Since the mid-twentieth century, indigenous organizations in Nicaragua have historically formed in response to economic, political, and cultural injustices and to create infrastructure for self-governance. They most often represent their motives and goals as pan-indigenous and do not employ Marxist or Leninist ideas or language of class struggles. Although many organizations stress Miskitu ethnicity, language, and history, most major Nicaraguan indigenous organizations have advocated on behalf of indigenous peoples in general.
Nicaraguan indigenous groups
Indigenous organizations are composed of persons belonging to several indigenous groups that live in Nicaragua. These include the Miskitu, the Sumu (also known as the Mayangna and the Sumo), the Ulwa, the Sutiava (also known as the Xiu), the Garifuna, the Nahoa (also known as Nicarao), the Cacaopera (also known as the Matagalpa), the Chorotega (also known as Mange), and the Rama. Most indigenous persons either live in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACCN) or the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACCS), although almost all indigenous groups can be found across all departments and autonomous regions of Nicaragua.
Chart of Indigenous Populations by Department / Autonomous Region
Nicaraguan indigenous organizations
Prior to the Sandinista Revolution (1962-1978)
Association of Agricultural Clubs of the Río Coco: 1967-1972
Organized in the midst of the Somoza Dynasty as a response to deflated prices for agricultural products and international reform initiatives, the Association of Agricultural Clubs of the Río Coco (ACARIC) was organized by Miskitu farmers living within communities along the Río Coco to strengthen their local economies and to structure community collaboration efforts. ACARIC originally received funding from both Nicaraguan organizations, such as the National Development Institute (INFONAC), and United States organizations, most notably United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS). While most organizational efforts were directed at collectively setting prices to sell and buy food products from—generally—non-indigenous merchants, liberation theological methodologies were utilized by Gregorio Smutko and other Capuchin missionaries within newly developed educational curricula to develop singularity among the Miskitu.
Alliance for the Progress of the Miskito and Sumu: 1974-1979
After the decline of the ACARIC, Miskitu Moravian ministers assembled |Alliance for the Progress of the Miskito and Sumu (ALPROMISU) as a liberation theology-based indigenous organization aimed at community capacity building, resource management, and allocating power away from Creole religious officials and to the Miskitu people while continuing to structure market prices for Miskitu and Sumu farmers. With the end of kampani taim and the subsequent loss of income, religious networks became vital to support a broken indigenous economy. Rural Moravian churches became common venues for ALPROMISU meetings; by not congregating in urban centers, assemblies remained homogeneously indigenous. Gregorio Smutko and other educated ministers continued to train Miskitu religious officials and others to appropriate Christian and Hebrew religious narratives as their own by infusing Miskitu culture into local doctrines. "Imagined community" building by ALPROMISU and religious networks eventually developed passed a strictly Miskitu nation to a larger pan-indigenous movement as they joined the World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP). Even with international support, directors of ALPROMISU were not able to effectively organize to achieve indigenous rights under the Somoza dynasty.
During the Sandinista Revolution and the Contra War (1979-1990)
Miskitu, Sumo, Rama, Sandinista All Together: 1979-1986
Immediately following the successful overthrow of the Somoza state by the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), ALPROMISU issued a declaration of demands to Daniel Ortega, the head of the new Sandinista government. ALPROMISU sought to obtain self-governance and the incorporation of indigenous language into educational reform programs. Soon after, however, ALPROMISU would be reorganized and renamed Miskitu, Sumo, Rama, Sandinista All Together (MISURASATA) under the new leadership of General Director Steadman Fagoth and Brooklyn Rivera, although Fagoth, with tremendous public support, would exercise control over MISURASATA.