The Indian Awakening In Latin America :: essays research papers

The Indian Awakening in Latin AmericaThis book describes difficulties of the Indians who inhabit thefollowing countries Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Panama, andBrazil. This book is a compilation of the various struggles of indians living inthese countries of Latin America. For over four centuries, these people havebeen taken advantage of by the Europeans who invaded their lands. Many of thecustoms and traditions of the Indians in Latin America have struggled forsurvival throughout the centuries from the problems that the whites have caused.Latin American Indians have struggled through hardships created by the whitesthat include a loss of lands, slavery, discrimination, a fill in rearrangementof their beliefs and cultures, ethnocide, and genocide.The Latin American Indians have struggled for centuries since theinvasions of their lands to reclaim their lands, and way of life. The lands forthem is not simply dirt for them to cultivate. The various Indian cultures h avelived with their lands in harmony for thousands of years. The land to them istheir nose out of identity in which they respectfully care for and live with inharmony. The land which they once owned was meticulously cared for and thelessons which they learned of respect for nature was passed down to theirchildren for generations. a great deal of the land they once owned was stolen from themwhen the Europeans invaded.Another aspect which was described in this book was religion and theeffects it had on the natives of Latin America. The Catholic church was coerceupon many of the Indians when the European, mainly Spanish, ideologies wereforced upon the Indians. The church claimed to want to help them to enrich thierlives and help their communities. The new church soon forced the natives to workfor many geezerhood without any pay. The impression of the church was forcfullyimposed on them in many ways. The Europeans believed that the Indians were notequall to them. The believed the In dians did not know any better, and thereligion they followed wasnt the true one. If the Indians didnt want to adore the Catholic religion, harm was given to them oftentimes. Religion hasalways been an important life to the Indians of Latin America. It has been anintegral part of their life for thousands of years. Although disputs aboutreligion has been going on since the beginning of time, the pressure which theSpanish settlers imposed on them was one which was integrated with dominance.The dominance which was imposed on the Indians of Latin Americans when theSpanish settlers arrived, stripped the Indians rights to have the exemption to