Country: Colombia
Group: Indigenous Colombian
Date Finalized: 11/6/20
Team: Natasha Chandra (lead), Colleen Clauss, Maya Shrikant, Michael Demangone
Content Warning: slavery
Approximate Time Period: 1500-1851
The indigenous Colombian populations faced forced labor during the sixteenth century. There are detailed accounts of forced labor in the past .
The indigenous population in Columbia is close to 1.5 million people. Slavery in Colombia began in the sixteenth century when African labor was brought to the European colonies to replace the declining native indigenous populations (Herrera, 2012). Later, in the seventeenth century, due to the expansion of mines and haciendas, indigenous Colombians had decreased due to harsh treatment (Herrera, 2012). Many of them were also exterminated or died from Europe’s diseases (Herrera, 2012). After many of them died, their work was transferred to the African slave work force (Herrera, 2012). At the time, indigenous Colombians were able to enjoy few legal protections, compared to those of the Afro-Colombians (Herrera, 2012). In 1542, Native slavery was prohibited in all Spanish colonies, but Indian slavery continued in Columbia long after this legal prohibition (Wade, 1993). After slavery was abolished, very few indigenous people were able to regain control of their territories (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, 2020). Currently, indigenous people in Colombia make up the majority of Colombia’s internally displaced persons. Unfortunately, many indigenous people in the country continue to struggle with forced displacement and landlessness as a result of the long-term armed conflict in Colombia (International Work Group for Indigenous Affiars, 2020). In addition, displaced groups of people within Columbia can be forced to live in marginal areas where they are exposed to violent criminal gangs that force them into recruitment, while others are sexually exploited (Herrera, 2012).
Sources
- Herrera, S. (2012, October 31). A History of Violence and Exclusion: Afro-Colombians from Slavery to Displacement. Retrieved October 30, 2020, from https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/557698/Herrera_georgetown_0076M_11964pdf;sequence=1
- International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. (2020, May 11). Indigenous World 2020: Colombia. Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://www.iwgia.org/en/colombia.html.
- Wade, Peter. 1993. Blackness and Race Mixtures: The Dynamics of Racial Identity in Colombia. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.