“La Tierra Diversa de ” The Diverse Land of Nicaragua

1

1 My personal photo

AMINAH LUQMAN My fellow AMIGOS volunteers, Sam and Eliza, and I repeatedly sang the chorus to Kanye West’s song, Dark Fantasy, as we embarked on the strenuous and steep uphill trek to San Miguel, one of the three neighborhoods in my community, La Cuesta. It was our seventh and last week in community, and my partners and I embraced the bittersweet fact that this was the last time we would hike to San Miguel for breakfast in the intense

Nicaraguan sun. We got to the top of the mountain and weaved through a forest-like area with rocky terrain that opened up to the central part of San Miguel. Per usual, we were greeted by smiling kids in their sleepwear as we made our way to Sabina’s house. Sabina was the woman that we that we knew the best in San Miguel, since she created our meal plan and we always stopped in at her house before going off to breakfast. After we had a delicious and hardy breakfast of rice, beans and tortillas at another house in San Miguel, we returned to Sabina’s house. She pulled out three plastic chairs for us and sighed as she reminded us that we would be leaving very soon. She was peeling the skin off of recently picked bean pods. When we dragged our chairs over to help her, she went on asking if we liked Nicaragua and if we were excited to go home. Then she held Eliza’s face and asked her if she was going to come back and visit. “¿Usted va a hacer una vuelta?” she questioned, making a quick, circular motion with her hands. Eliza confidently replied in her broken Spanish that it is very expensive to travel and she did not know if she would be able to while paying for college. “¿Y Samuel?” she said, putting extra emphasis on the last syllable and directing the same question at him. He reiterated that it was expensive, but he already planned on returning in February of 2014 for his host brother’s wedding.

“Y…ahh no puedo recordar tu nombre” she said, admitting that after seeing her almost every day for seven weeks, she didn’t know my name. While the conversation continued,

I sat in my chair and peeled the skin from the bean pods, not expecting Sabina to direct any further questions or attention my way. My expectations were met. She got up to retrieve a pen and paper and handed the pad to Eliza to write down her contact information. As Eliza jotted down her name and number, Sabina opened up about her hopes to be a host mom to AMIGOS volunteers. “Quiero ser la madre para chelas liiiindas como usted.” I want to be the mother to blonde or fair skinned beauties like you.2 Although this was not the first time I experienced the racial favoritism of members in my community, it was just as frustrating. I remember experiencing for the first time on the first day while I sat on the edge of the cot in my host family’s home thinking that it was going to be a long seven weeks. I tickled Luis Fernando, my three-month-old host brother’s belly and put on the façade that everything was okay. In reality, my mind was racing, and I was anxiously trying to figure out what I had done to make the two teenagers I had just met not like me. They hovered around my girl partner, Eliza, and inquired into every detail of her life while playing with her hair and pausing to pinch her cheeks and squeal, “¡Que lindaaa! Usted es BONITA, yo soy fea. ¡Mire¡ Mi piel es negro, ¡Que fea! Y su piel blanco y su pelo, ¡Que LINDA!” How cute. You are so pretty!

Look at me; I’m ugly. My skin is dark; look at how ugly it is! Your white skin and hair, you’re so pretty!3

It did not take me long to realize that what I was experiencing was not a contemporary issue, but rather a deep-rooted historical and cultural matter that was

2 Conversation/Interview with Sabina R., Sam Wicoff, Eliza Omohundro and Aminah Luqman 3 Conversation/Interview with Tanya, Joselin, Eliza Omohundro and Aminah Luqman greater than myself and than my 1700 person community in a rural part of Boaco,

Nicaragua. For some reason, the men and women in my community saw the skin color and other physical characteristics they and I were born with to be ugly and the ones my partners, Eliza and Sam, were born with to be beautiful. Similarly, my community members ranked my partners as superior based on looks alone. At first I hypothesized that the media was to blame. I was aware of the global phenomenon of the media and advertising putting forth the idea that there is a strong correlation between having a fairer complexion and being successful, beautiful, healthy, and well liked. Although my community was not surrounded by technology like we are in the , I saw examples of how the media shaped their attitudes about beauty, race and self worth.

Some of the wealthier families in the community, whose husbands usually worked for the government, had televisions in their homes, and whenever I was invited to watch ridiculously dramatic and entertaining telenovelas with them, I could not help but notice the staggering difference in skin color, hair color and texture, eye color and body type between the stars in the telenovela and the Nicaraguan men, women and children sitting right next to me. The findings of a case study on the portrayal of both race and gender in telenovelas also revealed the under representation of ethnic looking people in telenovelas.

From 466 speaking characters and 481 two-minute intervals on 19 telenovelas that aired in in the summer of 2002, a mere “32 were coded as olive tone and only 6 were coded as dark skinned” Similarly, according to data collected by the researchers in this case study, the countries producing these telenovelas that run 24 hours a day in

Nicaragua are featuring a cast that is at least 84% light skinned when the actual population of light skinned people in that country very small. For example, Pasión de Gavilanes, a telenovela I watched almost every night at 7pm with my neighbors was produced in and features a cast that is 100% light skinned, while a mere 20% of the Colombian population is White.4

5

Similarly, every time I was welcomed into a family’s home in my community, I generally observed that their mud or brick wall displayed a few framed photos of family and a relative’s quinciniera, President ’s poster with the words “Cristiana,

Socialista, Solidaria” or Christian, Socialist and Unified, in bold letters, a couple of photo-shopped photos of family members inside a mansion or in front of a waterfall, and

4 Rivadeneyra, Rocío. "Gender and Race Portrayals on Spanish-Language Television." Sex Roles 65, no. 3-4 (2011): 208-222. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-0010-9. http://search.proquest.com/docview/874308147?accountid=39972 5 http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/23300000/Pasion-de-Gavilanes-minhas- telenovelas-23333674-1024-768.jpg a picture of a blonde, white or Anglo-looking model cut out from a magazine. So while I believe the media definitely plays a role, I think the only role it plays is perpetrating and emphasizing a racist attitude that was established hundreds of years before I set foot in La

Cuesta, the beautiful community I lived in for seven weeks in Boaco, Nicaragua during the summer of 2012.

This experience led me to investigate the , and more specifically, the experience of Afro- and indigenous people. Although

Africans were first brought to Nicaragua as slaves, the first form of slavery in Nicaragua was the Indian Slave Trade, or the slavery of indigenous peoples by early Spanish colonizers. However, due to foreign diseases, mistreatment, and the trade of indigenous peoples to other countries, the number of indigenous people dwindled. In one region, the population of Nicarao and Chorotega peoples dropped from over 1,000,000 to less than

50,000. Thus, the Spanish brought African Slaves to Nicaragua in the early 1500s to make up for the number of indigenous people that died.6 Even though slavery was not abolished in Nicaragua until 1838, it never became a huge part of society like it did in the

United States and other countries in .7 Jorge Eduardo Arellano, a

Nicaraguan man who wrote about the slavery of Africans in Nicaragua, hypothesized that slavery was not as deeply institutionalized because “African slaves were imported in a gradual manner and there were no massive importations during a relatively concentrated period of time (in contrast to Haiti and , in which sugar plantation agriculture

6 McGarrity, Gail. "Contrasting Experiences of Blackness in Lowland Central America: The Case of Nicaragua." Caribbean Quarterly 46, no. 2 (2000): 45-66,93. http://search.proquest.com/docview/854857603?accountid=39972. 7 Yvan Bertin, "Historical Evolution: Abolitions of Slavery," Caribbean Atlas, http://atlas-caraibe.certic.unicaen.fr/en/. required more accelerated and intensive patterns of importation)”2 While I do not doubt that slavery in Nicaragua suggested a racial hierarchy early on, I believe the idea of western superiority that I experienced last summer in La Cuesta stems from a greater influence of the dual colonization of Nicaragua by the British and Spanish empire that took place hundreds of years after slavery was first introduced in Nicaragua. This dual colonization factionalized Nicaragua and left a nation, which seemed to encompass two foreign countries, the Pacific Coast, which mirrored Spanish society, and the Atlantic

Coast, which was heavily influenced by the British Empire.

The Spanish empire is infamous for its oppressive and forceful method of control.

One of the more obvious examples of their forceful method of colonization is the marrying and raping of native women to “consolidate their colonial rule” In the pacific coast of Nicaragua––where I lived––they implemented a ‘sistema de castas’ or caste system, where the Spanish occupied the elite class and the following social classes depended on ones percentage of Spanish blood. Those with a stronger Spanish ancestry or phenotype were granted “access to elite jobs, schools, occupations and various economic opportunities” while the indigenous and darker population were discriminated against, oppressed and contained to the lower rungs of Nicaraguan society.8 Although

Nicaragua claimed its independence from in the early 19th century, “the Nicaraguan

State…promoted the continuity of the Spanish colonization, a project of colonizer- civilizer…maintaining the hierarchical policies and ways of thinking of the colonial

8 María Elena Martínez, "Social Order in the Spanish New World," When World's Collide, The Untold Stories of the Americas after Columbus, http://www.pbs.org/kcet/when-worlds-collide/essays/social-order-in-the-spanish-new- world.html. period.”9 Thus, though the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua is free from Spanish imperialism, the rigid hierarchy from Spanish rule based on phenotype still stands, “privileging white traits over indigenous ones” In fact, during the post-independence era, many indigenous people would seize the opportunity to pass as in order to reap the benefits and escape discrimination and oppression.5 Spanish colonialism certainly influenced race perceptions on the Pacific Coast today. I think the mentality I observed in my community favoring western phenotypes and lighter skin has close and strong ties to the idea deeply emphasized during Spanish imperialism that social status and self worth was dependent on race.

I remember one of the first and only times I talked with a community member about race and the ethnic groups in Nicaragua was in the end of June, when I had a conversation in Carolina, my host mom’s, dad inside her house. He had just returned from milking the cow with his youngest son Noé, and stopped by to say hello, get a cup of water and play with his grandson, Luis Fernando. Sam, Eliza and I sat on the cot and

Carolina’s dad stood across from us, wiping his sweat and sporadically taking swigs from the maroon plastic cup to cool down. He asked us what percent of lived in the United States. When we thought about it and responded that we thought about 20% of the US population was black. He looked a little surprised and mentioned that there was a place in Nicaragua where 95% of the population was black. I was intrigued and confused by this fact he chose to brush over, but I didn’t inquire into it too much, for it seemed that

9 Kain, Myrna C., Ariel Jacobson, Sofia Manzanares, Eileen Mairena, Eilen Gómez, and Jefferson S. Bush. “Racism and Ethnic Discrimination in Nicaragua.” Unpublished manuscript, November 2006. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/capdi72.pdf.

it was just something he knew but had never personally seen. He went on to tell us that

Nicaragua is made up of , morenos y blancos, or people of Spanish-indigenous descent, blacks or people of African descent and Whites. He stated that the people of La

Cuesta were mestizos but he considered himself to be moreno.

10

His eyes widened, as if he forgot an important point, and he said that the morenos of the region he was talking about earlier all spoke English and Spanish and had hair like mine11.

This seemingly mysterious land in Nicaragua where there was a strong Afro- descendent community intrigued me; however, it was not until I returned home and started to investigate the experience of Afro-Nicaraguan people that I realized the place he was talking about was , Nicaragua, or perhaps the entire Atlantic Coast of

10 My personal photo 11 Conversation/Interview with Mr. Gomez, Sam Wicoff, Eliza Omohundro and Aminah Luqman Nicaragua. In contrast to life on the Pacific Coast during the colonial era, the Atlantic

Coast was colonized by the British Empire, which employed less intrusive and oppressive colonizing tactics. The English’s main interest in Nicaragua was economic and unlike the

Spanish, they did not seem as interested in controlling the political and cultural sphere of the Atlantic Coast. In fact, the English even appointed one of the many tribal leaders of the Miskitu, the indigenous people of the Atlantic Coast, as the “King of Mosquitia” and his reign “extended along 410 miles of coastline”12 The English and the costeñas, or people of the Atlantic Coast, had a good relationship: They formed an alliance through their shared enemy, the Spanish, and “established a relationship of commercial exchange and indirect occupation,” leaving the costeñas with a sense of autonomy.13

After 1860, however, the sense of autonomy that many people on the Atlantic

Coast enjoyed was constantly threatened by what appeared to them to be intervention by mestizos from the Pacific Coast. In the Treaty of , signed by Great Britain and

Nicaragua in 1860, Great Britain relinquished its over the Atlantic Coast and the region was reintegrated into Nicaragua, a nation to which it felt little to no ties. This treaty respected the Coast’s autonomy just as long as it did not “contravene with the sovereign rights of the of Nicaragua.”14 In theory, this treaty respected the costeño’s values, customs and rights; however, their autonomy was constantly

12 Philippe Bourgois. “Class, Ethnicity, and the State among the Miskitu Amerindians of Northeastern Nicaragua.” Latin American Perspectives , Vol. 8, No. 2, Revolutionary Nicaragua (Spring, 1981), pp. 22-39 13 Kain, Myrna C., Ariel Jacobson, Sofia Manzanares, Eileen Mairena, Eilen Gómez, and Jefferson S. Bush. “Racism and Ethnic Discrimination in Nicaragua.” Unpublished manuscript, November 2006. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/capdi72.pdf.

14 "Nicaraguan Population of Mikito Origin," Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, http://www.cidh.oas.org/countryrep/Miskitoeng/part1.htm. jeopardized and put in question. A few decades after the Treaty of Managua of 1960 was established, in 1894, José Santos Zelaya, the president at the time, issued a military occupation and complete “mestizoization” of the Atlantic Coast: Afro-Nicaraguans “were replaced by mestizos in local economic enterprises and within the local government administration” Spanish also replaced English as the language to be taught in schools.15

Many costeñas responded to the oppressing establishment of “mestizoization” through violence. The most notable rebellion was that of the ‘Twenty five Brave,’ a group of

Creoles who “attacked and took over the military barracks” in efforts to reclaim their independence.16 Unfortunately, their efforts were defeated and not too long after, in 1905, the Altamirano Harrison Treaty annulled the Treaty of Managua. The Altamirano

Harrison Treaty essentially stripped many costeñas of the land they previously owned and enjoyed by stating that if the land they possessed for decades was not legally theirs according to national law, they would have to give their land to the government for eight squares of property in return:

Article C: “The shall grant them a period of two years to legalize their rights to the property they have acquired in conformity with the provisions that governed the reserve prior to 1894…For that purpose, titles that were owned by the Indians and Creoles prior to 1894 shall be renewed in conformity with the law; and where such title do not exist, the Government shall give each family eight

15 Baracco, Luciano. "Race and Revolution in Bluefields: A History of Nicaragua's Black Sandinista Movement." Wadabagei : A Journal of the Caribbean and its Diaspora 10, no. 1 (2007): 4-23. http://search.proquest.com/docview/200323817?accountid=39972. 16 Ted Gordon, "UNIA in Nicaragua," Global Mappings: UNIA in Nicaragua, http://diaspora.northwestern.edu/mbin/WebObjects/DiasporaX.woa/wa/displayArticle?at omid=701. squares of property in their place of residence”17 It allowed the Nicaraguan state to seize the many private and locally owned industries of the Atlantic Coast and turn them into national industries, transferring many of the Atlantic Coast’s natural resources and jobs into the hands of the mestizos on the Pacific Coast.

I had not heard anything about the exploitation of the Nicaraguan people living on the Atlantic Coast while I was living in Nicaragua. The only history I knew while I was there was the snippets of narratives I was told about the revolution during the celebration on July 19th. To celebrate the national holiday with my community, my partners and I thought it would be cool to make a short documentary about the revolution with our flip cameras. We recorded as people hooted in celebration and waved their FSLN flags in support of the current government that overthrew the disliked Somoza regime in 1979.

We also made sure to capture community members piling onto the bus as it roared to life on its slow and bumpy three-hour journey to Managua, the capital, where the festivities were being held.

17 "Nicaraguan Population of Mikito Origin," Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, http://www.cidh.oas.org/countryrep/Miskitoeng/part1.htm. 18

We conducted actual interviews with community members about the history of the revolution and what it meant to them. Most people didn’t really know the history and just took part in the activities because it was fun; however, we did meet a few people, like

Guadalupe and Isodoro, who knew much more about it. Isodoro had a very romantic view of the revolution. He recounted, lo que me encanta sobre la revolución es que fue un movimiento de los jovenes…Los jovenes de los campesinos y los jovenes de la ciudad se unieron y lucharon por la libertad y egalidad “What I loved about the revolution was that it was a movement started by the young people of Nicaragua…The youth living in rural communities united with the youth living in the city (Managua) to fight for liberty and

18 Photo by Jina An equality” He also talked about the United States’ involvement in the revolution and how the United States funded the , or guerilla force that opposed the revolution and

FSLN (Sandinistas).19

While I do not doubt that the revolution was as powerful and unifying as Isodoro and some of the other community members made it out to be, I have a hard time ignoring the fact that what he and others saw as the unification of Nicaragua was just another infringement on the autonomy and rights of indigenous and Afro-descendent peoples of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua: In efforts to unify all of Nicaragua under the agenda of the FSLN, many mestizos, or people of Spanish and indigenous descent, of the Pacific

Coast occupied the Atlantic Coast and replaced creoles and costeñas (Atlantic Coast inhabitants) in powerful positions, such as local governmental jobs. In other words the revolution adopted the same policy of “mestizoization” to which the indigenous and Afro-

Nicaraguan peoples were all too familiar.20 It perpetrated a pattern of racial superiority that is deep-rooted in Nicaraguan history and etched into the consciousness of indigenous and Afro-Nicaraguan peoples. This pattern is “the unwitting re ignition of long-standing grievances…about discrimination and the loss of autonomy at the hands of mestizos”16

My initial hypothesis about race perception in Nicaragua in relation to the media only scrapes the surface, for what I observed in Nicaragua and my community was simply a small expression of a greater issue: The exploitation of underrepresented and powerless

19 Conversation/Interview with Isodoro, Sam Wicoff, Eliza Omohundro and Aminah Luqman 20 Baracco, Luciano. "Race and Revolution in Bluefields: A History of Nicaragua's Black Sandinista Movement." Wadabagei : A Journal of the Caribbean and its Diaspora 10, no. 1 (2007): 4-23. http://search.proquest.com/docview/200323817?accountid=39972. I got a lot of information and ideas about Costeñas’ experience with revolution from this source. indigenous and Afro-descendent Nicaraguan people in the name of national unification. It is no secret that Nicaragua is a multiethnic nation, and until it embraces its diversity, the complex race relations in the country will persist. Though Nicaragua progressed by recognizing the rights of the people of the Atlantic Coast in the Constitution for the first time in 1987,21 it will need to take greater steps in the future to actually address the racial issues that everyday people experience on both coasts of Nicaragua. I can only hope that these steps will be taken by the time I return to Nicaragua to visit the people who have become my second family, for nothing would make me happier than to be hugged and kissed by community members who see themselves to be just as beautiful and important as I do.

21 Georgetown University. “Nicaragua: Constitución de 1987” [Nicaragua: Constitution of 1987]. CLAS Research Center/Georgetown University. Accessed April 3, 2013. http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Nica/nica87.html#tituloIII.