ABSTRACT
In this chapter I explore the historical circumstances and processes of the construction of indigenous peoples’ ecological identities. This analysis is of a two-fold nature: on the one hand it requires consideration of how and why western peoples constructed representations of indigenous peoples and subsequently integrated them to western environmental movements and discourses; and on the other, it requires consideration of how indigenous peoples have responded to, appropriated or negated such western processes, representations and discourses, especially with respect to indigenous ecological identity. The ultimate aim is to address how this historical process of representation and integration has affected indigenous peoples’ social movements and collective identities in Colombia, in general, and those of the indigenous peoples of the SNSM, in particular.
