MISKITO

also spelled Mostique, or Mosquito, Central American Indians of the lowlands along the Caribbean coast of northeastern Nicaragua. They were encountered by Columbus on his fourth voyage and have been in steady European contact since the mid-17th century. In the late 20th century five subgroups existed, with a total population of perhaps 70,000. The modern Miskito are agricultural, their staple crop being cassava. They also keep poultry, cattle, and other farm animals. The Miskito culture has been strongly influenced by European contacts and by intermarriage with Africans brought to the area as slaves. In colonial times it was very similar to that of the neighbouring Sumo. Many Miskito Indians fled to neighbouring Honduras in the 1980s after conflicts developed between them and the Sandinista government of Nicaragua, and some Miskitos joined rebel groups seeking to overthrow the Sandinistas.