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Colonization effects on Indigenous people
Colonization effects on Indigenous people
The impact of colonization on Indigenous people
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In Cholas and Pishtacos: Stories of Race and Sex in the Andes, Mary Weismantel provides an extensive, detailed understanding of cholas and pishtacos in the Andes. Through further analysis, Weismantel distinguishes the main difference between the two stories: the pishtaco is only but a figment of the Andean’s imagination, and the chola is an urban Indian women working in the city. The details about the pishtacos and the cholas will be carefully described with the symbolism of each figure. Secondly, this paper will contrast and compare the two figure’s roles and characteristics regarding sex and race. Finally, the changes of the cholas and pishtacos due to colonial enterprise will be discussed, also in terms of race and sex within the Andes. The estrangement of the cholas and pishtacos creates an uncanniness feeling for others within the Andean community. The cholas are incredibly …show more content…
appealing to the eyes of the Andean community and to foreign tourists, and they have defined terms in the Andes. ‘Cholas’ are market women who buy goods from farmers and sell to the urban women, or take manufactured goods and sell them to rural people (Weismantel 2001, 24). A chola is easy to spot as they wear bright coloured pollera skirts and big-hooped earrings; however, to encourage tourists to see an exotic setting, photographs of cholas are altered to fit the “typical cholas of Cuenca”, by showing cholas weaving hats and sitting on dirt roads (Weismantel 2001, 26). Weismantel argues that when artists try to represent cholas, they have a hard time doing so because the women act not only as an outsider in racial terms, but they are also a “cherished emblem of regional or national culture” (Weismantel 2001, 21). While the market women are considered an important symbol, their presence is not welcomed, thus revealing growing anxiety by those around them. The growing anxiety of sex and race are revealed by the market women and the estrangement within the marketplace can be clearly seen. Sex of the market violates the gender categories of female and male; a market women doing labour inside the city is a “matter out of place”, and is a cultural violation of femininity and masculinity (Weismantel 2001, 46). The sight of women in the market generates an uneasy feeling in males, and produces gossip that chola women are a “public scandal: a woman without a man, working the streets” (Weismantel 2001, 70). Andean society has characterized the chola as dirty, “originating in the woman [herself]”, but in the same manner, cholas are a symbolic expression nationalism (Weismantel 2001, 45, 25). Nonetheless, all these specific details about the chola women are what creates the uncanniness within the Andean community. Another figure that Andeans talk about is the pishtaco.
Indians know a pishtaco when they see one because he is a stranger, and can easily be described as a white male with long hair, a big coat and large boots, and will usually be carrying a gun or a knife. A pishtaco can also be identified as a trades worker or a butcher because of the tools he possesses (Weismantel 2001, 194). The first few generations of pishtacos owned horses as modes of transportation, but now, in the more recent years, they own jeeps. Jeeps are another possession that anyone can own, but will pose a possible threat of being a pishtaco, as they are considered wealthy white men (Weismantel 2001, 186). A theme of violence often appears when discussing the pishtacos. Whether it is in a joke or in story-telling, Andeans know that violence is a tradition of the pishtaco. Close ties with militaries and politicians creates an “institution of fear”, so the social distance between Indians and whites is kept at large (Weismantel 2001, 7). After all, what frightens the Andean community the most, is the pishtacos
absence. Even though the pishtaco is a fictitious stranger, he is intimately familiar to Indians. A reason for being so familiar, is that the pishtaco is a current form of previous defeats – stemming from the colonialism of white, Europeans (Weismantel 2001, 16). Using letters and numbers as a “coded language” or using sexual seduction, he lures in his curious and naïve victims to take the fat from their bodies (Weismantel 2001, 193). Then again, stealing of Indian’s body fat is the most important characteristic of the pishtaco. Whites and Indians eat different foods, thus producing an array of body types. Weismantel acknowledges the reports of Manya states that pishtacos prefer Indians “because they produce better fat” (Weismantel 2001, 190). This preference, along with the unknown of whether or not a pishtaco is going to kill a man, terrifies him to no end.
However, as illustrated by Walker, the colonial rulers would in turn batter the natives with their alternative goals and ideas for the future of Lima. Finally, the author reconstructs the upheaval of Lima during its’ reconstruction and their forced and struggled relationship with the Spanish crown that ultimately led to rebellions and retaliations by the Afro-Peruvians and Indians. To begin with, it is imperative to understand the premise and dialogue of the book. Walker divides Shaky Colonialism into eight chapters. These chapters detail the inhabitants’ perceptions, struggles, efforts, etc. through the eyes and ideas of Walker.
Inventing the Savage: The Social Construct of Native American Criminality. Luana Ross. Austin: University of Texas Press. 1998.
Colonial Latin American society in the Seventeenth Century was undergoing a tremendous amount of changes. Society was transforming from a conquering phase into a colonizing phase. New institutions were forming and new people and ideas flooded into the new lands freshly claimed for the Spanish Empire. Two remarkable women, radically different from each other, who lived during this period of change are a lenses through which many of the new institutions and changes can be viewed. Sor Juana and Catalina de Erauso are exceptional women who in no way represent the norm but through their extraordinary tales and by discovering what makes them so extraordinary we can deduce what was the norm and how society functioned during this era of Colonial Latin America.
Napoleon Chagnon has spent about 60 months since 1964 studying the ‘foot people’ of the Amazon Basin known as the Yanomamo. In his ethnography, Yanomamo, he describes all of the events of his stay in the Venezuelan jungle. He describes the “hideous” appearance of the Yanomamo men when first meeting them, and their never-ending demands for Chagnon’s foreign goods, including his food. There are many issues that arise when considering Chagnon’s Yanomamo study. The withholding of genealogical information by the tribesmen, and how Chagnon was able to obtain his information is an interesting and significant aspect of this study. Why did Chagnon feel that this genealogical information was important? And was Chagnon’s choice to study the Yanomamo, despite their hesitancy to cooperate, a wise and ethical one?
Through the study of the Peruvian society using articles like “The “Problem of the Indian...” and the Problem of the Land” by Jose Carlos Mariátegui and the Peruvian film La Boca del Lobo directed by Francisco Lombardi, it is learned that the identity of Peru is expressed through the Spanish descendants that live in cities or urban areas of Peru. In his essay, Mariátegui expresses that the creation of modern Peru was due to the tenure system in Peru and its Indigenous population. With the analyzation of La Boca del Lobo we will describe the native identity in Peru due to the Spanish treatment of Indians, power in the tenure system of Peru, the Indian Problem expressed by Mariátegui, and the implementation of Benedict Andersons “Imagined Communities”.
One of the hardest realities of being a minority is that the majority has a thousand ways to hurt anyone who is part of a minority, and they have but two or three ways to defend themselves. In Sherman Alexie’s short story The Toughest Indian in the World, Roman Gabriel Fury is a member of the Native American minority that makes up less than two percent of the total United States population (1.2 percent to be exact). This inherent disadvantage of being a minority, along with various cultural factors, influences the conflicted character of Roman Gabriel Fury and his attitudes toward the white majority. Through his use of strong language, demanding tone, and vibrant colors, Roman Gabriel Fury is able to reveal his complex feelings about growing up Indian in a predominately white world.
This novel is a story of a Chicano family. Sofi, her husband Domingo together with their four daughters – Esperanza, Fe, Caridad, and Loca live in the little town of Tome, New Mexico. The story focuses on the struggles of Sofi, the death of her daughters and the problems of their town. Sofi endures all the hardships and problems that come her way. Her marriage is deteriorating; her daughters are dying one by one. But, she endures it all and comes out stronger and more enlightened than ever. Sofi is a woman that never gives up no matter how poorly life treats her. The author- Ana Castillo mixes religion, super natural occurrences, sex, laughter and heartbreak in this novel. The novel is tragic, with no happy ending but at the same time funny and inspiring. It is full of the victory of the human spirit. The names of Sofi’s first three daughters denote the three major Christian ideals (Hope, Faith and Charity).
Although the work is 40 years old, “Custer Died for Your Sins” is still relevant and valuable in explaining the history and problems that Indians face in the United States. Deloria’s book reveals the White view of Indians as false compared to the reality of how Indians are in real life. The forceful intrusion of the U.S. Government and Christian missionaries have had the most oppressing and damaging affect on Indians. There is hope in Delorias words though. He believes that as more tribes become more politically active and capable, they will be able to become more economically independent for future generations. He feels much hope in the 1960’s generation of college age Indians returning to take ownership of their tribes problems and build a better future for their children.
According to Deloria, there are many misconceptions pertaining to the Indians. He amusingly tells of the common White practice of ...
The Andes had a legacy of resistance that was unseen in other Spanish occupied place during the colonial period. There were rebellions of various kinds as a continued resistance to conquest. In the “Letters of Insurrection”, an anthology of letters written amongst the indigenous Andean people, between January and March 1781 in what is now known as Bolivia, a statement is made about the power of community-based rebellion. The Letters of Insurrection displays effects of colonization and how the “lesser-known” revolutionaries that lived in reducción towns played a role in weakening colonial powers and creating a place of identification for indigenous people.
Texas Indians were very unique in their culture and way of life. The Texas Indians had a unique social order; physical appearance, acquired subsistence in many different ways, and had many unique cultural practice. As a result, many historians study the native Indians in Texas with awe and amazement. With a deep and interesting analysis of the Texas Indians, historians can understand the people; and their way of life. Based on the text, “La Relacion” which was written by Alvar Nunez de Vaca, an analysis of said subject can be conducted.
Stereotypes dictate a certain group in either a good or bad way, however more than not they give others a false interpretation of a group. They focus on one factor a certain group has and emphasize it drastically to the point that any other aspect of that group becomes lost. Media is one of the largest factors to but on blame for the misinterpretation of groups in society. In Ten Little Indians, there are many stereotypes of Native Americans in the short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”. The story as a whole brings about stereotypes of how a Native American in general lives and what activities they partake in. By doing so the author, Alexie Sherman, shows that although stereotypes maybe true in certain situations, that stereotype is only
To most Americans today, life on the reservation is not at all like is glorified to be. Sherman Alexie uses his literary talent to expose the truth inside the reservation. In particular, in his short stories, “The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation No Longer Flashes Red,” “Every Little Hurricane,” and “Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,” Alexie reveals the ever continuous cycle trend of alcoholism, poverty, and racial injustice from one generation to the next. As the trend continues, the earlier it seems that the Native American youth are falling into the habits and life choices of their parents. Thus, each of the previously stated short stories addresses the negative turn-of-events that lead to the Native American youth following the same corrupt path as the generations before them from a different angle to expose the truth within the reservation.
The contrast between the Mexican world versus the Anglo world has led Anzaldua to a new form of self and consciousness in which she calls the “New Mestiza” (one that recognizes and understands her duality of race). Anzaldua lives in a constant place of duality where she is on the opposite end of a border that is home to those that are considered “the queer, the troublesome, the mongrel and the mulato” (25). It is the inevitable and grueling clash of two very distinct cultures that produces the fear of the “unknown”; ultimately resulting in alienation and social hierarchy. Anzaldua, as an undocumented woman, is at the bottom of the hierarchy. Not only is she a woman that is openly queer, she is also carrying the burden of being “undocumented”. Women of the borderlands are forced to carry two degrading labels: their gender that makes them seem nothing more than a body and their “legal” status in this world. Many of these women only have two options due to their lack of English speaking abilities: either leave their homeland – or submit themselves to the constant objectification and oppression. According to Anzaldua, Mestizo culture was created by men because many of its traditions encourage women to become “subservient to males” (39). Although Coatlicue is a powerful Aztec figure, in a male-dominated society, she was still seen
In American Indian Stories, University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London edition, the author, Zitkala-Sa, tries to tell stories that depicted life growing up on a reservation. Her stories showed how Native Americans reacted to the white man’s ways of running the land and changing the life of Indians. “Zitkala-Sa was one of the early Indian writers to record tribal legends and tales from oral tradition” (back cover) is a great way to show that the author’s stories were based upon actual events in her life as a Dakota Sioux Indian. This essay will describe and analyze Native American life as described by Zitkala-Sa’s American Indian Stories, it will relate to Native Americans and their interactions with American societies, it will discuss the major themes of the book and why the author wrote it, it will describe Native American society, its values and its beliefs and how they changed and it will show how Native Americans views other non-Natives.