ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the narratives surrounding Indigenous victimhood in Colombia’s transitional setting. In so doing, it overviews the legal representation of Indigenous Peoples in Colombia since colonial times and discusses the extent to which that representation continues to mark the legal definition and management within the country’s transitional justice narratives. The chapter provides a critical analysis of historical injuries and its relationship to Indigenous sovereignty and Indigenous data sovereignty, reflecting on the institutional ways in which Indigenous victims are defined within discourses of conflict management such as transitional justice and legal frameworks, in particular Law 1448 of 2011. The overall argument is that the periodization of victimhood promoted by the transitional justice laws does not allow for a broader understanding of the structural injuries endured by Indigenous communities. As a result, territorial struggles caused by the expansion of the extractive economy are left unaddressed to the detriment of Indigenous sovereignty. In order to illustrate this situation, the authors describe the experience of the Wayuu community and their counter-narrative of victimhood against development discourses and the extractive economy.
