HUMAN 1C Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Liberal Arts Education, Machu Picchu, Acculturation

82 views8 pages
30 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
The connection symbol, written ‘–’, means “. . . in association or connection with . . .”
The distinction symbol, written ‘/’, means “. . . as distinct from or opposed to . . .”
Colonialism studies
Twofold meaning of “Inca”
Inca can be indigenous or Andean...
Discipline of history – History as action, agency / “Objective” history, texts
Objective history is something that simply cannot be. People “construct” history, using it to their
advantage. History is subjective rather, subjecting certain types of people/cultures to appear in a way
that benefits the dominating group. For example, focusing on Spanish in relation to indigenous people,
the Spaniards/Europeans constructed myths that became factual history; this is historical agency, taking
true events and altering them. Rather than give the true history of Spanish expansion and domination
over indigenous people as it was, the Spanish made it seem like indigenous peoples were weak and did
not resist, that they were like children, begging for “help”. This is the subjectivity of history; it is based
on interpretations of events rather than facts, allowing whoever is documenting history to alter it based
on their own impressions/opinions.
Events happening / Facts being constructed – History
Facts are constructed by the people who “make” history. These people are naturally those in power, in
this case the Europeans/Spaniards. Events that happen are true history, completely factual, neutral; they
are simply events. However, people can take actual facts and events and twist them to make them
sound like something else; it’s all in the framing. For example, the myth of desolation that Restall talks
about with natives, saying how they did not resist the Spanish at all while they were being taken over,
were made into the history by the Europeans, and people began to see this myth as a fact.
Historical necessity – History as necessary, teleological / Historical contingency – History as contingent
Firstly, to be teleological is basically to say “everything happens for a reason”. In this way, historical
necessity is justified; the the events of history were meant to happened, it was predetermined, it had to
be done. An example of this is simply Europeans expanding into indigenous countries and
“educating”/forcing their ways on indigenous people, and then other looking back on it and saying that
it was destined to happen, it was necessary for the indigenous people to be dominated so they could
learn the ways of Europeans. On the other hand, we have contingency, where history is uncertain.
Things could be stopped or changed, it was not destined for events to unfold as they did.
Reciprocity – Foundation of Inca Empire
Reciprocity “you give us labor (mita) and we’ll give you protection, resources, etc.”; an offer would be
made to places where they were offering reciprocity. Labor provide labor for mita and the Inca would
protect the area. If they denied, the Inca would destroy them.
Power in the Andes – Labor
When the Spanish conquered the Andes, they discovered Silver Mines, and hence were in need of labor.
Since they were the “power holders” in the Andes, the Spanish decided to created a labor system called
the mita, in which they forced indigenous men to work in the mines. These men would often go into
debt and have to relocate their family to where they worked. It was a never ending cycle of debt so that
these men would continually be forced to work in the mines.
Incan self-transformation – Preservation
Inca / Andean
The Incans empire was one of the largest empires of the 16th century. The Andean people were a bunch
of different cultures throughout South America. The Incans took over many civilizations of the Andes, as
they had great military strength. The Incans used hierarchy to maintain power, using mita and triubute
Unlock document

This preview shows pages 1-3 of the document.
Unlock all 8 pages and 3 million more documents.

Already have an account? Log in
on the Andean people they conquered. Incans would peacefully ask Andean civilizations to join them,
however if they refused, the Incans would not hesitate to destroy them.
Spanish myths of conquest – Justification for conquest and empire
Some of the Spanish myths of conquest include the myth of desolation (believing indigenous people
were religiously/culturally/socially isolated, and just isolated in general), and branching of are myths like
saying indigenous people were ignorant like children, and must be taught European ways, culture, and
language. Spanish also saw them as barbaric, needing to be civilized because they were subhuman. All of
these myths were ways that the Spanish justified their conquering of indigenous people; if they saw
them as children or just ignorant, they could tell themselves that they must educate them and
acculturate them so that they can become intelligent “like the Europeans”. If they saw them as barbaric,
they would justofy themselves by saying they must conquer indigenous people so as to make them
human and no “beasts,” believing they had no culture, manners, etc. so they absolutely had to learn the
European ways. EIther way, the Spanish were able to justify themselves for conquest and expanding
their empire.
Myth: Incans and Andeans thought Spanish were gods – Myth of apotheosis
The myth of apotheosis is the myth that said indigenous people saw Spaniards as Gods when they first
laid eyes upon them. This is because of the word used by indigenous people that loses meaning in
translation in a way, which was “viracocha.” This word was seen to mean “God”, however it is more
accurately translated to mean “other”, “not like us”; basically, just not us. The Incans were seeing the
Spanish people as others, people who were not of the same kind, perhaps not even human (though not
godly). This myth created a view of indigenous people as being primitive, naive, as they supposedly did
not understand that the Spanish were human. It also made it seem like they were in need of the
Spanish, in need of a “God”.
Indigenous – Irrationality
Indigenous is basically anyone who was a native in the Americas, including Andeans, Incans, Peruvians,
etc. There was a debate as to whether or not indigenous people were rational enough to be converted
to religion in the Spanish empire. A priest named Jose de Acosta argued that the Andeans were rational,
they were just naive and needed to be converted.
Difference / Superiority
Difference in general means that there is a group of people different than one another. At the
beginning, this is how indigenous people saw the Spanish; as “other” different from themselves. The
Spanish, however, saw themselves as superior to the natives, as they believed themselves to be more
intelligent and cultured, which contributed to the creation of the myth of apotheosis. This superiority
that the Spanish felt lead to them justifying themselves as to why they needed to colonize the
indigenous civilizations.
Myth: Spanish had superior weapons and technology
There is a myth that one of the reasons the Spanish conquered indigenous people was because they had
better weapons and technology. While this may be true that they did have better weapons at first, it
was not a reason that they were supposed;y superior than indigenous people, as indigenous people
were quickly able to adopt these new weapons and technologies from the Spanish. Because the Spanish
were not native to the lands, there were many obstacles that made them have to leave their weapons
and horses and such behind, and indigenous people could come right in and take them. They did this
and were able to adapt to using these new technologies. Indigenous people were highly adaptive, and
this generally was beneficial to their empire.
Unlock document

This preview shows pages 1-3 of the document.
Unlock all 8 pages and 3 million more documents.

Already have an account? Log in
Myth: Inca did not resist / Tupac Amaru Rebellion
There is a myth of Incas not resisting Spanish colonization, branching off of the myth of desolation. This
certainly contrasts the Tupac Amaru Rebellion, which is a clear resistance of Spanish rule. Jose Gabriel
named himself after the Incan idol Tupac Amaru, and began rebelling against Spanish rule, as the
commoners were being treated unfairly (especially mita and taxes). People decided to rise up out of
empowerment, not deprivation. They were proud of their culture and sick of the Spanish rule.
Andean mourning – Mobilization
Spanish imperials saw Andean rituals as only signs of mourning, like their parades and such, Restall
argues that this is not accurate, it’s culturally bias, and these rituals were actually to mobilize the
purposes of resisting Spanish empire. It made them proud to be Andean is his argument. There may
have been lamentation, but that made them want to resist.
Acculturation – Kurakakuna
– Cultural nexus
Acculturation is taking on characteristics and actions etc of other cultures. The Kurakas did this, as they
were indigenous peoples, but dressed and were treated more like Spanish people so as to maintain their
elite power status. This included having portraits of them and dressing in more European fashion. In
turn, these indigenous elites were a cultural nexus between Andean commoners and the Spanish elites;
they connected the cultures in a way.
Civil suits – Colonial resistance within colonial rule
A way kurakas used a Spanish form of power to empower indigenous people. Kurakas could file
complaints against Spanish courts if Spanish were exploiting their subjects. Came up in Cummins article.
Andeans as colonial agents – Adaptation – Colonial-Andean identity – Multiple valences
Andeans were colonial agents as they became kurakakunas, or Andean nobles, acting as intermediaries
between the Spanish rulers and the Andean commoners. They acculturated to Spanish ways, but also
mixed their indigenous ways with the new Spanish ways (as seen in portraits). They learned Spanish and
converted to Christianity as well. They had multiple valences as part of Andean common people and
being a “tool” of the Spanish government.
“Defeated” Inca / Andean acculturation – Indigenous noble sigils, heralds – Amaru
When the Spanish conquered the indigenous people, they thought they had basically destroyed them,
and that all of the things and celebrations and parades and such that indigenous people put on were just
them feeling sad and depressed that they lost their culture. However, acculturation of indigenous
people in a Spanish dominated civilization showed that they were actually proud of their culture, and
even had signs of resistance. They even adopted a flag/crest that Europeans would used but pur their
own symbols and even put on it a snake that symbolized resistance impending, an end to Spanish rule.
They upheld Amaru in this way as well, using symbols, and sigils that maybe the Spanish would not
understand that could empower indigenous people.
Tupac Amaru – Anti-Spanish – Pro-Monarchy – Cultural imaginary
Tupac Amaru led a rebellion against the Spanish empire, as they were taxing the natives highly and also
treating them poorly, like the mita labor forces. Andean commoners joined this revolt and become
enticed with Amaru, wishing for him to rule instead, as a symbol of true native spirit. Within the Spanish
acculturated society, this revolt wanted to bring back Inca culture to the top; they were proud of their
Inca heritage.
Political reimagination of political selves – Rebellion, resistance as constitutive of cultural identity
Colonial indigenous people re-imagined their political selves after the Tupac Amaru Rebellion. Amaru
became a symbol, a hero to the people, someone who “stuck it to the man”. People begin to want to be
independent from Spanish, and they imagine a new society, even though kurakas generally did not want
to be independent out of fear of their people and losing their power. Resisting the Spanish became an
empowering thing for indigenous people to engage in; they were proud of being Andean and they
wanted to reclaim their culture, not depressed about losing culture.
Unlock document

This preview shows pages 1-3 of the document.
Unlock all 8 pages and 3 million more documents.

Already have an account? Log in

Document Summary

The connection symbol, written ", means . in association or connection with . The distinction symbol, written /", means . as distinct from or opposed to . Discipline of history history as action, agency / objective history, texts. Objective history is something that simply cannot be. People construct history, using it to their advantage. History is subjective rather, subjecting certain types of people/cultures to appear in a way that benefits the dominating group. For example, focusing on spanish in relation to indigenous people, the spaniards/europeans constructed myths that became factual history; this is historical agency, taking true events and altering them. Rather than give the true history of spanish expansion and domination over indigenous people as it was, the spanish made it seem like indigenous peoples were weak and did not resist, that they were like children, begging for help .

Get access

Grade+20% off
$8 USD/m$10 USD/m
Billed $96 USD annually
Grade+
Homework Help
Study Guides
Textbook Solutions
Class Notes
Textbook Notes
Booster Class
40 Verified Answers

Related Documents