Indigenous Peoples In Peru
Indigenous people in Peru (pueblos indígenas in Spanish) comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who have inhabited the country's territory since before its discovery by Europeans around 1500. The first Spanish explorers called the indigenous peoples índios ("Indians"), a name that is still used today (often has a derogatory connotation).
The indigenous peoples in Peru comprise about 45% of the total population of Peru of 29,248,943 (2011). The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2001–2003) estimated the proportion of indigenous in the overall population as 31%.
At the time of the Spanish invasion, the indigenous people of the Amazon Basin were mostly semi-nomadic tribes who subsisted on hunting, fishing, gathering, and migrant agriculture. Those in the Andes and to the west were dominated by the Inca, who had a complex, hierarchical civilization that built many cities and major temples and monuments with highly skilled stonemasonry. Many of the estimated 2000 nations and tribes present in 1500 died out as a consequence of the Spanish conquest, especially because of associated infectious diseases, and many survivors were assimilated into the general mestizo (mixed race) Peruvian population. All of the Peruvian indigenous groups, such as the Urarina,even those that live isolated in remote areas of the Amazon Rainforest such as the Matsés Matis and Korubo, have changed their ways of life to some extent, e.g. by using firearms and other manufactured items, and trading goods with mainstream national Peruvian society - but all of the groups also maintain cultural identities and practices that keep them distinct from majority Hispano-Peruvian society.
The AIDESEP is the premier indigenous rights organization in Peru defending the interests of indigenous people in Peru. Its current president is Alberto Pizango.
Read more about Indigenous Peoples In Peru: Origins, Demographics, After The Spanish Conquest, Political Organizations, Territories, Laws and Institutions, Conflicts, Ethnic Groups
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