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RIVERS OF RESISTANCE: RAMA RESPONSES TO NICARAGUA’S GRAND CANAL A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNI- VERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN GEOGRAPHY AUGUST 2017 By Timothy Joseph Workman Thesis Committee: Krisnawati Suryanata, Chairperson Reece Jones Mary Mostafanezhad Keywords: Geography, Indigenous Peoples, Nicaragua, Grand Canal, Atlantic Coast For my mom and dad. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It takes a village to mint a Master. I’d first like to thank the residents of Rama Cay. I’m frustrated that I can’t mention them by name. They and I know who they are. The same goes for my whacky roommates in Bluefields, two renegades I’ll call Mutt and Jeff. To Comandante and Junior, too. To Anexa. To the always-amazing Seanna Howard of the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Center at James E. Rogers. Without her I would’ve never made it beyond Managua. To my beautiful, wonderful friends Kara and Ian Philly- bomb. To those who truly hand-held me from beginning to end. Firstly, my chair and ad- visor Krisnawati Suryanata. She never lost faith in me. And her advice and instruction were second to none. To Mary Mostafanezhad, the chillest boss ever, and the greatest surf bud. To Dave Beilman, Chill Boss # 2. To Reece, for his instruction and guidance. My won- derful, young, passionate 101 and 102 students. To Judy Naumu, for always looking out. Finally, to my UH friends: Azmeary “Bangala Beavis” Ferdoush, Billy “Master” Cecil, Dylan “Sweet D” Beatty, Li “Leonardo” Phillips, Kathryn “Thryn” Metzker & her fam- ily, Daniel the Canadian (Sweet Mounty, Canadaniel, etc.), Kawelauokealoha Wright, Ryan Shelby, Shahin Rahman, Serra Bolduc, Desi Samandjuk, Ashok Das, Keith Bettinger, Jonah “Bao” Preising, Robert Moore, Rizal “Sexy” Lutfi, and many more. To the Tamil Karate Master. To all the haters. Special thanks to Kerrie Littlejohn and Manu for keeping me fed and distracted when I was flat broke. I love you guys. To my best friends in the world, Marco Valdez and Jason Hushour. Finally, to the brave and indestructible María Luisa Acosta. i ABSTRACT This thesis examines the effects of Nicaragua’s Grand Canal plans on local politics in the community of Rama Cay, located on the southeast Atlantic Coast. While stalled, Grand Canal plans have had a major effect on grassroots politics in Nicaragua. This is es- pecially true for the afro-indigenous Rama-Kriol community of the southeast Atlantic Coast. The Rama-Kriol Territorial Government recently agreed to lease 263-square kilome- ters of Rama-Kriol communal titled lands to the Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Develop- ment Investment Co., Ltd. I explore three cross-cutting themes to better understand this locally-contested decision: rhetoric of support for the Grand Canal, interethnic land con- flict, and Rama Cay political divisions. These thematic areas produce insights on neolib- eral multiculturalism, the commons, and clientelism. They also invite reflection on the challenges of actual implementation of indigenous communal title on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................ ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................... iii CARTOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................... vi ALPHABET SOUP .................................................................................................................. viii Bienvenidos a Nicaragua ........................................................................................................... x CHAPTER I. Headwaters ........................................................................................................... 1 Rama Geography, Origins, and Lifeways ......................................................................... 2 Leadership Structure ......................................................................................................... 4 Watershed: Research Overview............................................................................................ 6 Man with a Method .............................................................................................................. 8 Everybody’s Got Choices: Studying Rama Cay ................................................................ 11 River’s Flow .......................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER III. ¡Canaleamiento Ya! The Grand Canal as Savior of Rama Lands ................... 14 Chronology: Mercury Forward, in Retrograde ................................................................... 17 Mercury ......................................................................................................................... 17 Multiculturalism, Run ......................................................................................................19 Liberal Redux ................................................................................................................... 21 Multiculturalism is Rich? ................................................................................................ 22 Neoliberalization at Rest? ............................................................................................... 25 Multiculturalism Remembered .......................................................................................... 28 The Convergence of the Twain........................................................................................... 30 To Be Rama ...................................................................................................................... 32 Deconstructing Culture. ............................................................................................. 33 Reconstructing Culture ............................................................................................... 34 Re-locating Culture. .................................................................................................... 35 Canaleamiento ............................................................................................................. 36 iii Entre Ríos ............................................................................................................................ 38 CHAPTER IV. By Blood and Soil: A Geography of Trust on the Rama Frontier .................. 40 “The Lagoon Belong to We” ............................................................................................... 40 Chronology: Contours of Conflict ...................................................................................... 44 Clarifying Ownership .......................................................................................................... 47 The Disreputable Mestizo ................................................................................................... 50 Geronimo ..................................................................................................................... 50 Confronting the Other .................................................................................................... 52 A Geography of Trust .......................................................................................................... 56 Locational Distance......................................................................................................... 57 White Knuckles. ........................................................................................................... 57 Social Distance ................................................................................................................ 60 Cisma Territorial ................................................................................................................. 62 CHAPTER IV. Pueblo Chico, Infierno Grande: Clientelism and Grand Canal Politics on Rama Cay................................................................................................................................. 64 “Small town, big fire” .......................................................................................................... 64 From Liberation to Intra-Clan Conflict ............................................................................. 66 Decentralization .............................................................................................................. 68 The Sequelae of War ........................................................................................................... 70 Intra-Clan Conflict ........................................................................................................... 71 Clientelism’s Conduct ......................................................................................................... 74 Surviving Rama Cay ........................................................................................................ 76 Patronage Distribution ................................................................................................... 80 “Broke” Brokership .......................................................................................................... 84 Clan and Canal ...................................................................................................................
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