Overview:

Latin America has traditionally been and continues to be one of the regions of the world with
the greatest diversity of indigenous cultures. Indigenous People are distinct populations relative
to the dominant post-colonial culture of their country. They are often minority populations
within the current post-colonial nations states or found in the areas where the most
civilizations flourished at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards. For example, in central and
southern Mexico, the northern regions of Central America and in the Andean countries. Mexico
possesses not only the numerically most important indigenous population (which according to
estimates totals roughly ten million) but also the greatest variety of different ethnic groups. In
terms of demographic weight of indigenous groups with regard to their share of the total
population, however, Mexico is surpassed by a number of other countries. In Guatemala and
Bolivia, Indians represent the majority, in Ecuador and Peru they account for almost half of the
total population. At the other end of the spectrum the indigenous groups in the Amazon basin
in Brazil are numerically insignificant, living in tiny tribes which often face the imminent threat
of extinction. Indigenous People usually have (or had) their own language, cultures, and
traditions influenced by living relationships with their ancestral homelands. Today, Indigenous
people speak some 4,000 languages. Indigenous People have distinctive cultural traditions that
are still practiced. Indigenous People have (or had) their own land and territory, to which they
are tied in myriad ways.
There are approximately 40,000,000 people in Latin America and the Caribbean that belong to
the almost 600 indigenous peoples of the continent. According to World Bank figures, 12.76%
of the entire American population and approximately 40% of the rural population is indigenous.
The circumstances of each people are so unique that generalizations may not apply to many
particular cases. Nevertheless, there are characteristics that distinguish them in their capacity
as indigenous peoples with common problems and challenges. They often faced problems like
discrimination, poor quality education, human rights, land rights and even in the political
participation.

Discussion
Indigenous people are prevalent across Latin America, with numbers reaching upwards of 70
percent of the general population in certain countries. Given their strong ancestral ties to the
land and cultural practices, these groups have remained hidden and isolated from mainstream
populations and the forces of globalization. For many groups, the limited interactions between
indigenous people and the outside world have sadly been harmful to the survival of these
communities. The discovery and exploitation of oil and other natural resources have led to the
destruction of property, culture, and lives of indigenous groups. The uprooting and extinction in
some cases of these groups led to an international outcry for the development of indigenous
rights. Numerous countries have enacted laws and the most substantive piece thus far has been
the creation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UN DRIP) in
2007. However, there is currently a gap between the doctrine set out in these legal instruments
and the enforcement and reality facing indigenous groups across Latin America.
The situation of Guatemalas indigenous peoples showed no significant improvements during
2008. The latest national human development report, published during the year, confirmed the
social exclusion suffered by the indigenous population in relation to the rest of the countrys
inhabitants. According to this report, 73% of the indigenous population are poor and, of these,
26% are extremely poor, as opposed to 85% of the non-indigenous population poor and only
8% extremely poor. Similarly, the Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.625 for the indigenous
population and 0.738 for the non-indigenous. Educational disparities indicate that the
indigenous peoples achieve an average of 4.7 years of schooling as opposed to the non-
indigenous with 6.9 years. Furthermore, the rate of economic participation of indigenous
peoples in the countrys economy as a whole is 61.7%, and for the nonindigenous 57.1%, which
is explained by the fact that the indigenous peoples undertake a greater diversity of non-
agricultural activities. While in Perus indigenous groups are also disadvantaged by lower levels
of education. While the government in theory recognizes the right to bilingual and intercultural
education, in practice this is not usually provided. Because many indigenous communities tend
to be located in remote, isolated and geographically hostile regions, the quality of material and
human resources is deficient. School attendance is low, with UNICEF reporting only 32% of 3-5-
year-old indigenous children attend school, compared to 55% of non-indigenous children.
If the indigenous are not in good health and are illiterate, becoming politically involved becomes nearly
impossible. The fact that indigenous has become synonymous with impoverished and poor
ultimately demonstrates the developmental obstacles that have impeded their political participation.
Furthermore, entrenched cultural attitudes toward indigenous peoples have greatly hampered their
efforts to become politically involved. In Bolivia, the Ese Ejja or the indigenous people of Bolivia and
Peru, in the southwestern Amazon basin fear for their lives outside of their communities and,
therefore, refuse to participate politically. The existence of enslavement of the Guarani people in the
Chaco region of Bolivia shows that institutions lack the ability to safeguard the human rights of this
group-- who dont even realize they have rights at all due to their captivity (IACHR 2009). Discrimination
is rampant in the behavior of public officials at the national and subnational levels and the attitudes of
political parties (IACHR 2009). The Peruvian governments attitude exemplifies the hegemonic
discriminatory views toward indigenous peoples. Unfortunately, this omnipresent issue is not easily
remedied; steps can be made through education though, which may alter peoples perception of the
indigenous-- especially at the nonindigenous level.

In education alone, we can see that there is discrimination that is going on and it becomes a
chain wherein these indigenous people dont have a quality education and with that they
cannot get jobs that will sustain their basic needs and they remain poor. The government does
not really care about them and dont really implement the Laws or agreements that
international organizations give. The Indigenous People remains to be poor and under the
poverty line because they are not treated equally in their community.
Conclusion
The Indigenous people are often being deprived of their rights. They are not treated equally like
those of non-indigenous people. With the intervention of different international organizations
somewhat they had been given rights but it is very minimal in some countries in Latin America.
In some countries discrimination is still very rampant indigenous people are still deprived of
their rights. Empowerment of indigenous people is one of the key factors for them to have the
determination to stand and defend their rights those who discriminate them.

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