ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates indigenous approaches to social regulation, benefit sharing, and organizing and managing territory offer valuable insights that could be of use in post-conflict peacebuilding. It addresses the effects of conflict and development on the culture and territories of indigenous peoples in Colombia, a country with approximately eighty-seven ethnic groups speaking sixty-four languages and more than 300 dialects. The chapter examines the challenges faced by both the Colombian government and Colombia's indigenous populations. It contains some major sections: a review of the historical background; a description of the relationship between national development policies, conservation, and indigenous identity; and some examples of strategies being used by indigenous peoples to cope with conflict and development. As one of the main sources of conflict in the country, drug trafficking is also one of the principal causes of the humanitarian crisis affecting Colombia's indigenous peoples. Degradation affects both the ecosystem and the indigenous peoples—both of which are, by nature, extremely fragile and vulnerable.
