The cucapáh indigenous group struggle against green colonialism: self-determination & fishing rights

Abstract

The Cucapáh Indigenous group has lived for 1000 years on the Colorado River Delta area. In Baja California, México, several Cucapáh families are fishermen and women. In this paper I argue two main points: 1 The Cucapáh currently suffer from processes of green colonialism, typical of the dominant neocolonial capitalist system. 2 The struggle for their fishing rights in the Colorado river is their struggle for Indigenous self-determination, which is also intertwined with their struggle for the respect of their communal land possession. This research bases in a qualitative methodology using a grounded theory, composed of in-depth interviews, and participant observation, in the Cucapáh communities of El Mayor Cucapáh, Ejido el Indiviso, and Ejido Cucapáh Mestizo, in Baja California, México, as well as archival research in Mexicali, Baja California, México.