The view from the shore: Central America's Indians encounter the quincentenary.

Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean except in small areas of the Dominican Republic and Cuba have vanished through the years since Columbus landed. In the South indigenous populations were "largely broken and demoralized and political institutions shattered." In the 500-year celebration of Christopher Columbuss voyage to the Americas many materials have been produced. In this article the focus is on the unknown Indian of Latin America who is invisible and usually isolated. The 40 million surviving Indians make up various percentages of a countrys population from among 50% in Peru to as little as under 1% in Brazil. The political upheavals of the 1980s have propelled Central America into the public eye. Central Americas indigenous population is 4-5.5 million people in 43 different ethnic/linguistic groups (16-22% of Central Americas total population of 25 million). Population growth of indigenous people has increased in the last 20 years. Most live in the difficult to reach regions of the jagged volcanic highlands of Guatemala and the densely forested Caribbean coastal plains from Belize to the Colombian border. These isolated locations were selected as protection from the colonists; these regions now are threatened by loggers cattle ranchers and landless peasants. In Guatemala the 4.5 million Indians belong to 22 different Mayan language groups who have been studied extensively by scientists. In Costa Rica Indians receive limited protection in 21 reservations and in El Salvador there is a denial of the "naturales" existence and what was owned before the Conquest is long gone. Most of the Indians are poverty stricken and lack basic social services. Indian organizations have appeared; their involvement in Indian welfare is recounted e.g. the Kuna of Panama organized the first Indigenous Congress on Natural Resources and the Environment in 1989. An obstacle to the Indians survival is the legacy of Conquest: subjugation humiliation and discrimination; Indians are perceived to be obstacles to economic and social progress. Concern about deforestation should provide the basis for collaboration with the Indians. Conservation schemes must recognize Indians beliefs about the sacredness of the earth and community spirit. The Columbus celebration should mark the beginning of the discovery of who Indians are.