The Amerindians of South America

Download or read book The Amerindians of South America written by Andrew Gray and published by Minority Rights Group Publications. This book was released on 1987 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report provides an overview of the threats facing indigenous peoples in South America today and their efforts to resist invasion, colonization, and extermination. The first two sections outline the history of South America with regard to indigenous peoples; and the predominant features of Andean and lowland communities, religion, settlement, production, and trade. A section on international economic and political factors discusses the effects on indigenous peoples of: multinational banks and their development projects; multinational corporations involved in mining, oil production, agriculture, and cattle ranching; cocaine production; and Catholic and fundamentalist Protestant missionaries. For each South American country, a survey provides information on area, population, indigenous nations, governmental organization, legislation affecting indigenous peoples, and the major problems facing them. Final sections discuss the nature of Amerindian resistance, the structure of indigenous organizations, indigenous leadership, strategies of resistance, and suggestions as to the way in which the indigenous peoples of South America can gain the support they need for self-determination. This report contains a map locating 108 indigenous peoples and the texts of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Draft Declaration of Principles for Indigenous Rights. (SV)