Albertina García Argueta – Honduras, Native Lencas

Linked with A re-compilation of texts and blogs for indigenous peoples, with Articles for Indigenous Peoples on our blogs, with UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and with The Latin American Revolt, An Introduction.

She is one of the 1000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Price 2005.

This girl from Honduras made great efforts to study. She was the daughter of poor peasants, born in 1962 in a small village that only had a primary school. Despite this, she managed to achieve her degree and took some university level courses. Her achievements were exceptional, but her economic limitations stopped her studies. Albertina García Argueta returned to her home and found that she had been dispossessed. So she created a training center, started a support network for battered women, managed assistance to micro enterprises and promoted the Lenca culture … (1000peacewomen 1/2).

She says: Peace is like the glory of God.

Lencas: Lenca is the name given to a Mesoamerican ethnic group linked to the Maya culture. They have ruled several areas of what is now Honduras and El Salvador. During the Spanish invasion, the Lencas of the eastern region of El Salvador organized a war of resistance that lasted about ten years, ending with the death of Lempira. The Lencas did not abdicate and their lineage can be traced back to ancient times through the oral tradition. The Lenca dinasty of El Salvador is active and has several cultural programs with cultural entities, universities and community councils to preserve and promote their heritage. Their Crown Prince resides in exile. This article will mostly concern itself with the Maya civilization after the conquest by Spain. (on Nation Mater.com /Encyclopedia).

Sorry, no downloadable photo found of Albertina García Argueta, Honduras

She works for the National Organization of Native Lencas of Honduras.

Lenca language: The Lenca language is an unclassified indigenous language of Mesoamerica, spoken (or formerly spoken) by the indigenous Lenca peoples in a region encompassed by western Honduras and portions of El Salvador, Central America. It has been regarded as an endangered language, and is quite possibly extinct. (on Nation Mater.com /Encyclopedia).

(1000peacewomen 2/2): … Her parents, Lencas indigenous of Honduras, lived in a small, humble village. There was no secondary school, and she longed to study. She convinced her parents, as young as she was, to let her go to school in the nearby city of Marcala, in the department of La Paz. She was a leader of the youth ministry and a first aid volunteer. She graduated with distinction; however, thereafter she had to work to survive.

She went to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, and registered in the Pedagogical University. Neither her intelligence, nor her good grades, nor her leadership allowed her to finish her studies. She needed money to finish, and money was something she did not have.

Albertina García Argueta returned to Marcala without having fulfilled her aspirations, but she returned with another view of the world. The strange routes of destiny have brought her to realize that her personal accomplishments should be for the benefit of her people.

Today, at age 43, she feels proud. She has succeeded in organizing an indigenous association that has become the engine of the community, promoting the pride of the indigenous group and affirming its culture. She has succeeded in securing economic benefits for indigenous organizations from inside the country and abroad. She has created a support network for battered women. She has initiated improvements in health and nutrition, and she continues working.

During the twentieth century, the Lenca communities in the mountains were forgotten, left behind. The progress of Honduras was centered on the “banana coast”, which generated wealth for North American companies. A powerful local oligarchy was not formed like it was in neighboring countries. (on 1000peacewomen).

Beside being named as nobel peace nominee, there are no other items in the internet about our peacewomen, Albertina Garcia Argueta. But there existe writings about her tribe, the Native Lencas:

The Google download books:

Honduras & the Bay Islands page 48, by Gary Chandler, Liza Prado, 2007, 352 pages, naming the National Organization of Native Lencas;
Indigenous Intellectual Property Rights, By Mary Riley, 2004, 393 pages.

… We will be traveling to La Esperanza, which is Spanish for “Hope”. Located in the Itubeca province of Honduras, it is a region well-populated by Lenca Indians. Some 50,000 Lencas live in Honduras, forming the largest indigenous group in the country. They coexisted with the Maya, and today remain in a truly traditional and undaunted culture. High spirited, independent, and frequently autonomously operating under their own “rule” (not the Honduran governments), traveling among the Lenca communities is a cultural privilege bestowed upon those few “gringos” still willing to get off the beaten path and into some of the most gorgeous territory in all of Central America. Although all but a few words and place names of the Lenca language have been lost, many other Lenca traditions continue to be used and passed on. Among these traditions are the construction of humble rural houses, techniques for sowing and harvesting traditional crops, cooking traditional foods, and a wide variety of artistry including the firing of rustic ceramics and the weaving of colorful baskets, hats and mats. – Catholic Influences: … (full long text of 4 pdf pages).

Chapter 15 – The Original Maya, Quiché, and Lenca Tribes: The next paragraph in the Popol Vuh has great historical interest because it gives the names of the peoples which, besides the three Quiché lines of descent, proceed from the same cultural trunk and probably occupied the same country, beginning with the Fourth Creation. The Quiché text says: « None of the three lines of descent forgot the names of their grandfathers and fathers who begat them there where the sun rises. Likewise there come those of Tamup and Ilocap with their thirteen generations, according to the tradition; the thirteen of Tecpán; the Rabinals; the Cakchiquels; those of Tziquinajá and those of Zacajip; there follow those of Lamakip, the Cumatz, those of Tujaljá and of Uchabajá; those of Chumialá with those of Aj-Quibajá; of Batenajá; the people of Acul, of Malamijá, of Canchajelep, and of Balam-Colop. This is, then, the origin of the great tribes, as we call them; we will speak only of the principal ones. Many others came out from each group of the people, but we will not write about them, except only about the place where they were begotten, where the sun rises » … (full long text, Esotericism of the Popol Vuh by Raphael Girard, Theosophical University Press Online Edition).

links:

Spanish Language Institute Of Intibuca SLI: Live with the Lenca Indians, Learn Ecotourism Skills and Teach English;

Building Partnerships with Indigenous People;

Three Nations Indian Circle, Dedicated to helping native peoples of the Americas – projects;

Indigenous Women’s Pushback;

Texts about Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights;

Promoting the Rights, Voices and Visions of Indigenous Peoples;

Peacemessage from Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Sioux Nation;

The KARI-OCA DECLARATION;

Mohawks pass into another millennium;

human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples – two;

human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples – one;

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND BOARDING SCHOOLS;