.
gestrada@pvnet.com.mx
Prof. Germán Estrada is the
author of the best selling book, "México
Mágico: Everything You Wanted To Know About... But Nobody Told
You..." available in Puerto Vallarta at The Net House, Mail Boxes, Etc.,
Books, Books as well as directly from the author by internet. Archives
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