National Indigenous Organization of Colombia

The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia, commonly known by its Spanish name Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia and the acronym ONIC, is a national organization representing Indigenous peoples and communities across Colombia. It is an advocacy, coordination, and political-representation body rather than a commercial consumer brand. Its work centers on Indigenous autonomy, collective territories, cultural continuity, education, health, environmental protection, and the implementation of legal protections for Indigenous communities. ONIC emerged from several decades of Indigenous organizing. During the twentieth century, Indigenous communities were frequently incorporated into wider peasant, labor, left-wing, or state-led structures, even though their political claims and territorial traditions were distinct. In the 1970s, regional Indigenous organizations began to develop a specifically Indigenous agenda. The Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca, known as CRIC, was founded in 1971 and became an important organizational model and organizing center. Similar regional councils and organizations developed in areas including Vaupés, Vichada, the Arhuaco territories, Chocó, and Tolima. A national meeting at Lomas de Hilarco in Tolima in 1980 brought together Indigenous organizations to oppose proposed changes to national Indigenous policy, demand recognition of Indigenous rights, expand and legalize Indigenous reserves, and challenge colonization within Indigenous territories. The meeting led to an interim national coordinating structure and preparations for a national assembly. At the 1982 National Indigenous Congress in Bosa, near Bogotá, more than 1,500 participants helped establish ONIC as a national organization. Its early objectives included securing implementation of Law 89 of 1890 and extending its benefits to Indigenous communities through the creation and legal recognition of Indigenous reserves. During the administration of Belisario Betancur, collaboration with a government described in the historical record as sympathetic to these demands contributed to the titling of numerous Indigenous reserves. The resulting territorial recognition also supported the growth of new Indigenous organizations and expanded ONIC's national base. ONIC's program of struggle combines rights advocacy with community development and cultural preservation. It calls for Indigenous control and autonomy in decision-making, defense and recovery of collective territories, greater control over natural resources located in Indigenous lands, and support for community economic organizations. It also promotes the preservation of Indigenous histories, languages, cultures, and traditions; bilingual and bicultural education under Indigenous authority; and traditional medicine alongside health services adapted to the social and cultural circumstances of Indigenous communities. The organization has also focused on the effects of Colombia's internal armed conflict, insufficient or non-differential public policy, and development projects that it considers harmful to Indigenous territories. In 2010, ONIC launched an international campaign during a European tour by two Colombian Indigenous leaders. The campaign sought to draw attention to what ONIC characterized as widespread violations of Indigenous rights and to protect at least eighteen Indigenous peoples described as facing an imminent risk of extinction. According to Colombia's 2018 census, approximately 1,905,617 people, or about 3.7 percent of the country's population, identified as Indigenous. ONIC's role is to coordinate representation and advocacy for this diverse population while supporting regional and community authorities. Its principal constituency and operating environment are within Colombia, although its rights campaigns and relationships can have an international dimension.

The historical foundations of ONIC lie in the long development of Indigenous political institutions and collective territorial practices in Colombia. Spanish colonization formalized local structures under the name of cabildos, incorporating both pre-conquest traditions and colonial administrative features. These institutions remained important in many Indigenous communities. In the Andean highlands, however, many Indigenous people were also treated socially and politically as part of the rural peasantry. During the first half of the twentieth century, state institutions and left-wing organizations commonly sought to organize Indigenous people through broader peasant-sector structures, including the National Association of Peasant Users, or ANUC. By the 1970s, Indigenous communities and leaders increasingly created regional organizations with an explicitly Indigenous identity and agenda. The Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca, or CRIC, was established at an assembly in Toribío in 1971. CRIC's organizational experience helped shape broader Indigenous mobilization during the decade. Regional Indigenous councils and comparable organizations subsequently appeared in several parts of the country, including Vaupés, Vichada, the Arhuaco territories, Chocó, Tolima, and Cauca. The first national encounter of Indigenous organizations took place at Lomas de Hilarco in Tolima in 1980. Participants rejected proposed changes to national Indigenous policy and demanded respect for Indigenous rights, expansion and legal recognition of Indigenous territories, and an end to colonization within Indigenous reserves. The encounter created an interim national coordinating body and laid the groundwork for a national assembly. That assembly was held in Bosa, near Bogotá, in 1982, during the first National Indigenous Congress. More than 1,500 people participated, and the meeting established the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia, known in Spanish as Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia or ONIC. Its initial priorities included enforcing the principles of Law 89 of 1890 and ensuring that Indigenous communities throughout Colombia could benefit from the law through the creation and legalization of Indigenous reserves. The organization expanded during the 1980s as Indigenous reserves were titled and new regional organizations were formed. Historical accounts describe cooperation with the administration of President Belisario Betancur as contributing to the recognition of numerous reserves. This process increased the territorial and organizational basis for national Indigenous representation, although Indigenous communities continued to face conflict, colonization, state-policy shortcomings, and pressure from economic development projects. ONIC's later program developed around a broad set of political, territorial, social, and cultural demands. These include defense of Indigenous autonomy; recovery of territories and collective property; authority over natural resources in Indigenous lands; support for community economic initiatives; protection of Indigenous history, culture, and traditions; and bilingual and bicultural education directed by Indigenous authorities. The program also supports the recovery of traditional medicine, health programs adapted to community conditions, application of Law 89 of 1890 and other favorable legal measures, solidarity with other social struggles, and implementation of resolutions adopted at ONIC congresses. The armed conflict became a central concern. ONIC has linked violence and displacement with the vulnerability of Indigenous communities, while also criticizing the absence of sufficiently differentiated public policies and development models that it regards as destructive to Indigenous territories. In 2010, it organized an international campaign during a European tour by two Indigenous Colombian leaders. The campaign aimed to expose these conditions and seek protection for at least eighteen Indigenous peoples that ONIC characterized as being at imminent risk of extinction. ONIC represents a diverse national constituency rather than a single ethnic group or community. Colombia's 2018 census recorded approximately 1,905,617 Indigenous people, equivalent to about 3.7 percent of the population. Its continuing importance derives from its role as a coordinating and representative platform linking regional and local Indigenous authorities with national and international advocacy networks.

• 2010

  International campaign for threatened Indigenous peoples

  [1]National Indigenous Organization of Colombiaen.wikipedia.org

  ONIC launched an international campaign focused on alleged rights violations and the protection of at least eighteen Indigenous peoples facing an imminent risk of extinction.

• 1982

  ONIC established at the first National Indigenous Congress

  [1]National Indigenous Organization of Colombiaen.wikipedia.org

  More than 1,500 participants gathered in Bosa near Bogotá, establishing the national organization and setting priorities around Law 89 of 1890 and Indigenous reserve recognition.

• 1980

  First national encounter of Indigenous organizations

  [1]National Indigenous Organization of Colombiaen.wikipedia.org

  Organizations meeting at Lomas de Hilarco, Tolima, opposed changes to national Indigenous policy and called for territorial recognition, rights protection, and an end to colonization within Indigenous reserves.

• 1971

  Formation of the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca

  [1]National Indigenous Organization of Colombiaen.wikipedia.org

  CRIC was formed at an assembly in Toribío and became a major center for Indigenous organizing that later contributed to national coordination.

A national Indigenous rights and representative organization focused on collective autonomy, territorial defense, cultural survival, and the implementation of legal and public-policy protections for Colombia's Indigenous peoples.

• 2010International campaign on Indigenous rights and threatened peoples

  Europe · Colombia

  During a European tour by two Colombian Indigenous leaders, ONIC sought to internationalize concerns about violations associated with the armed conflict, insufficient state policies, and development pressures in Indigenous territories. The campaign highlighted at least eighteen Indigenous peoples described as facing an imminent risk of extinction.

  Source

1. 1National Indigenous Organization of Colombiaen.wikipedia.org
2. 2ONIC official websiteonic.org.co