Impact of Colonialism on Indigenous People

cushion of Colonialism on Indigenous PeopleIn 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Observed on the second Monday of October either year, the federally recognized holiday celebrates the achievements of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. But because his arrival brought murder and slavery to endemical rafts in the Americas, activists aim attempted to rename this holiday to Indigenous Peoples Day.though Indigenous Peoples Day aims to reframe the heritage narrative in the United States, many endemic people around the world are forgotten, including the people of Kiche in Guatemala who are on the verge of being pushed out of their homeland.With roots as far back as 2000 BC, the Kiche were among the few Maya groups who survived after the decline of the great Mayan Empire. After the conquest by the Spaniards and Kaqchikel neighbors, who allied nearly immediately with the Spaniards, in 800 AD, the fortunes of the Kiche changed virtually overnight. Their lands were seized and they were relegated to the status of laborers for their new, colonial landowners. Little has changed since that time.In a country where, Mayan descents compensate roughly 51% of the national population, ethnic diversity makes Guatemala a nation of immense human foulness having its own cultural identity. However, discrimination against endemic population is undeniable in Guatemala.As of today, 10% of ingrained land is in Indigenous hands, which is not surprising where 85% of the nations land is owned by little than 2% of the population. In response, the Guatemalan government did provide about 5.2 million acres of concession areas for indigenous communities like the Kiche to take care of. However, areas controlled by the government undergo the most deforestation.Nearly 40% of Guatemala is cover by forests, making illegal logging a widespread issue that threatens the livelihood of people who rely on forests for survival. Critics blame uneducated campesinos clearing land for agric ulture as one of the prime culprits. Though this does represent a threat, there are bigger threats, including lumber companies, and organized crime. Nevertheless, the government does not depend to have the political will to eradicate the dilemma.Some Kiche members, living in the highland Ixil Maya municipality of Nebaj, are actively protesting logging companies exploiting lumber on private lands. While the Indigenous Authorities of Nebaj issued a statement enquire the government to take action, they declined to act and simply issued a statement that they are planting new trees for any one that is cut down. Eliseo Glvez, the deputy executive secretary of the governments National Council of Protected Areas, testified that for years, judges and the forestry police, have failed to coordinate this complication. Or perhaps, this very reason could very well be that the Guatemalan Ministry of the Economy actively promotes the investment of companies interested in exploiting the countrys nearly 2 million acres of forests.Timber companies arent the only ones lend to the deforestation efforts. Drug traffickers have cleared large swaths of forests to lay down clandestine airplane arrive strips and roads to haul through drugs. Galvez added, Now it is even more complex because of the influence of illegal actors who are using the park to move migrants and drugs north. In some parts of Guatemala, the narco-led deforestation annual rate was describe to be about 10 percent.In response to the crackdown in Mexico, drug traffickers began moving south into primeval America around 2007 to find new routes through remote areas to move their drugs from South America and puddle them to the United States, said Kendra McSweeney, an associate professor of geography at the Ohio State University.But while bribes cargo deck government officials looking the other way when it comes to deforestation activities, local activists and indigenous people invent the government issue when they speak up. As one of the highest homicide rates in Central America, kidnappings and extortion are not uncommon to indigenous people who may not have the economic ability to pay up, leaving parents to instead pay human smugglers to get their children to the United States, away from the crime. That in part helps to explain why large total of unaccompanied children began arriving in the United States starting in late 2013.