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The '''Miskitos''' are a [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] ethnic group in [[Central America]]. A substantial number of them are mixed race, especially those in the northern end of their territory, where an African-Indigenous mixture is predominant. Their territory extends from [[Cape Camarón]], [[Honduras]], to Rio Grande, [[Nicaragua]] along the [[Mosquito Coast]], in the [[Western Caribbean Zone]]. There is a native [[Miskito language]], but large groups speak [[Miskito Coastal Creole|Miskito creole English]], [[Espanol|Spanish]], and other languages. The creole English came about through frequent contact with the British. Many are Christians.<ref name="EA">{{cite book |author=Stonich, Susan C. |title=Endangered peoples of Latin America: struggles to survive and thrive |publisher=Greenwood Press |location= |year=2001 |pages=91–94 |isbn=0-313-30856-X |oclc= |doi=}}</ref> The name "Miskito" derives from the Miskito language ethnonym ''Mískitu'', and is not related to the Spanish word "[[mosquito]]," which derives from the word [[wikt:mosca|mosca]], meaning "[[fly]]", also used in Spanish for the insect.
The '''Miskitos''' are a [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] ethnic group in [[Central America]]. A substantial number of them are mixed race, especially those in the northern end of their territory, where an African-Indigenous mixture is predominant. Their territory extends from [[Cape Camarón]], [[Honduras]], to Rio Grande, [[Nicaragua]] along the [[Mosquito Coast]], in the [[Western Caribbean Zone]].
The indigenous people speak a native [[Miskito language]], but large groups also speak [[Miskito Coastal Creole|Miskito creole English]], [[Espanol|Spanish]], which is the language of education and government, and other languages. The creole English came about through frequent contact with the British. Many are Christians.<ref name="EA">{{cite book |author=Stonich, Susan C. |title=Endangered peoples of Latin America: struggles to survive and thrive |publisher=Greenwood Press |location= |year=2001 |pages=91–94 |isbn=0-313-30856-X |oclc= |doi=}}</ref>
The name "Miskito" derives from the Miskito-language [[ethnonym]] ''Mískitu'', their name for themselves. It is not related to the Spanish word ''[[mosquito]],'' which derives from the word [[wikt:mosca|mosca]], meaning "[[fly]]", also used in Spanish for the insect.


==History==
==History==
{{Main|Mosquito Coast}}
{{Main|Mosquito Coast}}
Before the arrival of Europeans in the region, the area was divided into a large number of small, egalitarian groups, possibly speaking languages related to [[Sumu (people)|Sumu]]. Lists of "nations" in [[Taguzgalpa]] and [[Tologalpa]] provinces, as the Spanish understood their geography, by well informed Spanish writers include as many as 30 names, though careful analysis of them by Karl Offen suggests about a half dozen entities, dialectically distinct groups lying in river basins.<ref>Karl Offen, "The Sambu and Tawira Miskitu: The Colonial Origins of Intra-Miskitu Differentiation in Eastern Nicaragua and Honduras," ''Ethnohistory'' 49/2 (2002) 328-33.</ref> The Spanish were unable to conquer this region during the sixteenth century and as a result much of the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua and northeastern Honduras was outside any Spanish authority. This situation allowed the region to become a haven for northern European, especially Dutch and English privateers during the early seventeenth century (for example [[Henry Morgan|Morgan]], [[Daniel Montbars|Montbars]] and [[William Dampier|Dampier]]).
Before the arrival of Europeans in the region, the area was divided into numerous small, egalitarian indigenous groups, possibly speaking languages related to [[Sumu (people)|Sumu]]. The Spanish listed 30 "nations" in [[Taguzgalpa]] and [[Tologalpa]] provinces, as the Spanish understood their geography. Careful analysis of them by Karl Offen suggests about a half dozen entities, dialectically distinct groups who are situated in the river basins.<ref>Karl Offen, "The Sambu and Tawira Miskitu: The Colonial Origins of Intra-Miskitu Differentiation in Eastern Nicaragua and Honduras," ''Ethnohistory'' 49/2 (2002) 328-33.</ref>


The Spanish were unable to conquer this region during the sixteenth century and as a result, much of the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua and northeastern Honduras was outside any Spanish authority. The region became a haven for northern Europeans, especially Dutch and English privateers during the early seventeenth century (for example [[Henry Morgan|Morgan]], [[Daniel Montbars|Montbars]] and [[William Dampier|Dampier]]).
⚫
Shipwrecked slave ships, notably one in the mid-seventeenth century also left a number of Africans on the coast.<ref>Benito Garret y Arlovi to King, 30 November 1711 in Manuel de Peralta, ed., ''Costa Rica y Costa de Mosquitos. Documentos para la historia de la jurisdicción territorial de Costa Rica y Colombia'' (Paris, 1898), pp. 57-58 In addition to accounts from the indigenous side given him by missionaries who worked around Segovia and Chontales, Garret y Arlovi also interviewed an ancient African (negro) named Juan Ramón. Garret y Arlovi dated the wreck to 1641.</ref> The shipwrecks, or perhaps escaped slaves from the [[Providence Island colony]], concentrated around [[Gracias a Dios Department|Cape Gracias a Dios]] and as they intermarried with the indigenous people producing a mixed race offspring, were known to the Spanish as [[Miskito Sambu|Mosquitos Zambos]], while the others living more on the southern (Nicaraguan) region were less mixed and have been dubbed [[Tawira Miskito]] by modern scholars. Rivalries between these two groups often led to wars, as indeed they were very divisive in the eighteenth century.<ref>Karl Offen, "The Sambu and Tawira Miskitu: The Colonial Origins of Intra-Miskitu Differentiation in Eastern Nicaragua and Honduras," ''Ethnohistory'' 49/2 (2002): 337-40.</ref>


⚫
Shipwrecked [[slave ships]], notably one in the mid-seventeenth century, left a number of Africans on the coast.<ref>Benito Garret y Arlovi to King, 30 November 1711 in Manuel de Peralta, ed., ''Costa Rica y Costa de Mosquitos. Documentos para la historia de la jurisdicción territorial de Costa Rica y Colombia'' (Paris, 1898), pp. 57-58 In addition to accounts from the indigenous people, given to him by missionaries who worked around Segovia and Chontales, Garret y Arlovi interviewed an ancient African (negro) named Juan Ramón. Garret y Arlovi dated the wreck to 1641.</ref>
⚫
===British Miskito Alliance===


The survivors of shipwrecks, and/or escaped slaves from the [[Providence Island colony]], settled around [[Gracias a Dios Department|Cape Gracias a Dios]]. They intermarried with the indigenous people, producing mixed-race offspring, who were known to the Spanish as [[Miskito Sambu|Mosquitos Zambos]]. Those Miskito living more in the southern (Nicaraguan) region were less mixed and have been dubbed ''[[Tawira Miskito]]'' by modern scholars. Rivalries between these two groups often led to wars, and were very divisive in the eighteenth century.<ref> Offen (2002), " Sambu and Tawira Miskitu", pp. 337-40.</ref>
⚫
English privateers working through the [[Providence Island Company]] made informal alliances with the Miskito, and the English began to crown Miskito kings, thus forming what came to be called the Mosquito Kingdom. A description of the kingdom written in 1699 shows that it was discontinuously spread out along the coast and probably did not include a number of settlements of English traders.<ref>M. W. "The Mosqueto Indian and His Golden River," in Anshaw Churchill, ''A Collection of Voyages and Travels'' (6 vols., London,1728) vol. 6 pp. 285-290.</ref> There was a [[monarch|king]] but he did not have total power. The 1699 description noted that the kings and governors had no power except in war time, even in matters of justice, and otherwise the people were all equal.<ref>M. W. "Mosketo Indian" p. 293.</ref> These superior officers included the king, a [[governor]], a [[general]], and by the 1750s, an [[admiral]].<ref>Michael Olien, "General, Governor and Admiral: Three Miskito Lines of Succession," ''Ethnohistory'' 45/2 (1998): 278-318.</ref> Historical information on kings is often obscured by the fact that many of the kings were semi-[[mythology|myth]]ical.


⚫
===British-Miskito Alliance===
⚫
In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Miskitos Zambos began a series of raids that attacked Spanish held territories and still independent indigenous groups in the area. Miskito raiders reached as far north as the [[Yucatan]], and as far south as [[Costa Rica]]. Many of the people they captured were sold as slaves to English merchants and carried to [[Jamaica]].<ref>Mary Helms, "Miskito Slaving and Culture Contact: Ethnicity and Opportunity in an Expanding Population," ''Journal of Anthropological Research'' 39/2 (1983): 179-97.</ref> in addition, from 1720, Miskito were commissioned by the English to capture Maroons in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica.<ref>Gérman Romero Vargas,''Las sociedades del Atlántico de Nicaragua en los siglos XVII y XVIII'' (Managua,1995) pp. 165-66</ref>
⚫
English privateers working through the [[Providence Island Company]] made informal alliances with the Miskito. The English began to crown Miskito kings (or [[chiefs]]), thus forming what came to be called the Mosquito Kingdom. A description of the kingdom written in 1699 shows that it was discontinuously spread out along the coast and probably did not include a number of settlements of English traders.<ref>M. W. "The Mosqueto Indian and His Golden River," in Anshaw Churchill, ''A Collection of Voyages and Travels'' (6 vols., London, 1728) vol. 6 pp. 285-290.</ref> The [[monarch|king]] did not have total power. The 1699 description noted that the kings and governors had no power except in war time, even in matters of justice, and otherwise the people were all equal.<ref>M. W. "Mosketo Indian" p. 293.</ref> These superior officers included the king, a [[governor]], a [[general]] and, by the 1750s, an [[admiral]].<ref>Michael Olien, "General, Governor and Admiral: Three Miskito Lines of Succession," ''Ethnohistory'' 45/2 (1998): 278-318.</ref> Historical information on kings is often obscure as many of the kings were semi-[[mythology|myth]]ical.


⚫
In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the Miskito Zambo began a series of raids attacking Spanish-held territories and the still independent indigenous groups in the area. Miskito raiders reached as far north as the [[Yucatan]], and as far south as [[Costa Rica]]. They sold many of their captives as slaves to English merchants and they were transported to [[Jamaica]] for work.<ref>Mary Helms, "Miskito Slaving and Culture Contact: Ethnicity and Opportunity in an Expanding Population," ''Journal of Anthropological Research'' 39/2 (1983): 179-97.</ref> In addition, from 1720, the English commissioned the Miskito to capture [[Maroons]] in the [[Blue Mountains]] of Jamaica.<ref>Gérman Romero Vargas, ''Las sociedades del Atlántico de Nicaragua en los siglos XVII y XVIII'' (Managua,1995) pp. 165-66</ref>
⚫
The Miskito king and the [[British Empire|British]] concluded a formal [[Treaty of Friendship and Alliance]] in 1740 and John Hodgson was appointed as Superintendent of the Shore.<ref>Troy Floyd, ''The Anglo-Spanish Struggle for Mosquitia'' (Albuquerque, NM, 1967), pp. 68-69. The treaty itself, for in National Archives (UK) CO 123/3, fols 185-188 is undated and could be 1739.</ref> A [[protectorate]] was established over the Miskito Nation, often called the [[Mosquito Coast]].


⚫
The Miskito king and the [[British Empire|British]] concluded a formal [[Treaty of Friendship and Alliance]] in 1740, and John Hodgson was appointed as Superintendent of the Shore.<ref>Troy Floyd, ''The Anglo-Spanish Struggle for Mosquitia'' (Albuquerque, NM, 1967), pp. 68-69. The treaty (held in National Archives (UK) CO 123/3, fols 185-188) is undated and could be 1739.</ref> A British [[protectorate]] was established over the Miskito Nation, often called the [[Mosquito Coast]].
⚫
The Miskito kingdom aided Britain during the [[American Revolutionary War]] by attacking Spanish colonies and gained several victories alongside the British. However, at the conclusion of the peace in 1783, Britain had to relinquish control over the coast. The British withdrawal was completed at the end of June 1787. In the end 2,214 inhabitants (537 free people and 1,677 slaves) from Mosquitia were resettled in the Bay settlement ([[British Honduras]], today [[Belize]]).<ref>Wolfgang Grabbert, "In the Shadow of Empire--The Emergence of Afro-Creole Societies in Belize and Nicaragua," ''[http://www.iai.spk-berlin.de/en/publications/indiana.html Indiana]'' 24 (2007): 49 ([http://www.iai.spk-berlin.de/fileadmin/dokumentenbibliothek/Indiana/Indiana_24/D_03_Gabbert_korr.pdf online])</ref> Despite the withdrawal, Britain maintained an unofficial protectorate over the kingdom, often intervening to protect Miskito interests against Spanish encroachments.<ref>Floyd, ''Anglo-Spanish Struggle'', pp. 119-140.</ref>


⚫
The Miskito kingdom aided Britain during the [[American Revolutionary War]] by attacking Spanish colonies; it gained several victories alongside the British. However, at the conclusion of the peace in 1783, Britain had to relinquish control over the coast. The British withdrawal was completed at the end of June 1787. For their support, the British re-settled 2,214 inhabitants (537 free people and their 1,677 slaves) from Mosquitia in the Bay settlement ([[British Honduras]], today [[Belize]]).<ref>Wolfgang Grabbert, "In the Shadow of Empire--The Emergence of Afro-Creole Societies in Belize and Nicaragua," ''[http://www.iai.spk-berlin.de/en/publications/indiana.html Indiana]'' 24 (2007): 49 ([http://www.iai.spk-berlin.de/fileadmin/dokumentenbibliothek/Indiana/Indiana_24/D_03_Gabbert_korr.pdf online])</ref> Despite their official withdrawal, Britain maintained an unofficial protectorate over the kingdom, often intervening to protect Miskito interests against Spanish encroachments.<ref>Floyd, ''Anglo-Spanish Struggle'', pp. 119-140.</ref>
⚫
===The Independence Era===


⚫
===Independence Era===
Their military capacity and British support allowed the Miskito people to retain their independence when the Pacific side of Central America was in Spanish hands and through the [[Federation of Central American States]]. However, they were absorbed into Nicaragua in 1894.<ref>{{cite news |first=Rory |last=Carroll |coauthors= |title=Nicaragua's green lobby is leaving rainforest people 'utterly destitute' |date= 26 November 2006|publisher= |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/famine/story/0,,1957257,00.html |work=Guardian Unlimited |pages= |accessdate=2007-09-07 |language= | location=London}}</ref>
Their military capacity and British support allowed the Miskito people to retain their independence when the Pacific side of Central America was in Spanish hands and through the [[Federation of Central American States]]. But, they were absorbed into Nicaragua in 1894.<ref>{{cite news |first=Rory |last=Carroll |coauthors= |title=Nicaragua's green lobby is leaving rainforest people 'utterly destitute' |date= 26 November 2006|publisher= |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/famine/story/0,,1957257,00.html |work=Guardian Unlimited |pages= |accessdate=2007-09-07 |language= | location=London}}</ref>


Once the Central American republics became independent, they had less international clout,and Britain reinvolved itself in the affairs on the Mosquito Coast, both from its position in Belize/British Honduras, and from Jamaica. In addition, US trading interests began to develop in the region. British governors in Belize began issuing commissions and appointments to Miskito kings and other officials, such as King Robert Charles Frederick, crowned in Belize in 1825, and British officials regularly recognized the various Miskito offices and protected Miskito interests against the Central American republics and against the United States, which protested British interference under the Monroe Doctrine. However, US involvement in the Mexican war prevented much real support for the republics, and England gradually became less aggressive in its commissioning of Miskito nobility, which in turn became effectively an independent state.<ref>E. George Squier, ''Adventures on the Mosquito Shore'' (New York, 1891) pp. 346-52.</ref>
Once the Central American republics became independent, they had less international clout. Great Britain took an interest in the affairs on the Mosquito Coast, as it had positions in Belize/British Honduras and Jamaica. In addition, US trading interests began to develop in the region. British governors in Belize began issuing commissions and appointments to Miskito kings and other officials, such as King Robert Charles Frederick, crowned in Belize in 1825. British officials regularly recognized the various Miskito offices; it worked to protect Miskito interests against the Central American republics and against the United States. The latter protested British interference under the [[Monroe Doctrine]]. The United States involvement in war with Mexico prevented it from much support of the republics. As England gradually became less aggressive in its commissioning of Miskito nobility, the people effectively began to operate as an independent state.<ref>E. George Squier, ''Adventures on the Mosquito Shore'' (New York, 1891) pp. 346-52.</ref>


Due to [[British Empire|British]] economic interest in Central America (particularly [[British Honduras]], now called [[Belize]]), the Miskitos were able to acquire guns and other modern weapons. After Nicaragua was declared in 1821, combined Miskito-[[Zambo]] raiders began to attack Honduran settlements, often to rescue enslaved Miskitos before they were shipped to [[Europe]], but often also to enslave other Amerindians to sell to the British to work in [[Jamaica]]. They also enslaved women from other tribes. Due to the allowance of [[polygamy]] and the added number of women from these slave raids, the Miskito population boomed. These raids continued for many years after any animosity between Britain and Spain ended. The Miskitos, for a long time, considered themselves superior to other tribes of the area, whom they referred to as "wild". European dress and English names were popular among the Miskitos.
Due to [[British Empire|British]] economic interest in Central America (particularly [[British Honduras]], now [[Belize]]), the Miskitos were able to acquire guns and other modern weapons. After Nicaragua declared independence in 1821, combined Miskito-[[Zambo]] raiders began to attack Honduran settlements. They sometimes rescued enslaved Miskitos before transport to Europe, but at other times, conducted raids to enslave other Amerindians to sell to the British to work in [[Jamaica]]. They also enslaved women from other tribes.


Their society allowed [[polygamy]] and, with children from the added number of women from these slave raids, the Miskito population boomed. These raids continued for many years after any animosity between Britain and Spain ended. For a long time the Miskito considered themselves superior to other tribes of the area, whom they referred to as "wild". They commonly adopted European dress and English names.
⚫
[[Moravian Church]] Missionaries came to the Miskito Coast in 1847 from [[Herrnhut]], [[Saxony]]. Working among the Miskitos and Creoles, by the end of the Century they had converted almost all of the inhabitants.


⚫
In 1847, [[Moravian Church]] missionaries came to the Miskito Coast from [[Herrnhut]], [[Saxony]]. Working among the Miskito and Creole, by the end of the century, they had converted almost all of the inhabitants to a Protestant form of Christianity.
⚫
From the middle of the nineteenth century onwards, British interest in the region began to wane. At the [[Treaty of Managua]] in 1860, Great Britain allowed Nicaragua to have uncontested claim over the Mosquito Coast, but the treaty also created a Miskitu reserve, a self-governing entity which enjoyed semi-sovereign rights. The state ceased to exist in 1894 when it was occupied by Nicaragua. It was restored by the British in July that same year but reoccupied by Nicaragua in August. The establishment of Nicaraguan authority was in part supported by the various fruit companies from the United States that had begun large scale production of bananas in the Miskito reserve. The American companies preferred Nicaraguan authority to Miskito, especially as the Miskito elite was more prepared to protect the rights of small holders than the Nicaragua government was.<ref>Gabbert, "Shadow of Empire," pp. 52-53.</ref>

⚫
From the middle of the nineteenth century onwards, British interest in the region began to wane. At the [[Treaty of Managua]] in 1860, Great Britain allowed Nicaragua to have uncontested claim over the Mosquito Coast, but the treaty provided for a Miskitu reserve, a self-governing entity which enjoyed semi-sovereign rights. The state ceased to exist in 1894 when the area was occupied by Nicaraguan forces. It was restored by the British in July that same year but reoccupied by Nicaragua in August.

The establishment of Nicaraguan authority was in part supported by the various fruit companies from the United States, which had begun large-scale production of bananas in the Miskito reserve. The American companies preferred Nicaraguan authority to Miskito, especially as the Miskito elite was more prepared to protect the rights of small holders than was the Nicaragua government.<ref>Gabbert, "Shadow of Empire," pp. 52-53.</ref>


=== During the 20th century ===
=== During the 20th century ===
[[File:Family of Miskito people along the Prinzapolka river, Nicaragua - c. 1957–1961.jpg|thumb| family of Miskito people living along the [[Prinzapolka]] river in Nicaragua]]
[[File:Family of Miskito people along the Prinzapolka river, Nicaragua - c. 1957–1961.jpg|thumb| family of Miskito people living along the [[Prinzapolka]] river in Nicaragua]]


The Miskitos who lived in the [[Jinotega (department)|Jinotega Department]], west of the [[Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte]], were much different from the Miskitos who lived along the Caribbean coast. The Miskitos in Jinotega were [[Catholic]], were not influenced by the British, and often traded with the Spanish-speaking [[mestizos]] from the Pacific coast. During the conflict in 1927-1933 between [[Augusto César Sandino|Augusto Sandino]] and the [[United States]] over the [[United States occupation of Nicaragua|U.S. occupation of Nicaragua]], the Miskitos were asked by both sides to provide food and transport. Many Miskitos in the Jinotega region joined Augusto Sandino and his troops in 1926. As opposed to the Miskitos of the Caribbean coast, the Miskitos of Jinotega had closer ties with Sandino as well as the [[FSLN]], which organized agricultural cooperatives and built schools and health centers in the area.<ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |coauthors= |title=Jinotega's Miskitos and Sumus: Little Noted Victims of the Contra War |date= |publisher=Central American University - UCA |url=http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/2706 |work=Revista Envío |pages= |accessdate=2007-09-07 |language=}}</ref> The presence of the state in the regions where Miskitos lived was reinforced during the 1960s and the 1970s, leading to [[Nationalization|expropriation]] of native-held land. During these decades, the Miskitos' only encounter with national politics was to be firmly asked to vote for the [[National Liberal Party]]{{disambiguation needed|date=February 2012}}.
The Miskito who lived in the [[Jinotega (department)|Jinotega Department]], west of the [[Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte]], were much different from the Miskito who lived along the Caribbean coast. The Miskito in Jinotega were [[Catholic]], were not influenced by the British, and often traded with the Spanish-speaking [[mestizos]] from the Pacific coast. During the conflict in 1927-1933 between [[Augusto César Sandino|Augusto Sandino]] and the [[United States]] over the [[United States occupation of Nicaragua|U.S. occupation of Nicaragua]], the Miskito were asked by both sides to provide food and transport. In 1926, many Miskito in the Jinotega region joined Augusto Sandino and his troops. In contrast to the Miskito of the coast, those of Jinotega had closer ties with Sandino as well as the [[FSLN]], which organized agricultural cooperatives and built schools and health centers in the area.<ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |coauthors= |title=Jinotega's Miskitos and Sumus: Little Noted Victims of the Contra War |date= |publisher=Central American University - UCA |url=http://www.envio.org.ni/articulo/2706 |work=Revista Envío |pages= |accessdate=2007-09-07 |language=}}</ref>
The presence of the state in the regions where Miskitos lived was reinforced during the 1960s and the 1970s, leading to [[Nationalization|expropriation]] of native-held land. During these decades, the Miskitos' only encounter with national politics was to be asked to vote for the [[National Liberal Party]]{{disambiguation needed|date=February 2012}}.


In the 1980s, the [[Sandinista]] government extended their influence over the region via its ''Comités de Defensa Sandinista''.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=E0057975-7170-47A5-8A2B-9DF61534A3EF ''"The Black Book of the Sandinistas"''], 21 November 2006, Jamie Glazov, FrontPage Magazine</ref> In response, several Miskito groups eventually formed [[guerrillas]] in the 1980s, which carried on [[armed struggle]] against the central government. On 25 February 1982, Steadman Fagoth, one of the guerrilla leaders, took [[refugee|refuge]] in [[Honduras]] along with 3,000 Miskitos,<ref>*Asleson, Vern, ''Nicaragua: Those Passed By'', Galde Press ISBN 1-931942-16-1, 2004</ref> while the Sandinistas began to denounce the activities of [[Contras]] in the [[Rio Coco]] zone. The Miskitos occupied the village of San Carlos during the "Red December" (20–21 December 1982) during which several Sandinista soldiers were massacred. In retaliation, the state executed 30 Miskitos in the following days, prompting many of them to escape to Honduras to live in a difficult state of [[exile]]. The [[state of emergency]] in the Rio Coco zone was proclaimed in 1983, and lasted until 1988.<ref>Gilles Bataillon, « Cambios culturales y sociopolíticos en las comunidades Mayangnas y Miskitos del río Bocay y del alto río Coco, Nicaragua (1979-2000) », ''[[Journal de la Société des Américanistes]]'', 2001, tome 87, [http://jsa.revues.org/document1238.html On line] {{es icon}}</ref> In 1983 the Misurasata movement, led by Brooklyn Rivera, split, with the breakaway Misura group of Stedman Fagoth allying itself more closely with the [[Nicaraguan Democratic Force|FDN]], one of the first Contra commanded by Enrique Bermúdez.
In the 1980s, the [[Sandinista]] government extended their influence over the region via its ''Comités de Defensa Sandinista''.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=E0057975-7170-47A5-8A2B-9DF61534A3EF ''"The Black Book of the Sandinistas"''], 21 November 2006, Jamie Glazov, FrontPage Magazine</ref> In response, several Miskito groups eventually formed [[guerrillas]] in the 1980s, which carried on [[armed struggle]] against the central government. On 25 February 1982, Steadman Fagoth, one of the guerrilla leaders, took [[refugee|refuge]] in [[Honduras]] along with 3,000 Miskitos,<ref>*Asleson, Vern, ''Nicaragua: Those Passed By'', Galde Press ISBN 1-931942-16-1, 2004</ref> while the Sandinistas began to denounce the activities of [[Contras]] in the [[Rio Coco]] zone. The Miskitos occupied the village of San Carlos during the "Red December" (20–21 December 1982) during which several Sandinista soldiers were massacred. In retaliation, the state executed 30 Miskitos in the following days, prompting many of them to escape to Honduras to live in a difficult state of [[exile]]. The [[state of emergency]] in the Rio Coco zone was proclaimed in 1983, and lasted until 1988.<ref>Gilles Bataillon, « Cambios culturales y sociopolíticos en las comunidades Mayangnas y Miskitos del río Bocay y del alto río Coco, Nicaragua (1979-2000) », ''[[Journal de la Société des Américanistes]]'', 2001, tome 87, [http://jsa.revues.org/document1238.html On line] {{es icon}}</ref> In 1983 the Misurasata movement, led by Brooklyn Rivera, split, with the breakaway Misura group of Stedman Fagoth allying itself more closely with the [[Nicaraguan Democratic Force|FDN]], one of the first Contra commanded by Enrique Bermúdez.

Revision as of 20:39, 12 December 2012

This article is about the indigenous peoples of Honduras and Nicaragua. For other indigenous peoples see Indigenous peoples (disambiguation)
For other uses, see Mosquito (disambiguation).
Miskito
Miskito people changing bus tire between Bilwi and Krukira, Nicaragua
Total population
150,000-200,000
Regions with significant populations
 Nicaragua
 Honduras
Languages
Miskito, Spanish, Miskito Creole English
Religion
Christianity, Animism
Related ethnic groups
Garifuna, Maroons, Afro-Caribbeans

The Miskitos are a Native American ethnic group in Central America. A substantial number of them are mixed race, especially those in the northern end of their territory, where an African-Indigenous mixture is predominant. Their territory extends from Cape Camarón, Honduras, to Rio Grande, Nicaragua along the Mosquito Coast, in the Western Caribbean Zone.

The indigenous people speak a native Miskito language, but large groups also speak Miskito creole English, Spanish, which is the language of education and government, and other languages. The creole English came about through frequent contact with the British. Many are Christians.[1]

The name "Miskito" derives from the Miskito-language ethnonym Mískitu, their name for themselves. It is not related to the Spanish word mosquito, which derives from the word mosca, meaning "fly", also used in Spanish for the insect.

History

Main article: Mosquito Coast

Before the arrival of Europeans in the region, the area was divided into numerous small, egalitarian indigenous groups, possibly speaking languages related to Sumu. The Spanish listed 30 "nations" in Taguzgalpa and Tologalpa provinces, as the Spanish understood their geography. Careful analysis of them by Karl Offen suggests about a half dozen entities, dialectically distinct groups who are situated in the river basins.[2]

The Spanish were unable to conquer this region during the sixteenth century and as a result, much of the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua and northeastern Honduras was outside any Spanish authority. The region became a haven for northern Europeans, especially Dutch and English privateers during the early seventeenth century (for example Morgan, Montbars and Dampier).

Shipwrecked slave ships, notably one in the mid-seventeenth century, left a number of Africans on the coast.[3]

The survivors of shipwrecks, and/or escaped slaves from the Providence Island colony, settled around Cape Gracias a Dios. They intermarried with the indigenous people, producing mixed-race offspring, who were known to the Spanish as Mosquitos Zambos. Those Miskito living more in the southern (Nicaraguan) region were less mixed and have been dubbed Tawira Miskito by modern scholars. Rivalries between these two groups often led to wars, and were very divisive in the eighteenth century.[4]

British-Miskito Alliance

English privateers working through the Providence Island Company made informal alliances with the Miskito. The English began to crown Miskito kings (or chiefs), thus forming what came to be called the Mosquito Kingdom. A description of the kingdom written in 1699 shows that it was discontinuously spread out along the coast and probably did not include a number of settlements of English traders.[5] The king did not have total power. The 1699 description noted that the kings and governors had no power except in war time, even in matters of justice, and otherwise the people were all equal.[6] These superior officers included the king, a governor, a general and, by the 1750s, an admiral.[7] Historical information on kings is often obscure as many of the kings were semi-mythical.

In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the Miskito Zambo began a series of raids attacking Spanish-held territories and the still independent indigenous groups in the area. Miskito raiders reached as far north as the Yucatan, and as far south as Costa Rica. They sold many of their captives as slaves to English merchants and they were transported to Jamaica for work.[8] In addition, from 1720, the English commissioned the Miskito to capture Maroons in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica.[9]

The Miskito king and the British concluded a formal Treaty of Friendship and Alliance in 1740, and John Hodgson was appointed as Superintendent of the Shore.[10] A British protectorate was established over the Miskito Nation, often called the Mosquito Coast.

The Miskito kingdom aided Britain during the American Revolutionary War by attacking Spanish colonies; it gained several victories alongside the British. However, at the conclusion of the peace in 1783, Britain had to relinquish control over the coast. The British withdrawal was completed at the end of June 1787. For their support, the British re-settled 2,214 inhabitants (537 free people and their 1,677 slaves) from Mosquitia in the Bay settlement (British Honduras, today Belize).[11] Despite their official withdrawal, Britain maintained an unofficial protectorate over the kingdom, often intervening to protect Miskito interests against Spanish encroachments.[12]

Independence Era

Their military capacity and British support allowed the Miskito people to retain their independence when the Pacific side of Central America was in Spanish hands and through the Federation of Central American States. But, they were absorbed into Nicaragua in 1894.[13]

Once the Central American republics became independent, they had less international clout. Great Britain took an interest in the affairs on the Mosquito Coast, as it had positions in Belize/British Honduras and Jamaica. In addition, US trading interests began to develop in the region. British governors in Belize began issuing commissions and appointments to Miskito kings and other officials, such as King Robert Charles Frederick, crowned in Belize in 1825. British officials regularly recognized the various Miskito offices; it worked to protect Miskito interests against the Central American republics and against the United States. The latter protested British interference under the Monroe Doctrine. The United States involvement in war with Mexico prevented it from much support of the republics. As England gradually became less aggressive in its commissioning of Miskito nobility, the people effectively began to operate as an independent state.[14]

Due to British economic interest in Central America (particularly British Honduras, now Belize), the Miskitos were able to acquire guns and other modern weapons. After Nicaragua declared independence in 1821, combined Miskito-Zambo raiders began to attack Honduran settlements. They sometimes rescued enslaved Miskitos before transport to Europe, but at other times, conducted raids to enslave other Amerindians to sell to the British to work in Jamaica. They also enslaved women from other tribes.

Their society allowed polygamy and, with children from the added number of women from these slave raids, the Miskito population boomed. These raids continued for many years after any animosity between Britain and Spain ended. For a long time the Miskito considered themselves superior to other tribes of the area, whom they referred to as "wild". They commonly adopted European dress and English names.

In 1847, Moravian Church missionaries came to the Miskito Coast from Herrnhut, Saxony. Working among the Miskito and Creole, by the end of the century, they had converted almost all of the inhabitants to a Protestant form of Christianity.

From the middle of the nineteenth century onwards, British interest in the region began to wane. At the Treaty of Managua in 1860, Great Britain allowed Nicaragua to have uncontested claim over the Mosquito Coast, but the treaty provided for a Miskitu reserve, a self-governing entity which enjoyed semi-sovereign rights. The state ceased to exist in 1894 when the area was occupied by Nicaraguan forces. It was restored by the British in July that same year but reoccupied by Nicaragua in August.

The establishment of Nicaraguan authority was in part supported by the various fruit companies from the United States, which had begun large-scale production of bananas in the Miskito reserve. The American companies preferred Nicaraguan authority to Miskito, especially as the Miskito elite was more prepared to protect the rights of small holders than was the Nicaragua government.[15]

During the 20th century

family of Miskito people living along the Prinzapolka river in Nicaragua

The Miskito who lived in the Jinotega Department, west of the Región Autónoma del Atlántico Norte, were much different from the Miskito who lived along the Caribbean coast. The Miskito in Jinotega were Catholic, were not influenced by the British, and often traded with the Spanish-speaking mestizos from the Pacific coast. During the conflict in 1927-1933 between Augusto Sandino and the United States over the U.S. occupation of Nicaragua, the Miskito were asked by both sides to provide food and transport. In 1926, many Miskito in the Jinotega region joined Augusto Sandino and his troops. In contrast to the Miskito of the coast, those of Jinotega had closer ties with Sandino as well as the FSLN, which organized agricultural cooperatives and built schools and health centers in the area.[16]

The presence of the state in the regions where Miskitos lived was reinforced during the 1960s and the 1970s, leading to expropriation of native-held land. During these decades, the Miskitos' only encounter with national politics was to be asked to vote for the National Liberal Party[disambiguation needed].

In the 1980s, the Sandinista government extended their influence over the region via its Comités de Defensa Sandinista.[17] In response, several Miskito groups eventually formed guerrillas in the 1980s, which carried on armed struggle against the central government. On 25 February 1982, Steadman Fagoth, one of the guerrilla leaders, took refuge in Honduras along with 3,000 Miskitos,[18] while the Sandinistas began to denounce the activities of Contras in the Rio Coco zone. The Miskitos occupied the village of San Carlos during the "Red December" (20–21 December 1982) during which several Sandinista soldiers were massacred. In retaliation, the state executed 30 Miskitos in the following days, prompting many of them to escape to Honduras to live in a difficult state of exile. The state of emergency in the Rio Coco zone was proclaimed in 1983, and lasted until 1988.[19] In 1983 the Misurasata movement, led by Brooklyn Rivera, split, with the breakaway Misura group of Stedman Fagoth allying itself more closely with the FDN, one of the first Contra commanded by Enrique Bermúdez.

A 1986 propaganda documentary called Nicaragua Was Our Home documented the asserted persecution of the Miskitos at the hands of the Nicaraguan government. The film features interviews with Miskito Indian people and some non-Miskito clergy who lived among them concerning actions of the government against them, including bombing of villages, shootings, and forced removal of people from their homes.[20] The film was shown on some PBS stations[21][22] and at the 1986 Sundance Film Festival.[23]

A subsequent autonomy statute in September 1987 largely defused Miskito resistance.

In 1992, after the Sandinistas' defeat during the elections, the Miskitos signed an agreement with the Minister of the Interior, Carlos Hurtado, creating "security zones," preparing the return of the police forces to the region and the integration of 50 Miskitos to the police force. Brooklyn Rivera, one of the Miskito guerrilla leaders, became the director of the INDERA (Nicaraguan Institute of Development of Autonomous Regions), an illegal structure regarding the 1987 law on autonomy still in force in Nicaragua.[24] The INDERA was suppressed a few years later, allegedly because of opposition between Miskitos and other native groups[25]

In 1998, Hurricane Mitch heavily affected regions where Miskitos live.

On 4 September 2007, Category 5 Hurricane Felix with peak sustained winds of 160 mph struck the coast near Punta Gorda, Nicaragua. Damage and death toll estimates are around 100 at this time but are likely more considerable.[26]

Declaration of Independence

In April 2009 the Miskito announced a unilateral declaration of independence from Nicaragua under the name Community Nation of Moskitia[27] (The Today (BBC Radio 4) feature on this included a rendering of their "National Anthem", which shares its tune with Patriots of Micronesia, etc.). This declaration has not been met with any formal response from the government of Nicaragua nor has it been recognised by any other state. The independence movement is led by Hector Williams who is described as the leader of the Miskito and uses the title Wihta Tara, or Great Judge. The main reasons cited for their renewed desire for independence are serious economic problems damaging their traditional fishing industry and the recent election of Daniel Ortega as president of Nicaragua whom many of them fought against during the Nicaraguan Civil War (as Contras).

Economy

Lobster harvesting

Majority of the Miskito men and male youths in the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve coastal communities work or have worked, in the lobster export industry.[28] In Honduras, estimates range from 1,500 to 4,000 males in the industry.[28] In Nicaragua, it has been estimated that commercial lobster diving employs over 5,000 people and affects the livelihoods of 50,000 men, women and children.[29] The 2012 documentary film, "MY VILLAGE, MY LOBSTER" investigated the individuals and communities involved in this fishing industry. The film features testimony from divers who have been injured from the bends, boat owners and captains who are responsible for the divers' safety, and a hyperbaric medicine specialist who treats injured divers. In addition, the film includes footage from aboard a commercial lobster diving vessel and from the remote Miskito Keys (or Miskito Cays) – the "fabled" turtle hunting grounds of the Miskito Indians.[29][30]

Since 1960, the Miskito Indians have utilized breath hold diving techniques to harvest lobsters as their primary source of income.[31] Scuba diving techniques were introduced around 1980 allowing the Indians to increase the area available for harvesting following lobster populations depletion.[28][31][32] These dives do result in symptoms of decompression sickness or death.[28][31]

Turtle harvesting

Miskito Indians living on the coast of Nicaragua once hunted green turtles in the context of a traditional subsistence economy. Turtle fishing was combined with agriculture, hunting, fishing and gathering. Subsistence activities were timed to harmonize with seasonal fluctuations and resource availability. In the 17th century, the buccaneer William Dampier wrote that the Moskito Indians were "esteemed and coveted by all privateers" because of their skill at hunting turtle or manatee, "for one or two of them in a ship will maintain 100 men".[33]

Turtles were traditionally harpooned. The harpoon was eight to ten feet in length and attached to a strong line. Turtlemen traveled in a small, seagoing canoe, often in hazardous weather conditions, using complex mental maps and systems of navigation to locate the turtles. A hunting party consisted of two men: a "strikerman" in the bow, and the "captain" in the stern. Turtles were intercepted in the area between their sleeping shoals and feeding banks as they surfaced for air. When the turtle had been harpooned, it would pull the canoe along at high speeds in an effort to escape, until it tired and could be pulled alongside the canoe.

Exposure to international markets led to a change in hunting methods. Hunting activities became market-focused instead of subsistence-focused. Commercial enterprises were established by foreign companies, and the skills of Miskito turtlemen were utilized to facilitate intensive harvesting of green turtle populations. A series of economic booms and busts led to serious depletion of green turtle populations, and villagers were confronted with rising social tensions and an increased dependence on a scarce resource[34]

Rulers

Coat of arms of the Miskito Royalty

Gender Relations

The Miskito people have been able to resist the influence of outside cultures for the most part. Contact with the English has created the position of a king who is seen as the figurehead of the tribes; however, the modern king has little power and generally does not affect the different tribes.[35]

The gender roles within the Miskito culture are affected more by the “boom and bust” of the local economy than by any ruler.[36] When there are few job opportunities men rely on agricultural work and they spend time within their respective communities. There is evidence that the society followed a patriarchal set up during these “bust” times; however, when the economy is “booming” men generally get jobs that force them to travel.[37] Since the 1990s men have been traveling as a result of an increase in job opportunities, and they spend significant amounts of time away from their villages.[38]

Currently, most men work on fishing boats diving for lobsters.[39] Since men spend eight months out of the year away from their families, communities have a matrilocal arrangement.[40] Typically men over age 13 are rarely present during daily life in a village.

Men are considered the breadwinners of a household and contribute the majority of a family’s income, but women have the ability to make all economic decisions.[41] Some women do housekeeping or sell small crafts to make extra money, but it is not enough by itself to support a family. Girls inherit the right to settle on their mother’s land, and although men clear farmland women have full ownership of it.[42]

It is extremely difficult for women to find jobs, and most rely on men and their incomes to support their children. Many women practice magia amorosa (love magic), and they believe that it helps attract men and their money.[43] This love magic can also be used to help save one’s marriage. Women have the greatest input in how their households are run, but they are unable to do anything without the money that their husbands provide. Love magic highlights the importance of keeping a man interested within Miskito society.

Women usually begin forming relationships at age 15, and most become mothers by 18. Most women have six to eight children with their husband, but since men are not around that often there are high abandonment and divorce rates.[44] Men often feel no moral obligation to take care of children because of a high illegitimacy rate. Abandoned children are generally adopted by women within the child’s matrilocal group and taken care of by an aunt or grandmother. As women become older they also gain status within their community. In each society women who are respected elders, kukas, are considered local experts and enforcers of correct behavior in their village.[45]

See also

References

  1. ^ Stonich, Susan C. (2001). Endangered peoples of Latin America: struggles to survive and thrive. Greenwood Press. pp. 91–94. ISBN 0-313-30856-X.
  2. ^ Karl Offen, "The Sambu and Tawira Miskitu: The Colonial Origins of Intra-Miskitu Differentiation in Eastern Nicaragua and Honduras," Ethnohistory 49/2 (2002) 328-33.
  3. ^ Benito Garret y Arlovi to King, 30 November 1711 in Manuel de Peralta, ed., Costa Rica y Costa de Mosquitos. Documentos para la historia de la jurisdicción territorial de Costa Rica y Colombia (Paris, 1898), pp. 57-58 In addition to accounts from the indigenous people, given to him by missionaries who worked around Segovia and Chontales, Garret y Arlovi interviewed an ancient African (negro) named Juan Ramón. Garret y Arlovi dated the wreck to 1641.
  4. ^ Offen (2002), " Sambu and Tawira Miskitu", pp. 337-40.
  5. ^ M. W. "The Mosqueto Indian and His Golden River," in Anshaw Churchill, A Collection of Voyages and Travels (6 vols., London, 1728) vol. 6 pp. 285-290.
  6. ^ M. W. "Mosketo Indian" p. 293.
  7. ^ Michael Olien, "General, Governor and Admiral: Three Miskito Lines of Succession," Ethnohistory 45/2 (1998): 278-318.
  8. ^ Mary Helms, "Miskito Slaving and Culture Contact: Ethnicity and Opportunity in an Expanding Population," Journal of Anthropological Research 39/2 (1983): 179-97.
  9. ^ Gérman Romero Vargas, Las sociedades del Atlántico de Nicaragua en los siglos XVII y XVIII (Managua,1995) pp. 165-66
  10. ^ Troy Floyd, The Anglo-Spanish Struggle for Mosquitia (Albuquerque, NM, 1967), pp. 68-69. The treaty (held in National Archives (UK) CO 123/3, fols 185-188) is undated and could be 1739.
  11. ^ Wolfgang Grabbert, "In the Shadow of Empire--The Emergence of Afro-Creole Societies in Belize and Nicaragua," Indiana 24 (2007): 49 (online)
  12. ^ Floyd, Anglo-Spanish Struggle, pp. 119-140.
  13. ^ Carroll, Rory (26 November 2006). "Nicaragua's green lobby is leaving rainforest people 'utterly destitute'". Guardian Unlimited. London. Retrieved 7 September 2007. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  14. ^ E. George Squier, Adventures on the Mosquito Shore (New York, 1891) pp. 346-52.
  15. ^ Gabbert, "Shadow of Empire," pp. 52-53.
  16. ^ "Jinotega's Miskitos and Sumus: Little Noted Victims of the Contra War". Revista Envío. Central American University - UCA. Retrieved 7 September 2007. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  17. ^ "The Black Book of the Sandinistas", 21 November 2006, Jamie Glazov, FrontPage Magazine
  18. ^ *Asleson, Vern, Nicaragua: Those Passed By, Galde Press ISBN 1-931942-16-1, 2004
  19. ^ Gilles Bataillon, « Cambios culturales y sociopolíticos en las comunidades Mayangnas y Miskitos del río Bocay y del alto río Coco, Nicaragua (1979-2000) », Journal de la Société des Américanistes, 2001, tome 87, On line Template:Es icon
  20. ^ ON 13, SANDINISTAS VS. MISKITOS, New York Times, July 29, 1986
  21. ^ "How to Read the Reagan Administration: The Miskito Case". Envio.org.ni. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  22. ^ Public TV Tilts Toward Conservatives, Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
  23. ^ Sundance Film Festival: 1986, IMDB
  24. ^ Il y a Miskitos et Miskitos, in L'Humanité, 27 February 1992 Template:Fr icon
  25. ^ Observations finales du Comité pour l'élimination de la discrimination raciale : Nicaragua. 22/09/95., UNHCR, 1995
  26. ^ "Nicaraguan Indians sought refuge in canoes from Category 5 hurricane, others sucked out of homes". Toronto Star. 7 September 2007. Retrieved 7 September 2007. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  27. ^ "Nicaragua's Miskitos seek independence". BBC News. 3 August 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  28. ^ a b c d Dodds, David J (1998). Lobster in the Rain Forest: The Political Ecology of Miskito Wage Labor and Agricultural Deforestation (PDF) (pdf). Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  29. ^ a b MY VILLAGE, MY LOBSTER. Nomading Films and Fall Line Pictures.
  30. ^ MY VILLAGE, MY LOBSTER (2012). IMDb.
  31. ^ a b c Dunford RG, Mejia EB, Salbador GW, Gerth WA, Hampson NB (2002). "Diving methods and decompression sickness incidence of Miskito Indian underwater harvesters". Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine : Journal of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, Inc. 29 (2): 74–85. PMID 12508972. Retrieved 2 January 2012.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  32. ^ Stonich, Susan C. (2001). Endangered peoples of Latin America: struggles to survive and thrive. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30856-X.
  33. ^ Dampier, W. (1697) A New Voyage Round the World. A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook.
  34. ^ Nietschmann, B. (1997). Subsistence and market: When the Turtle Collapses in James Spradley and David McCurdy (eds) Conformity and conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology.
  35. ^ Dennis, Philip A., and Michael D. Olien. Kingship among the Miskito. American Ethnologist 11.4 (1984): 718
  36. ^ Herlihy, Laura Hobson. Matrifocality and Women’s Power on the Miskito Coast Ethnology 46.2 (2007): 133.
  37. ^ Herlihy, Laura Hobson. Matrifocality and Women’s Power on the Miskito Coast Ethnology 46.2 (2007): 133-149.
  38. ^ Merrill, Tim L., Honduras: a country study, page 100, 1995.
  39. ^ Herlihy, Laura Hobson. Matrifocality and Women’s Power on the Miskito Coast Ethnology 46.2 (2007): 136.
  40. ^ Herlihy, Laura Hobson. Sexual Magic and Money: Miskitu women’s Strategies in Northern Honduras. Ethnology 46.2 (2006): 144.
  41. ^ Herlihy, Laura Hobson. Sexual Magic and Money: Miskitu women’s Strategies in Northern Honduras. Ethnology 46.2 (2006): 145.
  42. ^ Herlihy, Laura Hobson. Sexual Magic and Money: Miskitu women’s Strategies in Northern Honduras. Ethnology 46.2 (2006): 154.
  43. ^ Herlihy, Laura Hobson. Sexual Magic and Money: Miskitu women’s Strategies in Northern Honduras. Ethnology 46.2 (2006): 143-159.
  44. ^ Herlihy, Laura Hobson. Matrifocality and Women’s Power on the Miskito Coast. Ethnology 46.2 (2007): 139-140.
  45. ^ Herlihy, Laura Hobson. Matrifocality and Women’s Power on the Miskito Coast. Ethnology 46.2 (2007): 135.

Bibliography

  • Dennis, Philip A., and Michael D. Olien. “Kingship among the Miskito.” American Ethnologist 11.4 (1984): 718-737. AnthroSource. Web. 13 Jan. 2010.
  • Herlihy, Laura Hobson. “Matrifocality and Women’s Power on the Miskito Coast.” Ethnology 46.2 (2007): 133-149. Web. 13 Jan. 2010.
  • Herlihy, Laura Hobson. “Sexual Magic and Money: Miskitu women’s Strategies in Northern Honduras.” Ethnology 46.2 (2006): 143-159. Web. 13 Jan. 2010.
  • Merrill, Tim L., ed. Honduras: a country study. 3rd ed., 1995.

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