Demography of Ethnicity in Central America

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Demography of Ethnicity in Central America

• HONDURAS
• Dario A. Euraque
• 200 anos de Categorias Raciales y Ethnicas en
  Honduras
• Juan Carlos Vargas
• Ethnodemografia de la Ethnia Pech, Honduras
• NICARAGUA
• Edmund Gordon
• Nicaraguan Creoles Red, White, and Black?

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Demography of Ethnicity in Central America

• GUATEMALA
• Carlos Rodriguez
• La Determinacion de los Grupos Ethnicos, el
  Indigenismo, la Situacion de la Pobreza y la
  Exclusion Social, segun los Censos del 2002.
• PANAMA
• Gumercindo Lorenzo and Arodys Robles
• Comportamientos Socio-Demograficos de la
  Poblacion

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Common Themes

• Notions of race and ethnicity change over
  time according to various factors including, but
  not limited to migration, political environment,
  self-reporting, economy, militarization, etc.
• Depending on these factors, the historical
  demography of a country can either be
  homogenized to subsume various portions of the
  population into fewer categories, or have a high
  degree of heterogeneity, taking into account many
  ethnic groups within the population.
• Issues of qualitative and quantitative research,
  homogeneity and heterogeneity.

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Dario A. Euraque200 anos de Categorias
Raciales y Ethnicas en Honduras

• Important study that offers a panorama of the
  relationship between racial categories used in
  the census of Honduras and the process of
  mestizaje.
• 200 years of history divided into time periods
  according to the changes in the racial and ethnic
  categories officially registered in the census
  and used by the Honduran state. This study offers
  a thorough analysis of the transitions from one
  time period to another and explanations and
  criteria for these changes.

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• Interesting discussion of the words race
  ethnicity and culture.
• In the first three time periods there were great
  variations in the categories used to officially
  classify the Honduran population. However, there
  was also a marked tendency toward reducing the
  number of categories used, especially at the end
  of the 19th Century.
• This represented a process of homogenization of
  the population under 2 categories ladino and
  indio.

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• The census of the first half of the 20th Century
  recuperated some of the variety in the
  categories.
• In the period between 1930-1945, 5 categories
  mestizo, indio, blanco, negro, and
  amarillo.
• But by the 1945 census, the term indio. was to
  be used for the last time in an official census.
• In 1950, and as well in 1961, 1974, and in 1988,
  the census eliminated racial and ethnic
  categories completely.

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• Current demography must be placed in the context
  of local processes and in response to things such
  as military reform, as well as international
  processes such as the promotion of international
  tourism and the world indigenous movement.
• Questions
• 1988 was the first census to ask questions about
  the use and knowledge of language. What has
  happened since then? Have census questions become
  more or less specific with respect to indigenous
  peoples? How has language played a role?

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Juan Carlos VargasEthnodemografia de la Ethnia
Pech, Honduras

• Study incorporates an interesting history of
  demography of Honduras from the time of conquest
  to present day, taking into account the various
  effects of colonialism on the indigenous
  population.
• Paper studies three time periods the colonial
  period (1500-1821), the modern period (1821-1950)
  and present day to explain Honduras population
  dynamics.
• Study focuses on the pech, one of 6 ethnic
  minorities, who are located in Olancho, Colon and
  Gracias a Dios departments.

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• During the second half of the 20th Century, pech
  lost their land to the railway, logging, mining
  and the introduction of foreign laborers who were
  given rights to land.
• Unique study in that it shows the benefit of
  incorporating both qualitative and quantitative
  methodologies, especially when working with small
  groups (2079) where it is not possible to use
  traditional demographic techniques.

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• Emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary studies
  (such as anthropological demography) and
  highlights the fact that census data alone often
  cannot give an accurate account of a countrys
  demography.

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• Questions
• From the ethnographic survey that was
  undertaken, it was reported that 29 of pech
  households reported that some member of the
  household had migrated, of which 69 were the
  head of household.Where did they go? How long
  were they gone? How did this affect household
  dynamics? Were networks developed to facilitate
  further migrations? Did return migrants
  experience any change in how they perceived
  themselves (esp. those who learned Spanish)?

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Carlos RodriguezLa Determinacion de los Grupos
Ethnicos, el Indigenismo, la Situacion de la
Pobreza y la Exclusion Social, segun los Censos
del 2002.

• Guatemalan National Survey/Census in 2002 was the
  first attempt to describe and explain the present
  poverty of the majority of the population, esp.
  the indigenous population (including their
  participation in the increasing international
  migration from the 1960s onward).

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• 19th to 20th CenturyIndigenous and Ladinos or
  non-indigenous (21 Mayan communities make up
  first categorization).
• 1994 census first time for self-reporting of
  ethnicity, and in 2002 first mention of Garifuna.
• Ethnic group identity based on language spoken.
• Characteristics of Mayan Population (2002
  Census)
• High rates of illiteracy, predominantly rural,
  low rates of education, child labor to support
  household, majority involved in farming (mostly
  subsistence).

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• In the last 100 years annual population growth
  rate in Guatemala has averaged 1.8 whereas the
  indigenous population rate rose 1.3--explained
  by higher mortality in Mayan populations due to
  lack of access to health services.
• 13 of the 21 Mayan ethnic groups are present in
  the department of Guatemala, evidence of
  widespread internal migration, esp. after the
  civil war and explains the concentration of Maya
  in the capital and surrounding municipalities.

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• Questions
• Possible that urban Kaqchiquel women are more
  literate than their rural counterparts due to
  household locations and education services. What
  role does workforce involvement (formal or
  informal) have in mediating illiteracy rates in
  these women?

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• For those Mayan households that indicated having
  a family member working abroad, education is seen
  as an important use of remittances.Likewise,
  households that receive remittances have lower
  instances of children working outside the home.
  Is this true of all 21 groups or is there
  considerable variation amongst them? How does the
  proximity to larger villages or towns affect
  remittance use? How are remittances affecting
  migration within Guatemala?
• Does the argument that most poor Guatemalans do
  not migrate internationally also hold true for
  all Mayan groups and specifically returned Mayan
  refugees?

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• What role did the conflict in the 1980s have on
  self-reporting? Since some communities, and
  therefore some Maya groups, were targeted because
  they were seen as siding with the guerillas, how
  did these groups identify themselves upon return
  to Guatemala?