Defining the salvadorian “indígena"

Abstract

Summary: 

This paper addresses the question:  What identifies the Salvadorian “indígenas” as such? To answer the question the author proposes eight criteria. The proposal arises from the need of a referential framework that helps define the “indígenas” in El Salvador. This need comes from the fact that the indigenous people have lost almost totally the tangible manifestations of their culture, such as language, clothes, religion and customs, making it almost impossible to distinguish externally an “indígena" from a peasant or an average Salvadorian. The discussion in the paper involves universal definitions of ethnic groups, national proposals that try to define the pipil indigenous group, and the observations of the author during his field work oriented to identify the cultural patterns shared by the community and socio-economic characteristics of this group that make it different from others.