Latin America, Indigenous Peoples

The terms  indigenous , native,  and  Indian  emerge from the colonial experience but at the same time are very much a part of modernity and postmodernity. On their arrival in  Latin America , conquering European forces of the 16th through 20th centuries imposed this single identity on vastly diverse groups of  peoples  with their own histories, practices, problems, and conflicts. Even today, the term  Maya,  referring to descendants of preconquest populations throughout much of contemporary southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Belize, incorporates no less than twelve distinct groups, many with mutually indistinguishable languages. Since conquest, the meanings inherent in the  indigenous  moniker have been heavily weighted through multiple forms of actions, policies, and dialogues, although always under conditions of domination by groups of European descent.