("customs and traditions"; literally, "uses and customs") is indigenous customary law in Latin America. Since the era of Spanish colonialism, authorities have recognized local forms of rulership, self governance, and juridical practice, with varying degrees of acceptance and formality. The term is often used in English without translation.
political mechanisms are used by numerous indigenous peoples in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
,
Guatemala,
Bolivia, and other countries to govern water rights, in criminal and civil conflicts, to elect their representatives to regional and national bodies.
Under Spanish colonial rule
Spanish colonial authorities in the Americas were ordered to investigate the traditions and customs of indigenous communities, and to apply these traditions to disputes among Indian subjects. Scholar José Rabasa traces the term to the
New Laws of 1542
The New Laws (Spanish: ''Leyes Nuevas''), also known as the New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians (Spanish: ''Leyes y ordenanzas nuevamente hechas por su Majestad para la gobernación de las Indias y buen t ...
, which ordered traditional procedures be used in dealings with Indians rather than "ordinary" Spanish legal proceedings. The division of legal authority is associated with notion of a Republic of Indians ( es, República de Indios) subject to distinct legal norms under Spanish colonial rule.
According to Rabasa, this division "at once protects Indian communities from Spaniards, criollos, and mestizos, and alienates Indians in a separate republic, in a structure not unlike apartheid."
North America
Mexico
In
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, practices are widely used by indigenous communities and are officially recognized in the states of
Oaxaca
Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...
(for 417 of 570 municipalities),
Sonora, and
Chiapas.
Central America
Guatemala
In
Guatemala,
Maya
Maya may refer to:
Civilizations
* Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America
** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples
** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples
* Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...
communities have used a variety of community-oriented or informal mechanisms for
conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abo ...
. That is commonly referred to as Maya justice, or .
South America
Bolivia
In
Bolivia, indigenous norms for self-governance, justice, and administration of territory are extensively recognized by the
2009 Constitution, which defines the country as plurinational. This recognition builds on earlier incorporation of indigenous customary law into the Bolivian legal system. In eight of the country's nine
departments, minority indigenous peoples (and in
La Paz,
Afro-Bolivians
Afro-Bolivians are Bolivian people of Sub-Saharan African heritage and therefore the descriptive "Afro-Bolivian" may refer to historical or cultural elements in Bolivia thought to emanate from their community. It can also refer to the combining of ...
) elect representatives to the Departmental Assembly through customary procedures.
Native Community Lands Native Community Lands ( es, Tierra Comunitaria de Origen, acronym: TCO; also translated as Communal Lands of Origin), according to Bolivian law, are territories held by indigenous people through collective title. The creation of these territories ...
( es, Tierras Comunitarias de Origen; TCOs), as recognized by the 1994 Constitutional reform, are indigenous territories whose governance is determined by . TCOs are being included under the Indigenous-Origin Campesino Autonomy regime. The eleven
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
also under this regime may choose to use for their internal governance.
["Las autonomías indígenas avanzan a paso lento per seguro, entre consensos e interrogantes" ''Diálogos en Democracia'', 21 March 2010 (supplement to ''Pulso Bolivia'').] Indigenous water rights, governed by , were recognized by amendments to Bolivia's Law 2029 following the 2000
Cochabamba Water War
The Cochabamba Water War was a series of protests that took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia's fourth largest city, between December 1999 and April 2000 in response to the privatization of the city's municipal water supply company SEMAPA. The wave ...
.
Colombia
In
Colombia, the 1991 Constitution recognizes locally elected , chosen by , as the governing authorities of indigenous reserves () and the validity of customary law in these territories.
See also
*
Custom (law)
References
{{Reflist
Indigenous politics in the Americas
Law of Spain