Indigenous Migration in Latin America

Abstract

Latin American indigenous migration is a multiethnic phenomenon, older than mestizo migration and with a transnational character stemming from ancient and vital community ties. Throughout the twentieth century, indigenous migration in Latin America reconfigured the ethnic geography laid out by modern states, not only within countries but also beyond the geopolitical lines that divide Latin America in the South from the United States, Canada, and the European continent in the North. In the context of the global expansion of capitalism, environmental catastrophes, political violence, and narcotrafficking, contemporary indigenous migration combines traces of the ancient colonization movements through pre- and postconquest ethnic territories with new patterns of industrialization and economic globalization. This chapter outlines a complex field of reflection about the different paths of indigenous migration flows in contemporary Latin America. Indigenous migration has had an impact on the redefinition of ethnic identities and on the new forms of resistance of indigenous peoples in the international economy, as well as on the reconstruction of indigenous consciousness in the ethnic configurations of several nation-states. The chapter offers a general overview of continental indigenous migration and some relevant regional experiences, paying special attention to the Mexican case because of the long history of international migration of indigenous peoples from Mexico to the United States and the rich interdisciplinary literature around these flows, a literature that has produced important theoretical and empirical contributions.