Ebook: La víctima en los sistemas jurídicos indígenas

This article studies the victim within Native American legal systems, which
in turn have been characterized by an identity linked with collective victimization since
colonial times. Ethnographic and ethno historical sources are used to identify the
Indian character of the victim in this context, underlining the importance of historical
and cultural analyses as an instrument for an effective protection of human rights.
The author finds a fundamental contradiction between communitarian interests and
public policies developed by the state, emphasizing that harmonizing cultural principles
with the legal framework is necessary. This would allow the development of
public policies to strengthen community empowerment as a means to revert the collective
character of victimization.