American Indian Culture and Research Journal

CONTINENTAL INDIGENOUS ALLIANCE "500 YEARS OF RESISTANCE" DECLARATION OF QUITO 21 JULY 1990 The Continental Meeting "500 Years of Indian Resistance" with representatives of 120 Indian Nations, International Organizations, and Fraternal Organizations, meeting in Quito July 17-21, 1990, declare before the world the following: We, the Indians of America, have never abandoned our constant struggle against the conditions of oppression, discrimination, and exploitation that have been imposed upon us since the European invasion of our ancestral lands. Our struggle is not merely a reaction to the commemoration of 500 yeas of oppression, which our invaders, in collaboration with the "democratic" governments of our countries, want to convert into acts of celebration and jubilation. Indian peoples, nationalities, and nations are providing a combative and committed response to reject this "celebration," based on our identity, which should lead us to a definitive liberation.