National Indigenous Organization of Colombia

ONIC

Founded	1982
Type	Non-governmental organization
Focus	Indigenous rights
Area served	Colombia
Website	onic.org.co

The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (Spanish: Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia or ONIC) is an organization representing the indigenous peoples of Colombia, who comprise some 800,000 people or approximately 2% of the population. The organization was founded at the first National Indigenous Congress in 1982.

History

Spanish colonization involved the formalization of structures under the name of cabildos, with both pre-conquest and post-conquest features becoming local traditions. In the Andean highlands, many indigenous people lived essentially as peasants, and leftist as well as state organizations took an interest in incorporating indigenous peoples into peasant-sector organizations in the early and mid 20th century. One such organization was the National Association Of Campesino Users (ANUC).

The incorporation of indigenous peoples of Colombia into regional and national organizations with a specifically indigenous character and agenda was carried out in the 1970s and early 1980s. In the Andean Department of Cauca, the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) was formed at the Toribío Assembly in 1971. The highly organized CRIC served as something of a hub for indigenous organizing during the 1970s.

In 1980, the first national encounter of indigenous organizations was held in Lomas de Hilarco, Tolima department. The encounter vocally opposed proposed changes to the national indigenous policy of the federal government, called for the respect of indigenous rights, and demanded the evolution and expansion of indigenous territories and the suspension and reversal of colonization within indigenous reserves. By this time, Regional Indigenous Councils existed in the departments of Vaupés, Vichada, Arhuaco, Chocó, and Tolima, as well as Cauca. an interim National Indigenous Coordination was created for coordination, and for the organization of a national assembly. The latter was held in Bosa, near Bogotá, in 1982, and united more than 1500. The organization's initial goals were:

to work to see that the principles established by law 89 of 1890 were put into practice
to ensure the benefits of this law were authorized for all indigenous communities in the country through the creation and legalization of indigenous reserves

In collaboration with the sympathetic Betancur administration, numerous indigenous reserves were titled, in which many new indigenous organizations were formed, resulting in a massive expansion of the national organization.

In 2010, an international campaign was launched to expose the suffering of what ONIC describes as the "massive violations of their rights".^[1] These violations are caused by "the internal armed conflict in Colombia, the lack of social and differential policies on the part of the Colombian state for indigenous peoples, and the imposition of a devastating development model in indigenous territories." The campaign was launched by two indigenous Colombian leaders on a European tour, and it is aimed at protecting at least eighteen tribes facing the ‘imminent risk of extinction'.

Program of struggle

ONIC's current program of struggle calls for:^[2]

Defense of indigenous autonomy
Defense of indigenous territory, and the recovery of usurped territories and collective property of indigenous reserves
Control of the natural resources situated in indigenous territories
Pushing forward community economic organizations
Defense of indigenous history, culture and traditions
Bilingual and bicultural education under the control of the indigenous authorities
Recovery and pushing forward of traditional medicine and demand for health programs in accordance with the social and cultural characteristics of the communities
Demanding the application of Law 89 of 1890 and other measures favorable to indigenous peoples
Solidarity with the struggles of other sectors
Application of the conclusions of the Organization's Congresses

References

External links

ONIC's website

Indigenous and minority rights

Rights	Ancestral domain Free, prior and informed consent Intellectual property Land rights Language Self-determination Traditional knowledge Treaty rights

Governmental organizations	African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights Arctic Council Bureau of Indian Affairs Council of Indigenous Peoples Fundação Nacional do Índio Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada National Commission for the Development of Indigenous Peoples National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (Philippines) United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Non-governmental and political organizations	Amazon Watch Assembly of First Nations Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador Congress of Aboriginal Peoples Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon River Basin Cultural Survival Friends of Peoples Close to Nature Indigenous Environmental Network Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs National Indigenous Organization of Colombia Native American Rights Fund Survival International Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization Zapatista Army of National Liberation (more ...)

Issues	Civilizing mission Colonialism Internal colonialism Settler colonialism Cultural appropriation Sports mascots Redface Dakota Access Pipeline protests Discovery doctrine Homeland Lands inhabited by indigenous peoples Bantustan American Indian reservation Indian reserve Ranchería Manifest destiny Plastic shaman Rainbow Warriors Two-Spirit

Legal representation	Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007

Historical cases	2009 Peruvian political crisis Chiapas conflict Depopulation of Diego Garcia High Arctic relocation Indian removal Mapuche conflict Oka Crisis Residential Schools Canada New Zealand South Africa United States Rubber boom San controversy Stolen Generations

Human Rights Indigenous rights • Minority rights

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National Indigenous Organization of Colombia

History

Program of struggle

See also

Further reading

References

External links