Long ago, when Spanish conquistadors arrived to countries along the Amazon, they took control of people and places. They forced Indigenous people to speak Spanish, enslaved many Indigenous people, and treated them with extreme brutality. Nowadays, people no longer treat each other as brutally as before, but there is still discrimination and social inequality towards Indigenous people in many South American countries, including Ecuador.
The Indigenous population in Ecuador is approximately 1.1 million people. There are 14 different Indigenous peoples in the country, including the Tsáchila, Chachi, Epera, Awa, Kichwa, Shuar, Achuar, Shiwiar, Cofán, Siona, Secoya, Zápara, Andoa and Waorani and Afro-Indígena. I belong to the Kichwas Indigenous nationality of the Ecuadorian Sierra. We, as indigenous peoples, suffer many types of violence and discrimination. Particularly this can happen in schools where teachers have been known to discriminate against Indigenous children. For example, when I was little the teacher treated my cousins and me differently from other students. They never called us by our names. Instead they only called us “Indians.” They told us we were dirty, because our skin was darker. The teachers told us, “this school is not for Indigenous children. You don’t belong here. You should go back to where you were born.” This hurt me a lot.
Indigenous children experience discrimination like this and there are barriers for them to do well in school. They also often live far away from school and there are no school buses, and so it is very hard to get to school. School is taught in Spanish, but Indigenous children often grow up speaking their people’s language. In addition there are other barriers that all students face, including they have to pay for school materials and uniforms, they have to pay extra money to the teachers and for the exams. Many Indigenous children drop out of school to work, according to a 2020 U.S. Department of Labor Report. According to a United Nations Population Funds report, Indigenous women on average have received less than three years of school. This is true of my mother, who had to leave school in second grade to work. Many Indigenous adults can’t read. According to one report, 88% of Indigenous people live in poverty.
The Ecuadorian government should build schools for Indigenous children that are closer to where they live. Many children are out of school due to the lack of resources and school supplies. Could the Ecuadorian government provide free school supplements and support for Indigenous students? It is important to have prepared teachers who can speak the same language as Indigenous children, which can improve bilingual multicultural education. What if schools were encouraged to hire multilingual teachers and there was dedicated money for these teachers?
All Ecuadorians should understand that we as Indigenous children can also be great and have good futures. Ecuador should invest and believe in us.
Genesis Vera, 16, was born in Ecuador Loja, Saraguro, El Paraiso de Celen. She is a junior at Lowell High School. She likes to play badminton and cook. Genesis hopes in the future to be a flight attendant and travel the world.