Land titling is the beginning of dispossession (today too): Julie Wetterslev, ‘When the Forest and the Rivers is Home – Managing Indigenous Territory and Settler Relations in North Eastern Nicaragua’, Iberoamericana, 2024 | settler colonial studies blog

Land titling is the beginning of dispossession (today too): Julie Wetterslev, ‘When the Forest and the Rivers is Home – Managing Indigenous Territory and Settler Relations in North Eastern Nicaragua’, Iberoamericana, 2024

22Mar24

Abstract: Based on a case study in the Mayangna territory of Awas Tingni, this article explores current conflicts over lands, resources and identity in the Northern Caribbean region in Nicaragua. Through ethnographic excerpts and analysis of interviews and observations, the study demonstrates that judicialization and land titling has not brought security and stability for rights bearing indigenous communities. Rather, the titling process has been followed by a process of monetization of the land that has facilitated colonisation with a range of detrimental environmental and socio-cultural consequences, leaving fractioned indigenous communities in a vulnerable position to protect eco-systems and manage the relations with the many new settlers in their territories.

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