Canadian Indians at Nicaragua meet

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Five Alberta Indians joined the Nicaraguan revolutionary process by attending

the International Symposium dealt specifically with the autonomy process now underway pertaining to Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast indigenous peoples.

The Alberta delegation, from Saddle Lake, Cold Lake, Beaver Lake, and the Blood Tribe, was among eleven other Canadians and about 100 delegates from around

the world. Included were indigenous people from North, South, and Central America

and lawyers, writers, and social scientists from various countries.

The conference was funded by the Swedish government, traditionally sympathetic to the revolutionary government in Nicaragua. They donated $70,000 U.S. to fund the conference held in Managua, July 13 to 16.

The historic event brought delegates from around the world to contribute their ideas to Nicaragua's autonomy process. The process was officially started in December 1984 when the Autonomy Commission was established. It is hoped the autonomy question will be settled early next year when it will be drafted into a formal statue to

be included in the developing constitution, also due for completion at the same time.

The process of public participation is one adopted by the young Sandinista government in the development of national policies of all descriptions. On a national

level they have instituted a series of "cabidos abiertos" (open town meeting) at which the different cultural and economic sector within Nicaragua are invited to air grievances and offer suggestions for the development of the constitution.

"It is now traditional with us to have participation of all the parties concerned in any issue of national concern to invite delegations from all over the world to hear their experiences and see if they can be helpful to what we believe to be doing," explained Sergio Lacayo, Nicaraguan ambassador to Canada.

A need for mutually acceptable agreement regarding the treatment of the Atlantic Coast Region of Nicaragua is clear. Historically and geographically the Atlantic Coast has always been isolated on the more populated western region of the country. The two parts of the country are divided geographically by a mountain range. The east coast consists of over fifty per cent of Nicaragua's land mass. Just over 200,000 of the country's three million inhabitants live there.

Historically, the division between the two sides of the country is even more pronounced. While the west coast was conquered by the Spanish, the east coast was monopolized by the British, followed by the United States. Economically, the two regions have had separate bases. The British came to the Atlantic Coast o harvest the natural riches, like gold, silver, and fine woods. In order to exploit the region they brought in black slaves and used the indigenous people as a poorly paid labor force. The existing indigenous populations include the Rama, the Sumo, and the Miskito Indians. As well,

a group of escaped slaves called Garifunos, have lived in the area since the early 1500s.

In order to keep the indigenous peoples on side, in the early 1700s the British took several Miskitos to Britain to adapt them to British ways. On their return to Nicaragua they were crowned as kings of various municipalities.

Thus the Atlantic coast was kept under control until the late 1800s when the Nicaraguan government drove the British out. In 1893, before they left, the British secured a treaty with the Nicaraguan government that obligated them to respect Indian territory for a period of fifty years.

Still the Spanish paid little notice to the Atlantic coast. And in the early 1900s the United States came to exploit the region's resource wealth. They took mahogany, silver, rubber, and gold. Among the multi-national mining companies in the area were two Canadian ones: Miranda Mines from Ontario and Windara Mines from British Columbia. Since the revolutionary victory in 1979 the multinationals have left the area.

The revolutionary vitory was not the end of misunderstandings between the government and the Atlantic coast region. The Sandinista government wanted to integrate the indigenous people with the rest of the country. The Indians wanted only to be left alone. During their first contact with the indigenous peoples on the Atlantic coast the Sandinista committed several errors and the area's original populations struggled against what they perceived as another imperialist power meddling in their self-determination. Because of the poor communications and lack of accessibility to the Atlantic coast, the indigenous people had very little to do with the revolution which was concentrated in the mountains and on the Pacific coast.

One of the initial blunders of the Sandinista was to jail about 350 Indian leaders

in 1983 because the organization of the indigenous community as counter revolutionary. After several months the leaders were released, but animosity towards the Sandinistas continued. That was compounded in the same year when fighting between government forces and the U.S.-backed counter revolutionary forces known as Contra became so

bad in the Rio Coco area in the Atlantic coast region that several thousand Miskito Indians were relocated. The government insisted it was for the Indians' own protection, but it only made the indigenous population more angry and more suspicious of the Sandinistas. Thousands migrated into the Honduras. The Contra took advantage of the rampant dissatisfaction of the Indians and began recruiting them into their forces even while the Sandinistas were attempting to handle the situation more delicately.

That same year, amnesty was granted to the Miskito who wanted to go back home from the Honduras. In 1984 the autonomy process was stared and in 1985 the relocated Miskitos were allowed to go back to their villages on the Rio Coco.