Indigenous People of South America

Indigenous People of South America

Introduction

The indigenous peoples (aboriginal peoples) of South America are found from the Isthmus of Panama to Tierra del Fuego. An estimated 30 million people were living there when the Europeans arrived. In the Andean region extensive remains show developed cultures at Chav'n de Hu‡ntar and among the Paracas in Peru. The Mochica, Chimu, and Nazca in Peru, the Chibcha and Aymara of the Andes, and the Araucanos and Mapuche of Chile had socially complex pre-Columbian cultures, surpassed only by the Inca.

Descendants of these peoples live today in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, northwestern Argentina, and Chile. Quechua, spoken by the Inca, is the most widely spoken language in South America. (Cappel 2009)

Since the Spanish conquest indigenous peoples have been used as laborers, poorly paid and lacking political representation; these conditions of semiservitude are changing slowly. Some, notably the Inca, play a significant role in the national culture; but many live in small, peripheral groups.

A few descendants of the Arawaks and Caribs live in Venezuela, the Guianas, and Northern Brazil. The Guaran' in Brazil are few and scattered, but in Paraguay their language is widely spoken and, like Quechua in Bolivia, is the official language of the country.

The Land Vs The Government

Sadly, the indigenous peoples of South America continue to be assimilated into white-dominated national cultures as their traditional ways of life and homelands are being destroyed by over-population growth and industrial development.

The tribal peoples of the rainforest tend to think in terms of collective land ownership rather than the European concept of individual purchase of land. In recent years many indigenous peoples of the rainforest have fought hard against their own governments to have the collective ownership of their tribal lands recognized, and to oppose environmentally-damaging activities on their land by outsiders interested only in profit. (König 2009)

The ancestors of the indigenous people living in the Americas today are descended from the hunter-gatherers who migrated to the continent from Asia over 12,000 years ago. At this time there was a land bridge between Russia and Alaska which allowed migration of humans and animal species. The genetic connection to Asians is evident among the indigenous people who are noted for their dark eyes, straight black hair and lightly tanned skin.

While many indigenous peoples lived in tribal groupings and continued to live from hunter-gathering or simple farming, others developed into sophisticated hierarchical societies. Civilizations such as the Mayans, Incas and Aztecs built cities and roads, created huge and ornate temple structures and developed complex systems of law and taxation. (Gotkowitz 2008)

European conquest meant huge upheaval for indigenous people. In the 1600s there were forced conversions to Catholicism under pain of being burned to death. European colonizers took ownership of the best land and resources and those indigenous who hadn't died from war or disease had to try and survive in the most difficult of environments - the high mountains or the deep forest.

While some indigenous people mixed with the colonizers, ...