THE MONTE VERDE ISSUE:
(Chile): Monte Verde is an archaeological site in southern
Chile, located near Puerto Montt, Southern Chile, which has been
dated to 14,800 years BP. This dating adds to the evidence showing
that the human settlement of the Americas pre-dates the Clovis
culture by roughly 1000 years. South America Indians Map -
Monte Verde by Tom Dillehay
MUISCAS OR CHIBCHA
CULTURE:
The Chibcha or Musica meaning "the people" was
an ancient culture centered on the upper Magdalena
River, around Bogot�, Colombia. Detached tribes of the same stock
were found along the Central American isthmus and in Costa Rica.
Culturally, the Chibcha resembled the Inca;
they practiced farming with the aid of an extensive system of irrigation,
wove cotton cloth, and worked gold with a high degree of skill,
although they were ignorant of the use of copper and bronze.
Excellent Pictures.
Excellent Information About Natives in Colombia.
Pre-Hispanic Societies in Colombia.
El Dorado (Gold Art)
TAIRONA CULTURE:
The Taironas achieved very high development in the
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. A complex road system
communicated the plain coast of the Atlantic Ocean with the high
Mountains of Santa Marta. Many towns were constructed along the road
side, many of them built up the hills with parapet and "terrazas"
with planted vegetation to avoid erosion. Their construction skills
were superb in comparison to other cultures in Colombia.
Excellent pictures.
Excellent Information About Natives in Colombia.
Satellite Picture (Sierra de
Santa Marta)
THE ZENU CULTURE: The Zenu
or Sinu is an Amerindian tribe in Colombia, whose ancestral
territory comprises the valleys of the Sinu and San Jorge rivers as
well as the coast of the Caribbean around the Gulf of Morrosquillo.
The Zenu culture existed from about 200 BCE to about 1600 CE,
constructing major water works and producing gold ornaments. The
gold that was often buried with their dead lured the Spanish
conquerors, who looted much of the gold. With the arrival of the
Spaniards, the tribe all but died out.
Channels Picture 1,
Channels Picture 2.
CARAL
CULTURE: Caral, or Caral-Supe, was a large settlement in
the Supe Valley, near Supe, Barranca province, Peru, some 200 km
north of Lima. Caral is the most ancient city of the American
Continent (Americas), and a well-studied site of the Caral or Norte
Chico civilization. Caral was inhabited between roughly 2600 BCE and
2000 BCE, enclosing an area of more than 60 hectares. Caral was
described by its excavators as the oldest urban center in the
Americas, a claim that was later challenged as other ancient sites
were found nearby. Accommodating more than 3,000 inhabitants, it is
the best studied and one of the largest Norte Chico sites known.
Satellite Picture (Caral)
Caral City Reconstruction,
Caral Pyramids.
CHANCAY CULTURE:
This culture developed
in the valleys of Chancay and Chillon, but they extended their
influence to Huaura (to the north) and to the right margin of the
Rimac river to the south. (900 - 1400 d.n.e.) The Chancay ceramics
come from vast cemeteries located in Ancon and the Chancay valley.
This objects have a rough white surface decorated in black. Pitchers
with a face shaped on top (called "chinas"), small figures of men
and women with their arms held high (best known as "cuchimilcos")
are the most representative works. Ceramics had a large scale
production beacause of the use of moulds. Andean Cultures Map.
PARACAS CULTURE:
The Paracas was an ancient culture of Peru. Paracas was
probably influenced by the earlier culture of Chav�n de Huantar. The
Paracas are known for resin-painted pottery and textiles, for many
the best the world has even known. Andean Cultures Map
CHIMU CULTURE:
Chimu,
was an ancient civilization on the desert coast of N Peru that
flourished after c.1200. The Chimu were urban people with a powerful
military, a complex social system, and well-planned cities such as
Chan Chan, their capital. They influenced the Cuismancu empire of
central Peru, but were absorbed c.1460 by the Inca. Excellent
Pictures by Philip Baird, (C) 1998. Excellent Satellite
Pictures. More
Pictures by James Q. Jacobs, 1999. Andean Cultures Map.
CHACHAPOYAS
CULTURE:
The Chachapoyas, also called the Warriors of the Clouds, was
a culture of Andean people living in the cloud forests of the
Amazonas Region of present-day Peru. The Incas conquered their
civilization shortly before the arrival of the Spanish in Peru. When
the Spanish arrived in Peru in the 16th century, the Chachapoyas
were one of the many nations ruled by the Inca Empire.
Excellent
Pictures by Philip Baird, (C) 1998.
Excellent Satellite
Pictures, More Pictures
by James Q. Jacobs, 1999. Andean Cultures Map.
NAZCA CULTURE:
Nazca
or Nasca, was an ancient indigenous culture of S Peru, fl.
before A.D. 1000. The Nazca are known for their polychrome pottery
and skillful weaving and dyeing. Aerial exploration of the arid
tableland surrounding their valley has revealed a network of lines
interspersed with giant animal forms�probably related to Nazca
astronomy and religion.
Did the Nazca
People used Balloons? Excellent
Pictures by Philip Baird, (C) 1998.
Satellite Picture (Hummingbird) Andean Cultures Map.
AMERICAN INDIAN
POPULATION ESTIMATES: The
population figure for indigenous peoples in the Americas before the
1492 voyage of Christopher Columbus has proven difficult to
establish in exact numbers. Scholars rely on archaeological data and
written records from settlers from the Old World. Most scholars
writing at the end of the 19th century estimated the pre-Columbian
population as low as 10 million; by the end of the 20th century most
scholars gravitate to a middle estimate of around 50 million, with
some historians arguing for 100 million or more. Contact with the
New World led to the European colonization of the Americas, in which
millions of immigrants from the Old World eventually settled the New
World. Hispaniola Indian Population
Decline, Mexico Indian Population
Decline.
THE ENCOMIENDA, 1503 In the
encomienda, the Spanish crown granted a person a specified number of
natives of a specific community, with the indigenous leaders in
charge of mobilizing the assessed tribute and labor. In turn,
encomenderos were to take responsibility for instruction in the
Christian faith, protection from warring tribes and pirates,
instruction in the Spanish language and development and maintenance
of infrastructure.
SPANIARDS PERIOD, POTOSI HILL/CERRO
RICO, 1545:
Cerro Rico (also called Cerro de Potos�, Quechua Sumaq Urqu) is a
mountain in the Andes near the Bolivian city of Potos�. Cerro Rico
was famous for providing vast quantities of silver for Spain during
the period of the New World Spanish Empire. The mountain, which is
popularly conceived of as being "made of" silver ore, caused the
city of Potos� to become one of the largest cities in the New World.
After 1800, the silver mines were depleted, making tin the main
product. This eventually led to a slow economic decline.
Satellite Picture (Cerro Rico)
Cerro Rico, Bolivia,
Potosi Coin,
Colonial Mines Map
LA COMPANIA DE JESUS:
A Jesuit reduction was a type of settlement for indigenous people in
South America created by the Jesuit Order during the 17th and 18th
centuries. The strategy of the Spanish Empire was to gather native
populations into centers called "Indian reductions" (reducciones de
indios), in order to Christianize, tax, and govern them more
efficiently. Missions Picture,
Missions Picture,
Latin American Missions Map,
Litoral Mission Map.
TUPAC AMARU II:
Jos� Gabriel Condorkanki (March 19, 1738 � May 18, 1781) � known as
T�pac Amaru II � was the leader of an indigenous uprising in 1780
against the Spanish in Peru. Although unsuccessful, he later became
a mythical figure in the Peruvian struggle for independence and
indigenous rights movement, as well as an inspiration to myriad
causes in Hispanophone America and beyond.
Tupac Amaru Picture.
TUPAC KATARI:
T�pac Katari or Catari (also T�paj Katari) (c. 1750�November 15,
1781), born Juli�n Apasa Nina, was an early leader of the
independence activists in Bolivia and a leader of an indigenous
rebellion against the Spanish Empire in the early 1780s. His wife
was Bartolina Sisa. Tupac Katari and
Barrtolina Sisa Picture.
LATIN AMERICA WARS FOR INDEPENDENCE:
The Latin American Wars of Independence were the revolutions
that took place during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and
resulted in the creation of a number of independent countries in
Latin America. These revolutions followed the American and French
Revolutions, which had profound effects on the Spanish, Portuguese
and French colonies in the Americas. Haiti, a French slave colony,
was the first to follow the United States to independence, during
the Haitian Revolution, which lasted from 1791 to 1804. Thwarted in
his attempt to rebuild a French empire in North America, Napoleon
Bonaparte turned his armies to Europe, invading and occupying many
countries, including Spain and Portugal in 1808, started the Latin
American Revolutions.
AGRARIAN
REFORMS 1930-2001: Land
reform (also agrarian reform, though that can have a broader
meaning) involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs
regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a
government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,
generally of agricultural land. Land reform can, therefore, refer to
transfer of ownership from the more powerful to the less powerful,
such as from a relatively small number of wealthy (or noble) owners
with extensive land holdings (e.g., plantations, large ranches, or
agribusiness plots) to individual ownership by those who work the
land. Such transfers of ownership may be with or without
compensation; compensation may vary from token amounts to the full
value of the land.
YANOMAMO TRIBE:
The Yanomamo also called Yanomami, and Yanomama, are deep jungle
Indians living in the Amazon basin in both Venezuela and Brazil.
AMAZONIAN INDIANS: The
Indigenous peoples in Brazil (Portuguese: povos ind�genas no
Brasil) comprise a large number of distinct ethnic groups who
inhabited the country prior to the European invasion around 1500.
Unlike j1Christopher Columbus, who thought he had reached the East
Indies, the Portuguese, most notably Vasco da Gama, had already
reached India via the Indian Ocean route when they reached Brazil.
On 18 January 2007, FUNAI reported that it had confirmed the
presence of 67 different uncontacted tribes in Brazil, up from 40 in
2005. Brazilian Indigenous people have made substantial and
pervasive contributions to the world's medicine with knowledge used
today by pharmaceutical corporations, material and cultural
development�such as the domestication of cassava and other natural
foods. Satellite Picture (Kuhikugu)
Kuhikugu Reconstruction
MAPUCHE
TRIBE: The Mapuche (Araucanians)
people were the first inhabitants of half of the area today known as
Chile and Argentina. Before the Spanish arrived in 1541, the Mapuche
occupied a vast territory in the A Southern Cone of the continent
and the population numbered about two million. At present they
number approximately 1.5 million (constituting over 10% of the total
population) in Chile, and two hundred thousand in Argentina.
Mapuches Today.
South America Indians Map.
Heroes:Lautaro
(1534-1557); Caupolican (????-1558);
Galvarino
(????-1557) Book: "La
Auracana" by Alonso de Ercilla (1569, 1578, 1589)
AYMARA TRIBE: The Aymara
are an ancient people with a complex and still imperfectly
understood history. They are a people rich in myth, knowledge and
spirituality. The Aymara were the members of a great but
little-known culture of the Americas centered in the ancient city of
Tiahuanaco. Between 400 AD. and 1000 AD. Tiahuanaco was the capital
of an empire that spanned great parts of the south-central Andes
Mountains.
South America Indians Map
URO TRIBE:
The Uros Indians of Peru and Bolivia are a very interesting
people. They live high in the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes and on
Lake Titicaca on floating islands. They were forced onto the lake as
the Incan Indians pushed further and further into their territory.
The Uros Islands are made of reeds which grow naturally on the banks
of Lake Titicaca.
South America Indians Map
GUARANI TRIBE:
The Guaran� are best known for their connection to the early
Jesuit missions of Paraguay, the most notable mission foundation
ever established in America, and for their later heroic resistance
-- as the State of Paraguay, against the combined powers of Brazil,
Argentina, and Uruguay -- until practically all their able-bodied
men were almost exterminated.
South America Indians Map
WICHI TRIBE:
The Wichi have lived for millennia
on their land in northern Argentina, part of the huge lowland basin
known as the Chaco. They live between the Bermejo and Pilcomayo
rivers near the borders of Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia. South America Indians Map
TECHUELCHE TRIBE:
Patagonia has been permanently inhabited for around 12,500 years.
When the Spaniards came, there were two main groups. To the North of
the river Chubut were the G�N�N-A-K�NA or Northern Tehuelche.
To the South were the AONIKENK or Southern Tehuelche up to
the Strait of Magellan
DIAGUITA TRIBE:
The Diaguita, also called Diaguita-Calchaqu�,
are a groupof South
American Indians. The Diaguita culture developed
between the 8th and 16th centuries in what are now the northwestern
Argentina.
South America Indians Map
MOXE TRIBE The Moxeno culture
of Bolivia was once a grand and sophisticated culture believed to
have numbered over 8 million at one point. They speak the Arawak
language and are native to the department of Beni. They number about
80,000 now and they are known as Bolivia�s �water� culture as they
built over 20,000 hills and channels over an extensive area as part
of a sophisticated water collection and irrigation system. Their
population was decimated when the Spaniards arrived in search of the
infamous El Dorado fountain of youth.
South America Indians Map.
Picture 1,
Picture 2
THE MONTE VERDE ISSUE:
(Chile): Monte Verde is an archaeological site in southern
Chile, located near Puerto Montt, Southern Chile, which has been
dated to 14,800 years BP. This dating adds to the evidence showing
that the human settlement of the Americas pre-dates the Clovis
culture by roughly 1000 years. South America Indians Map
DISTRIBUTION OF
INDIAN IN SOUTH AMERICA
(Walter Krickeberg):
Hunters and Collectors: 1) The
Magallanes Group, 2) The Pampas Group, 3) The Chaco Group, 4)The
Brazilian Eastern Group.
Crop Cultivators: 1) El Amazonian
Group, 2) The Andes Group, 3)The Caribbean Group
HISTORY OF THE "CONQUEST" OF PERU
(Map) Source: The Last of the Incas: The Rise and Fall of an
American Empire by Edward Hyams and George Ordish
Pizarro
and his men found the camp where Atahualpa was staying, and upon
sending in Hernando Pizarro, Francisco's brother, Atahualpa agreed
to meet with the Spanish. Now, he was not ignorant of their ways,
nor was their arrival a surprise. in fact he had been expecting
them. After several days of making the Spaniards wait, Atahualpa
rode to meet them. However, when he arrived at the agreed place
there was no one in sight, for they were hiding in order to make a
surprise attack. The first person to reveal himself was Vicente de
Valverde, a Dominican Friar. Through a translator, he told the Inca
Atahualpa that he and his people must convert, and if he refused
they would be considered an enemy of the Church and Spain. Atahualpa
refused (Hyams and Ordish 221). His refusal gave Pizarro a perfect
reason to begin an attack on the Inca people. They did not practice
the true faith and therefore were totally justified in attacking
them in the name of Christianity. The Spanish opened fire and
attacked the Inca soldiers that were there with Atahualpa (221). In
the struggle, Pizarro's men went after the Inca, intending to kill
him. But Pizarro had other plans and in saving Atahualpa's life was
the only Spaniard injured in the showdown (225). Atahualpa was then
captured and taken prisoner (226).
The
amazing part of all this is that the Inca had such power and
influence over his people that even the civil war and the capture of
Atahualpa had little effect on everyday society (227). Aside from
the fact that the brothers were divided, things were still running
fairly smoothly. Upon his capture, Atahualpa was not treated badly
but with respect and was allowed to communicate with his people,
including his troops (228). Of course Atahualpa wanted to be free
again and decided to make a deal with Pizarro. He agreed to fill a
room with gold and silver in return for his release, and they signed
a contract to that effect (231). In the meantime, Pizarro had no
intention of letting Atahualpa go because he needed his influence
over the Inca people to keep order once the Spanish started to take
over. Hu�scar, who played only a small role in things, was still
alive and Atahualpa feared that as long as Hu�scar lived, Pizarro
might not need him. For Hu�scar would make a better puppet ruler
than Atahualpa. He feared for his life and thus ordered the
execution of his brother Hu�scar (232).
The
contract was finally filled, but, as can be expected, Pizarro did
not fulfill his end of the bargain. He did not free Atahualpa. Under
the guise of a possible insurrection among the Inca against the
Spanish, Pizarro decided to bring Athualpa up on charges. There were
twelve total, the most important of which were attempting to revolt
against the Spanish, practicing idolatry, and murdering Hu�scar
(250). Pizarro and Almagro acted as judges and a defense person was
provided for Atahualpa, as was a prosecutor. As even Atahualpa
himself expected, he was found guilty and sentenced to be burned
(251).
With all
due haste, Pizarro decided to execute Atahualpa that night, fearing
that the rest of his men may learn that there was no insurrection,
and that Atahualpa had been falsely accused. After being lead to the
place of execution, Atahualpa begged for his life (253). At this
time Valverde, the priest that started the whole thing at Cajamarca,
told Atahualpa that if he agreed to convert, he would reduce the
sentence. He agreed to be baptized and was garroted instead of
burned (254). The day was August 29, 1553. "With him died...the
independent existence of a noble race" (254).
The "Fall" of the Incas
The
death of Atahualpa at Cajamarca was the beginning of the end for the
Inca people. "With the death of Atahualpa, Peru was to discover what
it was like to suffer the dominion of a European hero" (254). The
situation went quickly downhill. Pizarro had Toparca, Atahualpa's
brother named Inca and used him as a "puppet" ruler until he died
unexpectedly. Manco Capac, Hu�scar's brother was then named ruler
and also set up as a "puppet." Here everything fell apart. Remote
provinces of the Incas extensive empire revolted and in some cases
even allied with the Spanish against the Incas (259). Lands and
crops were neglected and the people experienced a famine they had
never known. The Indians, now wise to the Spanish motive of getting
out all the gold and silver they could, started looting and hiding
it from everyone. Addiction to coca and alcohol were commonplace all
over the kingdom (256,257). Disease also played a huge role. Those
diseases that had once been running rampant all over Europe in the
previous century, were now destroying the lives of hundreds of
thousands of Incas. Inflation was terrible. The gold that Pizarro
and his men had wanted so badly was everywhere and prices soared. A
bottle of wine was $1,700 and a good horse was $7,000. Grain became
more valuable than the Spaniards precious gold (257). The great
civilization no longer existed.
Francisco Pizarro himself turned out to be an ineffective ruler. He
had problems controlling his own men let alone the Indians. Because
there were so many disagreements among the Spanish at the time, King
Charles of Spain had to step in. In effect, he gave modern Peru to
Pizarro and modern Chile to Almagro. However, they still had fights
over the Inca capital of Cuzco, and Pizarro finally sent his brother
Hernando to confront Almagro. He did just that. He won the city and
proceeded to have Almagro garroted. In return for this, Almagro's
Inca son and his followers had Pizarro killed.
Although
we can see that the Incas obviously existed after the death of
Atahualpa, it is also obvious that with his execution came the end
of a great civilization. The cultures of the Spanish and Incas
clashed to such a great extent that it brought about the demise. The
differences in their backgrounds, such as religion, support this.
"Spanish Catholicism was by Peruvian standards, atrocious" (260).
The Incas could not understand how a religion could justify what the
Spanish were doing to their people.
The
Peruvians were used to war, but it was a war conducted according to
strict rules, it was relatively mild and humane, and victory was
wisely and economically used. They now found themselves opposed to a
new kind of human being who waged war � outrance, inspired
by a terrifying religion which enabled them to use treachery,
hypocrisy, cruelty, torture, and massacre in the name of a God of
Love; who were indifferent to the suffering they inflicted and
superhumanly stoical in bearing suffering which their own conduct
entailed for themselves...(260)
Besides
the clash of religion there was also the Spaniards greed for gold.
As we have seen, Pizarro and most of his men were from the lower
classes in Spain and had little to do with such wealth prior to
their involvement with the Incas. What better motivation is there
for conquering a people without caring for their welfare if not gold
and riches? "It must have seemed to these wretched people that they
had fallen into the hands of all-powerful devils, for their
conquerors were for the most part heartless and, moreover, clearly
mad, since they mistook gold for wealth and valued it above the
heart's blood of a great nation" (262).
God,
gold and glory. These three words are often used to describe the
conquest of the natives of the New World, and with the situation of
the Incas it could not be more true. Because of these three words,
an entire empire of people fell and will never return to their
former glory. The Spanish gave little thought to it though. The
Indians "were enslaved, tortured, and worked to death to provide the
Europeans with gold. They were infected by the newcomers with
tuberculosis, measles, and smallpox" (262). They were forced to
convert to a religion that they did not believe in. Edward Hyams
said it best with his use of an analogy. He compared the Inca
civilization to that of a dance where all of the patterns are the
same and it continues day to day without faltering or interruption.
He says, "the great dance had been their reality; they awoke into
the nightmare of chaos" (263). It was a chaos that destroyed to
lives that they knew and that would be forever changed.
Source:
The Last of the Incas: The Rise and Fall of an American Empire by
Edward Hyams and George Ordish
NATIVE AMERICANS OF LATIN AMERICA
The
Native American population of Latin America is estimated at 26.3
million (some said 40 million to 70 million), of whom 24 million
live in Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru. Generally
classified as campesinos (peasants) by the governments of the
countries in which they live, the vast majority live in extreme
poverty in remote rural areas where they eke out a living from the
land. Native American campesinos make up 55 percent of the total
population of Bolivia and Guatemala. In all of Latin America, only
Uruguay has no remaining indigenous population.
Only 1.5 percent of the total Native American population of Latin
America is designated as tribal, mainly in Brazil, Colombia, Panama,
Paraguay, and Venezuela. Many of the tribal groups live in the
remote jungle environment of the Amazon Basin, where they subsist by
hunting, fishing, and gathering manioc and other roots. Current
Brazilian expansion into the Amazon, however, threatens the physical
and cultural survival of the Amazon tribes, as diseases brought by
outsiders decimate the indigenous populations, and mineral
exploration and highway construction destroy tribal hunting grounds.
The
largest unacculturated Brazilian tribe today is the Yanomamo,
numbering more than 16,000 people, for whom the Brazilian government
plans to create a special park where they may be protected.
Anthropologists estimate, however, that the Yanomamo would need at
least 6.4 million hectares (16 million acres) in order to continue
their traditional life-style.
The
total indigenous population of Latin America includes slightly more
than 400 different Native American groups, with their own languages
or dialects. Like the Native Americans of North America, they live
in vast extremes of climate and conditions, ranging from the Amazon
jungle to the heights of the Andes, where one group, on Lake
Titicaca, subsists on artificial islands of floating reeds.
Source: Microsoft Bookshelf and Microsoft Encyclopedia, 1996-1997.
Sources: Most
of the sources in this page come from Wikipedia
