A quest for the Indian communal spirit: Gregorio Hernandez de Alba and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Southwestern Colombia

FAIN: FT-51769-03

Brett Troyan
SUNY Research Foundation, College at Cortland (Cortland, NY 13045-0900)

The indigenous movement in Colombia obtained 25 percent of the national territory, judicial autonomy, and funds for the local councils of reservations/resguardos in the Constitution of 1991. This was a remarkable political feat considering that Colombia’s indigenous peoples represent only 1.7 percent of a total population of forty million. In this summer project I focus specifically on the director and founder of the Division of Indigenous Affairs, Gregorio Hernández de Alba (1904-1976) who played a crucial role in constructing an alliance between indigenous groups and the Colombian state.