Indigenous peoples of Peru

The Indigenous peoples of Peru, or Native Peruvians, comprise a large number of

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics, out of a 31,237,385 population, the Indigenous people in Peru represent about 25.7%. Of those, 95.8% are Andean and 3.3% from the Amazon.^[1] Other sources indicate that the Indigenous people comprise 31% of the total population.^[5][6]

Population by region, 2017[1]
Region		Percent
	Apurímac	84.1%
	Ayacucho	81.2%
	Huancavelica	80.8%
	Cusco	74.7%
	Puno	57.0%
	Huánuco	42.9%
	Pasco	37.7%
	Junín	34.9%
	Madre de Dios	34.5%
	Ancash	34.0%
	Arequipa	31.1%
	Lima	17.5%
	Lima Province	16.3%
	Moquegua	14.6%
	Ica	14.3%
	Callao	10.2%
	Tacna	7.3%
	Cajamarca	6.2%
	San Martín	5.1%
	Ucayali	5.0%
	Lambayeque	4.2%
	La Libertad	2.9%
	Amazonas	2.9%
	Piura	2.2%
	Tumbes	1.9%
	Loreto	1.4%

In the Amazonian region, there more than 65 ethnic groups classified into 16 language families.

After the arrival of Spanish soldiers in Peru,[9] local people began dying in great number from Eurasian infectious diseases that were chronic among the foreigners. These spread by contact across the New World by Indigenous peoples along trading routes, often years ahead of direct contact with the invaders. As the natives had no natural immunity, they suffered high fatalities in epidemics of the new diseases.

Marriage

Women typically got married around 16 years old while men typically married when they were 20 years old. Before the Spanish Inquisition, Incas often engaged in trial marriages. Trial marriages typically lasted a few years and at the end of the trial, both the man and the woman in the relationship could decide to either pursue the relationship or return home.^[10] According to Powers, “Andean peoples had clearly understood, long and before the ride of the Inca state, that women’s work and men’s work were complementary and interdependent, that the group’s economic subsistence could not be attained in the absence of one or the other.” ^[11] Once married, women often stayed home to watch over children and livestock, collect food, cook, weave, etc. On the other hand, men often took on more physically taxing responsibilities.^[12][13]

Intermarriage

From the earliest years, Spanish soldiers and colonists intermarried with the Indigenous women. The Spanish officers and elite married into the Inca elite, and other matches were made among other classes. A sizeable portion of the Peruvian population is mestizo, of Indigenous and European ancestry, speaking Spanish, generally Roman Catholic, and assimilated as the majority culture.

In the late 19th century, major planters in Peru, particularly in the northern plantations, and in Cuba, recruited thousands of mostly male Chinese immigrants as laborers, referred to as "

The Chinese also had contact with Peruvian women in cities, where they formed relationships and sired mixed-race children. Typically the Indigenous women had come from Andean and coastal areas to work in the cities. Chinese men favored marriage with them over unions with African Peruvian women. Matchmakers sometimes arranged for mass communal marriages among a group of young Peruvian women and a new group of Chinese coolies. They were paid a deposit to recruit women from the Andean villages for such marriages.[15]

In 1873 the

As is typical in times of demographic change, some Peruvians objected to such marriages on racial grounds.[23] When native Peruvian women (cholas et natives, Indias, indígenas) and Chinese men had mixed children, the children were called injerto. As adults, injerto women were preferred by Chinese men as spouses, as they had shared ancestry.^[23]

According to Alfredo Sachettí, low-class Peruvians, including some black and Amerindian women, were the ones who established sexual unions or marriages with the Chinese men. He claimed this mixing was causing the Chinese to suffer from "progressive degeneration". In Casa Grande highland Amerindian women and Chinese men participated in communal "mass marriages", arranged when highland women were brought by a Chinese matchmaker after receiving a down payment for the marriage.^[24][25]

Education and language

Significant test score gaps exist between Indigenous students and non-Indigenous students in elementary schools.

Activists promoting intercultural bilingual education view it as being the solution for a more "equitable, diverse, and respectful society", garnering social economic, political, and cultural rights for Indigenous groups while simultaneously encouraging "Indigenous autonomy and cultural pride".^[29] Criticisms of bilingual education have been raised, in some cases most strongly by Quechua-speaking highlanders themselves, strongly opposing intercultural efforts. These Indigenous highlanders view intercultural efforts as an imposition of "disadvantageous educational changes" blocking their economic and social advancement, historically seen as only possible through learning to read and write Spanish.^[30] While the legislation has been one of the most forward in Latin America concerning Indigenous education,^[28] the implementation of these educational programs has been technically challenging, with teachers agreeing in theory but finding it impossible in practice to bring an intercultural mindset and facilitate bilingualism, particularly with often very limited resources.^[27][30] However, in contrast, studies by Nancy Hornberger and others have shown that the use of children's native language in schools did allow for far greater "oral and written pupil participation - in absolute, linguistic, and sociolinguistic terms".^[31]

With a lack of political will and economic force to push a nationally unified bilingual education program, many disconnected efforts have been put forth.

Indigenous people hold title to substantial portions of Peru, primarily in the form of communal reserves (Spanish: reservas comunales). The largest Indigenous communal reserve in Peru belongs to the Matsés people and is located on the Peruvian border with Brazil on the Javary River.

Laws and institutions

In 1994, Peru signed and ratified the current international law concerning Indigenous people, the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989.^[32] The convention rules the following: governments are responsible for ensuring that Indigenous peoples possess equal rights and opportunities under national law, for upholding the integrity of cultural and social identity under these rights, and for working toward elimination of existing socio-economic gaps between Indigenous peoples and the rest of the respective national community.^[33] To ensure these aims, the convention additionally mandates that governments are to consult communities through their representative institutions regarding any legislature that openly affects their communities, provide modes through which Indigenous peoples can participate in policy decision-making to the same extent as other divisions of the national community, and allocate support, resources, and any other necessary means to these communities for the complete development of their own institutions.^[33] The extent to which Peru upholds this legislation is debated, especially in regards to use of Indigenous territories for capital gain.^[34] Additionally, implementation of legislature has been protracted, with Indigenous peoples only gaining the legal right to consultation as late as 2011.^[35]

Political organizations

Among the more informal organizations in Indigenous communities is the tradition of

The late 2010s have seen a push for autonomous regional governments for Indigenous communities.[39] The Autonomous Territorial Government of the Wampis Nation (GTANW) of the Peruvian Amazon was the first to be established.^[40] Other communities followed, including the Kandozi, Shawi, and Shapra peoples, and additional communities are expressing interest in pursuing autonomous governments.^[40] The primary function of these governments is to both protect autonomous territories from resource extraction by foreign entities as well as enhance dialogue between the Peruvian state and Indigenous communities through fortified institutions. The Autonomous Territorial Government of the Wampis Nation, established officially in November 2015, has since started operating an autonomous radio broadcaster to service the communities of the Santiago River basin, where the new government is also taking on issues of illegal mining in the area.^[40]

Beyond organizations based in regional autonomy, other notable organizations exist for the purpose of establishing Indigenous representation of interests in Peruvian politics. This includes organizations such

See also

• Cerro de la Sal (Salt Mountain)
• Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest
• Indigenous peoples in South America

References

Citations