The Miskitu ethnic group begins with the indigenous Bawihka people of northeastern Nicaragua intermarrying with runaway African slaves from the British Caribbean territories.These people are lumped together with the name “Sumu” which include Ulwa and Twaka languages.Other people that the tribe controls are small groups of Rama and Garífuna speakers.By the end of the 19^th century, English-speaking Black Creoles inhabited areas around Bluefields and Corn Island (Dennis 215).Together all of these people can be considered the Costeños.  Their territory extends from Cape Cameron in Honduras to Rio Grande in Nicaragua.-link to map

This land is very difficult to enter from inland Nicaragua and was only accessed by boat through the rain forest, rivers and savannas (Dennis 215).Due to contact with these slaves and English traders, the Miskitu developed a political structure that was heavily influenced by these two peoples[1].It was a system where the King was the figurehead of the state, but he did not have complete control over the Kingdom.It was broken up between himself, the “Governor,”  the “General,” and later, around 1759, the position of “Admiral,” was added to the leadership political structure.It was a system that allowed the Miskitu Kingdom to be able to enjoy stability for almost 240 years and maintain their independence from Spain, the Federation of Central American States, and Nicaragua until 1894.The first kings of the Miskito were semi mythical and it wasn’t until 1687 that the first historical account of a Miskito king, Jeremy I, was recorded.Thanks to English economic interest in the region, Miskito people were able to acquire guns, ammunition, and support from the British Empire that allowed them to secure their independent state.[2]The British-Spanish competition was aided by the Miskitu-Zambo slave raids in eastern Nicaragua.The Miskitu found runaway slaves from Providence Island from Spanish mines or English plantations (Helms "Miskito Slaving" 179).It was believed that the raids were started by the Miskitu in order to capture those in their surrounding areas to be sold as slaves in European trade market (Helms "Miskito Slaving" 179).Most likely, the buccaneers who were of English, French or Dutch background were assisted by the Miskitu men on Cape Gracias a Dios.The Miskitu men made dugouts for transportation, served as guides to interior Nicaragua and gave food to these buccaneers for more guns, ammunition and iron tools (Helms "Miskito Slaving 181).After buccaneering was outlawed in 1685, many buccaneers settled down with the Indians and blacks in Black River, in Honduras or Cape Gracias and Bluefields, in Nicaragua. 

The Miskitu men raided many areas according to different documents.The earliest accounts told that Miskitu men often captured Indian woman and children of Alboawinney or Oldwawes tribes who lived on the border of their territory because they were considered "wild Indians" to them.The Miskitu also raided "wild Indians" from the border of Costa Rica and the cacao plantations in Matina Valley (Helms "Miskito Slaving" 183).Other later sources from Spanish clergy and government officials claimed that Miskitu men raided Spanish settlements in central mountains of Honduras and Nicaragua as well as Peten, coast of Yucatan, and more southern regions in Costa Rica (Helms "Miskito Slaving" 184).When the Miskitu gained more firearms and the demand increased in Jamaica for Indian labor, the slave raids heightened.This ability of the Miskitu made them appear to be over-ruling of other Indian tribes. In the early 18^th century, the Miskitu had populated the region at an incredible rate because of the offspring from captive woman in the slave raids.Because of the excess number of woman, polygamy was practiced and there was more woman to do agricultural work.Eventually, Miskitu settlements became more permanent with solid agricultural settings.By the late 17^th century, the Miskitu were introduced to new plants and animals such as pigs, chickens, and rice which were all added to their diet.Because of their huge growth, other indigenous groups were forced to move or be incorporated into the Miskitu culture (Helms "Miskito Slaving" 186).  Miskito Indians supported British buccaneers in the seventeenth century and continued to raid Spanish colonies well after the British had stopped fighting the Spanish.The Miskito Kingdom signed treaties with British Jamaica and briefly faced an English attempt at greater control in the region, as of 1740, with an increased presence of English settlements in Miskito lands. 

The reasons why Miskitu men participated in the slave raids are cohesive.Many researchers claimed that these people did not consider themselves "wild Indians" and traded with the British because they wanted to have a British identity.The Miskitu tried to imitate the British cultural practices of dress, language and customs (Helms "Miskito Slaving" 189). All the Miskitu kings after Jeremy I in 1687 lived in Bluefields and were Creole as well as named by the British (Dennis 219).Eventually the King’s residence was moved to Bluefields in 1840 after being in Cape Gracias a Dio, Sandy Bay, and Pearl Lagoon.Even though the kingship stayed within the same lineage the kings were not chosen by the British.

When the Spanish recognized an admiral by the name of Dilson as the leader of the Miskito nation, the Kingdom briefly experienced a leadership divided.With the death of Dilson and his closest ally, admiral Israel, the Miskito nation was able to once again enjoy stability until the reign of George the II.Miskito leaders began siding with the Spanish, which lead to infighting with their kings, political assassinations, and instability.Once the English pulled out, Spanish settlers began to arrive in Miskito land in 1787, however the Miskitu revealed that they stilled controlled the land, as many settlers moved west.The Miskitu people have seen themselves as a British and United Statesprotectorate since 1740, so the government of Nicaragua is considered an alien government.When the Sandinista revolutionary movement swept Nicaragua in the 1980s, the eastern lands under the Miskitu didn’t really support the new government because it was predominately mestizo in nature and coming from the West.By 1982, the Miskito people were in open revolt against the Nicaragua government until 1985 when the government altered its policies towards the region and allowed the area to be broken into two autonomous regions.The Miskito people are now in the process of once again building their nation independently of the rule of Nicaragua.

After foreign companies left in the in the 1960s, it left the Moravian Church in a financial crisis because the Church was supported by these companies’ funding to provide workers.After they left, the economy in the Atlantic Coast plundered and the people could not afford to attend church because they did not have money to give to the required offering (Hawley 116). The sentiments in this era was “‘we are poor, we are miserable people; we have no money, we have no work, we have no food’” (Hawley 116-117).The economic crisis caused the Miskitu men to look for alternative sources of income by commercializing their natural resources and agriculture.This change was very big for the people since it eroded traditional views of communal labor and reciprocity.It also changed gender roles since the woman were predominately the agricultural laborers (Hawley 116).