oh man, no mames, how is it possible that you could refer to her as an “indian” rights activist. it’s difficult to express how inappropriate and ignorant this is. unfortunately, it’s also not shocking coming from you. al parecer hoy en dia tu puedes crear un blog de lo que sea si tener conocimiento alguno al respecto. que pendejos…

fyi the nobelprize.org refers to her the same way.

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1992/tum-bio.html

Dear Eds: I think the term would be: “indigenous”. BTW: nice pic selection!

@ dancecontestwinner: Would you prefer I had written “native” rights? “Indigenous” rights? Any word I could have come up with could be argued as having negative or colonial connotations, or could have been too specific or too vague. So Indian rights it is. You’re free to have as many problems with it as you’d like.

@ pocho_guey: Thank you. I happen to think Ms. Menchu looks lovely in this picture as well.

HOW ABOUT HUMANS RIGHTS ACTIVIST!!!! Jeez, just because your a light looking beaner does not mean you are better than Guatemalan cousins!!!!!!!!!!!

mira, la cosa no es personal. lo importante aqui es como decidas tomarlo. si te molestó, disculpa. si por eso no lo vas a tomar en cuenta, pues que pequeña resultaste.

and since you ask, i would have preferred indigenous. or autochthonous rights, or the rights of said groups of people in Guatemala, central America and the rest of Latin America and other places in the world. sure, any of those would have worked. but indian? come on. don’t look the other way just cause you feel insulted.

@pocachica: lol, can you believe it?

@dancecontestwinner: Your comment didn’t insult me at all. You have every right to feel offended at my decision to use “Indian rights.” I am sorry if you feel personally insulted or attacked; that wasn’t my intention at all. I was explaining my thought process behind selecting that particular term.

@…dijo Alex: While spurious anti-colonialist arguments against the use of the term ‘indigenous’ are possible, its usage and growth has acknowledged the development of the term from the reality of colonialism and has taken on some pretty specific defining characteristics that the Maya of Guatemala and Mexico with little argument match.

Either way, this discussion on semantics veers away from the point that political and judicial institutions in Guate’ do as little as possible to address the question raised in the post as to how the genocide (waged under the banner of a US-supported anti-communist counter-insurgency) has devastated Mayan communities, and how these institutions (and the minority white and mestizo cultures generally supporting them) seem to just want to wish ‘indios’ away.

Note that there are no ministries or secretariats in the Guatemalan government dealing specifically with indigenous peoples in the country. The worst thing you can be called in Guatemala, next to a ‘cerote’, a ‘pisado’, or an ‘hijo de la gran puta’ is an ‘indio’.

@…dijo Alex: You’re welcome.

Spain’s constitutional courts?!! really? Esos mendigos, junto con la iglesia catolica, invented, committed, and justified plenty of their own acts of genocide, torture and terrorism for centuries. I guess it’s never too late to undo 500 years of bad Karma.

@ pocho_guey_al_norte

i think a lot of U.S. indigenous activists prefer to use the term “Indian,” but i forget what Rigoberta uses in her book bc it’s a snoozefest. there are tons of great testimonios out there and i’ve always wondered why hers got so famous, perhaps bc she is so hot?

Wait, don’t U.S. indigenous activists prefer to be called Native Americans (not Indians)? Indians do exist of course, but you’ll find most of them in Asia. Anyway, speaking of Indians, here’s a lovely Brown singer from India. Her name is Rakhi Sawant. Brown whores are awesome!

First Nations Peoples? Wasn’t that one floating around? Or have I confused that with something else?

I feel like the way I’ve heard “indigeno” used in Latin America almost makes that as bad a word as “indio.”

@latingamer - And is calling Alex a “light skinned beaner” any less, supposedly, racist as her calling her an “Indian rights activist”? Geez guys…. I don’t think she was looking down on anyone….

@marco

My whole point, Rigoberta Menchu is considered a Human Rights Activist anywhere in the world she goes to. Is Martin Luther King Jr, Ghandi, Armando Vallederes and the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, all these people stood agaisnt human rights violations and faced violence themselves. To label Rigoberta Menchu has just an “Indian” is degrating to her and the people who are better for what she did. SHe did not single handedly end the civil war in Guatemala but it was her book and her Nobel Peace Prize that opened the eyes of the international community to the attrocities in Guatemala.