Artifact 5

The Native Peoples of Venezuela:  Then and Now

 

Tribal Locations in Venezuela

A Group of Palafitos

 When Christopher Columbus landed on the Paria Peninsula in the northwest corner of the modern-day nation of Venezuela in 1498, he saw inhabitants there who were not the Asians he had hoped to find.  Today we know those people as Amerindians, or the indigenous people of the Americas.  Later, Amerigo Vespucci noticed the unusual houses there called palafitos, stilt houses that sit over water.  For that reason, he named the place Venezuela, or little Venice. (Wikipedia, n.d.)

Two of the three main groups of native people he saw were the Caribs and Arawaks, each having numerous sub tribes. These people either farmed using simple methods of cultivation, or fished in the rivers or the Caribbean and gathered nuts and berries.  The third group, the Chibeha, lived to the west in the eastern Andean foothills and practiced a more advanced form of agriculture, creating terraced slopes and developing irrigation channels. (Historical, n.d.)

 

A Group of Arawak Warriors

 

A Young Yanomami Girl

Venezuela is a land of diverse geography, resources, and creatures.  The people lived simply and easily with the vast grass lands of the llanos, the rain forests of the Amazonas region to the south, the waters of the Orinoco River to the east, and the eastern mountain slopes of the Andes.  They enjoyed hunting the abundance of fish, game, and birds.  Tribes seldom lived close to each other and enjoyed that independence.

A Warao Family of Boat People

Unsurprisingly, that changed once Columbus and the Spaniards set foot on this land and began to search for gold and other resources.  According to Venezuelanalysis.com, “Without a tradition of social stratification leading to an easily exploitable subjugated population accustomed to providing labor and tribute to an elite class, the Spanish made slower progress in colonizing the region than they did in Mexico or the Andes.” (2004, February 4)  What the Spanish missionaries did who arrived later was try to "civilize” and convert the indigenous people.  New Spanish landholders forced many into slave-like conditions working their plantations as they did with people imported from Africa.

As with the islands of the Caribbean, the Spanish arrival in Venezuela brought death in its wake.  While there are only estimates of the population of Venezuela, it is thought that before the Spanish conquest there might have been about a million native people. (Wikipedia, n.d.)  Death from illnesses to which they had no immunity as well as the growing influx of European settlements drove Indians to the southern, western, and eastern borders . It has been estimated that by the end of the first century of Spanish rule, some 20 tribes out of 40-50 had become extinct.  (Historical, n.d.)  From this time forward, they lived in much reduced numbers, largely isolated, forgotten, impoverished and illiterate until the end of the 20^th Century.  Then their situation began to change.

The Constitution Formalizes The
Rights of Indigenous Citizens

In 1989, according to Wikipedia, The National Council of Venezuelan Indians (Consejo Nacional Indio de Venezuela) was formed. “It represents the majority of indigenous peoples, with 60 affiliates representing 30 peoples.” (n.d.)  As the new constitution of 1999 was being written, large numbers of Indians marched on the National Assembly to pressure the government to include specific “pro-Indian provisions.”  These included right of ownership, free choice of nationality, land demarcation, and representation in the national assembly, among others.  It was the first Latin American country to reserve places in the parliament as well as in state and municipal assemblies for its indigenous people.  (Wikipedia, n.d.)

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Postage Stamps Celebrating
Venezuela's Native Peoples

Ever since I took a class in Native American Literature and learned about the many issues that faced our own native people in the United States, I’ve become curious about how the Spanish countries treated their own citizens.  I've learned that many things seem to overlap, from the effects of disease, to the land grab that both cultures accomplished, to the lack of interest in the future of these people.  I did not read, however of the Spanish making organized attacks on the Indians in Venezuela as was the case here. 

I’m also impressed by the actions taken by the government of Venezuela to enshrine new and important rights for Indians in their constitution.  I’m not sure how other Latin American countries and islands of the Caribbean with Spanish heritage treated or protected their indigenous people, but it is apparent that the Spanish conquistadors deemed the native people they encountered an inconvenience in their quest for wealth.  This was a characteristic of Spanish culture in the 16^th Century, but exists no longer today, at least in Venezuela.

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References

Boys’ Historical Clothing. (2010, January 14). Venezuelan native Americans. Historical Boys’

      Clothing.  Retrieved December 3, 2012 from http://histclo.com/country/la/sa/ven/eth/ven-na.html.

Indigenous Peoples in Venezuela. (n.d.) Wikipedia.  Retrieved December 3, 2012 from

       http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indigenous_peoples_in_Venezuela&printable=yes.

Venezuela and Indigenous Rights. (n.d.) Venezuelanalysis.com. Retrieved December 3, 2012 from

        http://venezuelanalysis/analysis/373