Graduation Year

2026

Date of Submission

4-2026

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

History

Reader 1

Daniel Livesay

Reader 2

Suyapa Portillo Villeda

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© 2026 Stephanie Hernandez

Abstract

This thesis examines the practices of Lenca Community, with a focus on women and LGBTTI+ Lenca and their methods of resistance through testimonio interviews and oral history. Many sources included come from The Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) and other Indigenous organizations based in Honduras. I analyze the construction of mestizo identity by the Honduran state and the long-term effects on Indigenous sovereignty and rights. Looking at the river Gualcarque extractivist project on Lenca territory and the resistance led by Berta Cáceres and COPINH against it. As well as looking at the part that the United States plays in the production of these extractivist projects and its effects on Indigenous peoples. Ultimately, I aim to demonstrate the impacts of past and current colonial projects by the Honduran state, and collaboration with the United States to extract from Indigenous communities, and resistance led by women and LGBTTI+ Lenca against these attempts.

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