National Indigenous Organization of Colombia

The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (Spanish: Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia or ONIC) is an organization representing the indigenous peoples of Colombia, who comprise some 800,000 people or approximately 2% of the population. The organization was founded at the first National Indigenous Congress in 1982.

History

Spanish colonization involved the formalization of structures under the name of cabildos, with both pre-conquest and post-conquest features becoming local traditions. In the Andean highlands, many indigenous people lived essentially as peasants, and leftist as well as state organizations took an interest in incorporating indigenous peoples into peasant-sector organizations in the early and mid 20th century. One such organization was the National Association Of Campesino Users (ANUC).

The incorporation of indigenous peoples of Colombia into regional and national organizations with a specifically indigenous character and agenda was carried out in the 1970s and early 1980s. In the Andean Department of Cauca, the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) was formed at the Toribío Assembly in 1971. The highly organized CRIC served as something of a hub for indigenous organizing during the 1970s.