Indigenous peoples

Indigenous peoples are those groups protected in international or national legislation as having a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory, their cultural and historical distinctiveness from other populations. The legislation is based on the conclusion that certain indigenous people are vulnerable to exploitation, marginalization and oppression by nation states formed from colonising populations or by politically dominant, different ethnic groups.

A special set of political rights in accordance with international law have been set forth by international organizations such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank. The United Nations has issued a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to guide member-state national policies to collective rights of indigenous people—such as culture, identity, language, and access to employment, health, education, and natural resources. Estimates put the total population of indigenous peoples from 220 million to 350 million.

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the descendants of the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America. Pueblos indígenas (indigenous peoples) is a common term in Spanish-speaking countries. Aborigen (aboriginal/native) is used in Argentina, whereas "Amerindian" is used in Quebec, The Guianas, and the English-speaking Caribbean. Indigenous peoples are commonly known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, which include First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. Indigenous peoples of the United States are commonly known as Native Americans or American Indians, and Alaska Natives.

According to the prevailing New World migration model, migrations of humans from Asia (in particular North Asia) to the Americas took place via Beringia, a land bridge which connected the two continents across what is now the Bering Strait. The majority of experts agree that the earliest migration via Beringia took place at least 13,500 years ago, with disputed evidence that people had migrated into the Americas much earlier, up to 40,000 years ago. These early Paleo-Indians spread throughout the Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes. According to the oral histories of many of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, they have been living there since their genesis, described by a wide range of creation myths.

List of indigenous peoples

This is a partial list of the world's indigenous / aboriginal / native people. Indigenous peoples are any ethnic group of peoples who are considered to fall under one of the internationally recognized definitions of Indigenous peoples, such as United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank, i.e. "those ethnic groups that were indigenous to a territory prior to being incorporated into a national state, and who are politically and culturally separate from the majority ethnic identity of the state that they are a part of".

Note that this is a listing of peoples, groups and communities. Many of the names are externally imposed, and are not those the people identify within their cultures. As John Trudell observed, "They change our name and treat us the same." Basic to the unethical treatment of indigenous peoples is an insistence that the original inhabitants of the land are not permitted to name themselves. Many tribal groups have reasserted their traditional self-identifying names in recent times, in a process of geographical renaming where "The place-name changes herald a new era, in which Aboriginal people have increasing control over the right to name and govern their homelands."

Indigenous peoples in Colombia

Indigenous peoples of Colombia, or Native Colombians, are the ethnic groups who have been in Colombia prior to the Europeans in the early 16th century. Known as pueblos indígenas in Spanish, they comprise 3.4% of the country's population and belong to 87 different tribes.

Approximately 80% of the indigenous peoples of Colombia live in the La Guajira, Cauca, and Nariño Departments. While the Amazonian region of Colombia is sparsely populated, it is home to over 70 different indigenous ethnic groups.

History

Some theories claim the earliest human habitation of South America to be as early as 43,000 BC, although present archaeological understanding places this around 15,000 BC at the earliest. Anthropologist Tom Dillehay dates the earliest hunter-gatherer cultures on the continent at almost 10,000 BC, during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene periods. According to his evidence based on rock shelters, Colombia's first human inhabitants were probably concentrated along the Caribbean coast and on the Andean highland slopes. By that time, these regions were forested and had a climate resembling today's. Dillehay has noted that Tibitó, located just north of Bogotá, is one of the oldest known and most widely accepted sites of early human occupation in Colombia, dating from about 9,790 BC. There is evidence that the highlands of Colombia were occupied by significant numbers of human foragers by 9,000 B.C., with permanent village settlement in northern Colombia by 2,000 B.C.

Colombia

Coordinates: 4°N 72°W / 4°N 72°W / 4; -72

Colombia (/kəˈlʌmbiə/ kə-LUM-biə or /kəˈlɒmbiə/ kə-LOM-biə; Spanish: [koˈlombja]), officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish:  República de Colombia ), is a country situated in the northwest of South America, bordered to the northwest by Panama; to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; and it shares maritime limits with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Haiti. It is a unitary, constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments.

The territory of what is now Colombia was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples including the Muisca, Quimbaya, and Tairona. The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of conquest and colonization ultimately creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada, with its capital at Bogotá. Independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 "Gran Colombia" had collapsed with the secession of Venezuela and Ecuador. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada. The new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858), and then the United States of Colombia (1863), before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886.Panama seceded in 1903.

Columbia sheep

TheColumbia is one of the first breeds of sheep developed in the United States. The product of USDA and university research, it was intended to be an improved breed specially built for the Western ranges of the country (where the majority of sheep raising takes place). Beginning in 1912 in Laramie, Wyoming, Lincoln rams were crossed with Rambouillet ewes. In 1918, the foundation flock was moved to the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station near Dubois, Idaho, for further refinement. Today's Columbia is a popular breed, with heavy, white fleeces and good growth characteristics. It is one of the larger breeds, and is often used for cross breeding in commercial western flocks.

Characteristics

Adult rams weigh between 275 and 400 lb (125 and 181 kg), while females weigh between 175 and 300 lb (79 and 136 kg). An average fleece from an ewe weighs from 10 to 16 lb (4.5 to 7.3 kg) with a yield of 45 to 55%. The staple length of the wool ranges from 3.5 to 5 in (8.9 to 12.7 cm). The wool is classified as medium wool with a spin count of 50s to 60s. The wool varies from 31.0 to 24.0 microns.

Colombia (Madrid Metro)

Colombia is a station on Line 8 and Line 9 of the Madrid Metro. It is located in fare Zone A.

References