Hear scholars from around the world talk about their current research on Spanish colonialism from a global perspective. How did Indigenous peoples from the Andes, Caribbean, Philippines, Guam, Mariana Islands, Western Pacific, Oaxaca, Guatemala, West Africa, and American Southwest and Southeast react to change, adapt, and challenge Spanish colonialism? Learn how cultural identities persisted, were reinforced, and reconstituted during this time period. 

Spanish Colonialism in the Global Realm: Archaeological and Ethnohistoric Approaches to Cultural Ethnogenesis and Persistence

Corinne L. Hofman, Roberto Valcárcel Rojas, and Jorge Ulloa Hung will be participating in this seminar with a paper entitled Colonization, transformations and continuities in the indigenous Caribbean. Read the abstract below!

Abstract

The indigenous peoples of the Caribbean were the first to have suffered European colonization of the Americas. From the arrival of Columbus in 1492 the insular territories were transformed in a massive slave raiding arena in which the knowledge of so-labelled ‘indios’ was used and manipulated by the Europeans and transferred across the Caribbean Sea. Indigenous peoples were put to work in the goldmines and farms of Hispaniola, Cuba and Puerto Rico or in the pearl fisheries in Cubagua. On the other hand, in the Greater Antilles the encomienda system generated an intensive exploitation that disarticulated the indigenous societies and transformed their sociocultural practices. The influence of a forced African diaspora, and the concomitant Amerindian-African-European inter-cultural dynamics at play changed the indigenous Caribbean islandscape forever. The impact of these acts of colonialism and the role played by the Amerindian populations in the colonial process are often discounted and remain up until today a far neglected chapter in global history. Despite the infamous genocide that took place, indigenous cultural and religious continuities are strongly represented in today’s multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society of the Caribbean.

This seminar is organized by Christine Beaule and John Douglas, and will be held at the Amerind Museum on Thursday, October 4th between 12:00pm and 1:00pm. Attendance is free. 

For more information about this event go to Amerind.org.