Rama people

The Rama are an indigenous people living on the eastern coast of Nicaragua. Since the start of European colonization, the Rama population has declined as a result of disease, conflict, and loss of territory. In recent years, however, the Rama population has increased to around 2,000 individuals. A majority of the population lives on the island of Rama Cay, which is located in the Bluefields Lagoon. Additional small Rama communities are dispersed on the mainland from Bluefields to Greytown. The Rama are one of three main indigenous groups on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast. Due to centuries of colonial suppression the Rama people’s native language is facing extinction. Language revitalization efforts have been made in recent years and have achieved early success in Rama communities. Rama territory is currently being threatened by the Nicaraguan government and foreign investors, who are seeking to develop a transoceanic canal and to extract resources from the region. The vast majority of the indigenous Rama population inhabit the island of Rama Cay. Sumu Kaat, Tiktik Kaanu, Wiring Cay, Monkey Point, Bangkukuk Taik, Corn River, Punta Gorda, and Cane Creek are recognized as predominantly Rama communities on the mainland. The Rama people are descendants of a combination of indigenous communities that occupied the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua at the time of European contact. Following Spanish colonization of the region, British pirates formed an alliance with the Miskitu in order to gain control of portions of the Caribbean coast. The Miskitu assisted the British pirates in raiding Spanish ships and resisting Spanish control of the region in exchange for guns and other resources that allowed them to exert control over other indigenous groups like the Rama. According to Rama oral tradition, the Miskitu gifted the island of Rama Cay to them in the 18th century in recognition of their help in fighting the Teribe people of Costa Rica. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean coast came to rely upon private investment and enterprises for socio-economic stability.