A Cultural Historical Geography of Schools in the Honduran Muskitia
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A CULTURAL HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SCHOOLS IN THE HONDURAN MUSKITIA By Taylor A. Tappan Submitted to the graduate degree program in the Department of Geography & Atmospheric Science and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. ________________________________ Chairperson Peter H. Herlihy ________________________________ Jerome E. Dobson ________________________________ Stephen L. Egbert Date Defended: 14 December 2015 The Thesis Committee for Taylor A. Tappan certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: A CULTURAL HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SCHOOLS IN THE HONDURAN MUSKITIA ________________________________ Chairperson Peter H. Herlihy Date approved: 14 December 2015 ii ABSTRACT In the geographically isolated Honduran Muskitia region, schools have represented a contested space through which both the Honduran government and Miskitu communities have struggled for territorial identity. Schools are functional spaces through which social interaction strengthens Miskitu cultural boundaries, norms, and identities. The historical development of education in this isolated indigenous region is paradoxical in that early state initiatives were designed to provide education for Miskitu communities while simultaneously excluding their indigenous cultural identities. However, schools’ historical impact on Miskitu territoriality has received little attention from scholars. The primary objective of this research is to understand 1) the origin and diffusion of schools in the Muskitia region; and 2) the impact of schools on Miskitu territoriality. This thesis brings into question whether the geographic inaccessibility of Muskitia and recurrent state failures to provide baseline education there ultimately contributed to the preservation of Miskitu language and territorial identity. My research aims to fill a gap in existing cultural historical scholarship by examining schools as contested spaces of linguistic identity through which the Miskitu v. state territorial struggle has taken place. Archival research, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews were my primary methodological approaches to understand the historical geography of schools and their impact on Miskitu territoriality. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents for their support throughout my academic endeavors. For as long as I can remember, it has been their worldly experiences and adventures from which I have garnered the inspiration to seek my own. Thank you for all your love and encouragement in helping me to discover geography. My thesis adviser, Peter Herlihy, will forever have my gratitude for empowering me as a young geographer with singular opportunities to conduct research in Latin America. His wisdom, charisma, and particular set of skills are truly unique and irreplaceable for the work we do. I have learned a great deal from Peter and have a great deal more to learn. I also my gratitude to Laura Herlihy, from whom I learned to speak Miskitu on numerous excursions to the Nicaraguan Muskitia. She is a remarkable anthropologist with a wealth of knowledge and experience on both sides of the Río Coco. To my colleagues John Kelly, Andy Hilburn, Aida Ramos Viera, and Matt Fahrenbruch I owe many thanks, indeed, for countless moments of counsel, laughter, insight, and adventure. It seems like just yesterday that we were in our office in Ixtlán, Oaxaca, where it all started for me as a member of our 202 crew. I thank Jerry Dobson for his support and mentorship as a geographer. It was through an unlikely meeting that he had with my dad on a 2008 field trip to Africa that ultimately led me to where I am now. I am incredibly grateful to Jerry for the opportunity to work on our Central America Indígena project. I believe I have the best job of any geography student in the country. I also thank Steve Egbert and Terry Slocum for having served as my committee members. I have relied upon both for numerous letters of recommendation, not to mention occasional pieces of chocolate in Steve’s office or table tennis lessons from Terry at the Rec Center. I would like to thank the Department of Geography at the University of Kansas for funding opportunities and a warm, collegial atmosphere. I have thoroughly enjoyed my years here as an undergraduate and master’s student, and I look forward to the challenge of completing a Ph.D., once again, as a Jayhawk. Finally, there are dozens of collaborators in Honduras to whom I owe my gratitude. In particular, I thank Rollins George and his wife Nela who hosted me on my field visits to Kuri. Elmor Wood, Scott Wood, Donaldo Allen, and many more generously offered their time and insight while I was conducting my thesis research. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iv PREFACE ....................................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER ONE: HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY AND METHODOLOGY ................................ 2 I. Historical Geography and the Berkeley School of Geographic Thought .............................................. 2 II. Methodology and Field Work .............................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER TWO: GEOGRAPHY AND LANDS IN MUSKITIA .............................................. 10 I. First Impressions .................................................................................................................................. 10 II. Life in Kuri ......................................................................................................................................... 16 III. Miskitu Cultural Origins ................................................................................................................... 21 IV. Territoriality and Schools in La Muskitia ......................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER THREE: EARLY RURAL EDUCATION POLITICS AND THE FORMATION OF THE MUSKITIA TERRITORY ................................................................................................... 30 I. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 30 II. Rural Education in Post-Colonial Latin America ............................................................................... 31 III. Indigenismo in Honduras .................................................................................................................. 37 IV. Political and Territorial Organization of Muskitia: 1859-1915 ........................................................ 39 CHAPTER FOUR: ORIGIN AND DIFFUSION OF SCHOOLS IN LA MUSKITIA ............... 47 I. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 47 II. First State Education Initiatives in Muskitia, 1915-1930 ................................................................... 50 III. Moravian Missions and Education, 1930-1950 ................................................................................ 56 IV. Expansion of State Education, 1950-1982 ........................................................................................ 63 CHAPTER FIVE: BILINGUAL EDUCATION, PROGRAMS, AND DECENTRALIZATION IN THE HONDURAN MUSKITIA ............................................................................................. 72 I. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 72 II. Birth of Programs ............................................................................................................................... 73 III. Decentralization of Education and Territory..................................................................................... 77 IV. Using GIS to Understand a Geographic Disconnection in Education .............................................. 80 V. Decentralization and Concejos Territoriales ...................................................................................... 88 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 93 v REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 98 APPENDIX 1: SURVEY OF EDUCATION BACKGROUND FOR MISKITU COMMUNITY RESIDENTS ............................................................................................................................... 111 APPENDIX 2: SCHOOLS IN GRACIAS A DIOS (ordered by GIS attribute codes) ............... 112 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Honduran public schools per department in 1956 ........................................................ 7 Figure 2.1: Downtown Puerto Cabezas-Bilwi, Nicaragua ............................................................ 10 Figure 2.2: A Miskitu home near Las Marías Baltituk along the Río Plátano.............................. 11 Figure 2.3: The Muskitia region of eastern Honduras and Nicaragua .........................................