The Impact of Recent National Legislation in the Vaupés Region of Colombia

Abstract

This paper analyzes Indian and non‐Indian reactions in the Vaupés region of Colombia to the 1991 Colombian Constitution and subsequent legislation, specifically reactions to the on‐going process of converting the Vaupés resguardo (a 3‐millionhectare territory collectively owned by the region's Indians) into one or more “indigenous territorial entities” (ETIs), a new form of political‐administrative unit. The paper argues that despite apparently substantial increases in the degree to which the region's indigenous inhabitants can administer their territory and ensure their future as a distinct ethnic entity, we can discern subtle ways in which the Colombian state is attempting to co‐opt the Indian movement, at both national and local levels.