Indigenous Peoples of Latin America: Blog

I have never taken an Indigenous focused course, let alone an Indigenous Latin America course. I was super excited to take this course, it was calling to me as people say. Through the weekly blog posts and discussion and analysis in class, this course has exercised my small ability of delving deeply and critically into a…

In the latter half of this collaborative ethnography, Davi Kopenawa speaks sternly to the white peoples misunderstandings of self-actualization. Through his travels to European/American cities, the visiting of historical sites, museums, seeing the bustle of city living, and the over-consumption of merchandise, he comes to understand white peoples contempt of the forest through their adroit disconnect…

What is different between this book and that of Guaman Poma, Rigoberta Menchu, and the Word as Our Weapon, is that the Yanomami people had never came into contact with foreigners prior to the mid 20th century. Thus, Davi Kopenawa and his most recent ancestors are able to recount their cultural histories vividly, as well…

In this second part of our word is our weapon we really get to see more of Marcos literary storytelling prowess, which is tied in with the more frequent mentioning of children within the Zapatista movement, and then in the later half of this part we move to the Indigenous lessons and values that were…

“Why do they fear us? Why so much hate for so few and so small a group? Because we have defied them, and the worst part about defiance is that it establishes a precedent.” (p. 90) Marcos, the non-indigenous and very poetically inclined “big nosed” man, writes of the Indigenous struggle in South eastern Mexico,…

This was a telling second half recounting the excruciating pain Rigoberta has had to witness or read about, with the death of her little brother, father, and mother being told back to back. These deaths, and her and her broader Indian and poor Ladino peoples prolonged suffering throughout their lives, we come to understand her…

One cannot help but feel so angry for the endeavours Rigoberta and her community had to endure. Endeavours which are not at all new and have happened to displaced, exploited, and underdeveloped people all over the world. Her unfiltered recount of her life ought to be enough to mobilize any decent human being. The beginning…

José María Arguedas, through his work Yawar Fiesta, tells a powerful story of how class, race, and political power hinder ‘Indians’ of the Andes in established Peru to authentically express their culture, beliefs, and collective identity. Seen through the annual Turupukllu and the rivalry between the two of the four ayllus, the K’ayau ayllu embrace a…

Wow what a lengthy second half, where to even begin? Guaman Poma in this latter half of his work explicitly reprimands the roles and systems in place under colonial rule that exploit the ‘poor Indians.’ His recounts of the immeasurable pain the colonial state bestowed on the Indigenous population made me quite sad. Stories of…

The cunning of Hunahpu and Xbalanque, their wisdom and respect for the life around them in good beings and animals, and their disregard for malevolent beings and lords, is endearing and illuminating to the values the K’iche’ people hold close. The twins and their balancing acts transpired as a way to set the world right…