We Are All Indigenous

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Todos somos indigenas: Towards a New Language of National Political Identity Andrew Canessa introduces the notion that being indigenous and representing indigenieity does not always mean the same thing. He mentions indigenous groups from around the world and how they have somehow adopted the term indigenous, and claim that they exclusively embody indigeneity. He provides the example of how the Incas’ occupation of parts of Bolivia during the early half of the 15th century qualifies them in being indigenous, while the Spanish who followed only a few decades later are considered being foreign. This is where an ambiguity is evident. The Spanish invaded in like manner as the Incas, Yet, only the descendants of the Incas are considered Indigenous in contemporary culture. Are there degrees of what constitutes indigeneity? Canessa makes the point early on in saying that answering this is not the purpose of his paper, yet he opens up your mind to challenge the definition of indigeneity which facilitates the digestion of his arguments found further on in the reading. Canessa progressively leads the reader into understanding what the title of his paper means, “Todos Somos Indigenas” (We Are All Indigenous). He references indigenous protests in the past such as the Gas Wars of Bolivia, the 1991 March for Territory and Dignity, and the Cochabamba Water Wars. He notes that during these largely but not exclusively indigenous demonstrations; the agenda, while they were mainly in protection of natural resources (gas, land rights, water) was always accompanied by a larger inherent indigenous responsibility to protect: Here, as with many other indigenous movements, their political aims were presented as being identical to the aims of preserving the environment and protecting natural resources. This marriage of indigenous rights and ecological concerns had proven to be

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