Latin American Eth
...violence. This caused further separation and exclusion. Another type of violence was the “problem of the incorporation of the masses” into political process an anti-oligarchic movement. These movements would lead to a rise in populist regimes that came to power by using violence, to overthrow the old order and fend off others. Thus using violence to secure political power. 2. The Yonomami people of the lowlands have made use of shamanic religion practice. In this religion they make use of Hallcuinogens of Yakoana and Tabacco. They also train using Hekura. They use them to heal and to fight. This society made use of Maloca, living quarter that are large and circular, as they also practiced female infanticide. This was a society of warriors and so males are the preferred sex. This however resulted in a scarcity of women, and groups would have to raid others to take their women. Other reasons to fight was the protein hypothesis, fighting for meat, as well as territory to hunt. Many peasant leaders of the Andean region are shamans. Ausangate, a deity that is a symbol of the ideal form of life and guardian of his people (Andeans), was responsible for the selection of the shamans and helped to free peasants from hacienda domination. Early migrants in the New World brought shamanism to Northeaster Asia. New World shamanism continued to be practiced by hunters and gatherers and survived with the Incas, Mayas, and Aztecs.The practice of true shamanism involves shamanic practitioners making journeys or soul-flights to other realities in order to bring back advice, help or soul-parts for the individual/community. As such, the practitioner acts as a medium through which help is channelled. Rhythm and percussion typically are used to trigger trance states in possession dances of Africa and African diaspora traditions 3. Mythopraxis has been exercised by these people, they perceived events through a framework of mythology and they conceived the appearance of the Spanish as a return of the gods, this illusion however did not last long. ***Aztecs believed that the Spaniards were gods and Moctezuma sent food to them. After being refused he sent his sorcerers to work against the Spaniards and they returned in failure. He decided to receive them as gods. Moctezuma’s treasure was pillaged by the Spaniards and soon there was a massacre. The Aztecs then revolted and turned on the Spaniards. The Spaniards had the upper hand and the Aztec’s new leader, Cuauhtemoc (Moctezuma was killed in mutiny) again hailed them as gods and surrendered. ***Mayans didn’t universally recognize the Spaniards as gods. One group of them (Guatemalens) did, while the other (Yucatans) just viewed them as foreigners. The Guatemalens fell very quickly while the Yucatans fell slower and with great difficulty. The Mayans had prior experience with “white” men as this occurred with shipwrecked Spaniards. The Yucatans were able to become accustomed to the Spaniards as much prior contact had no immediate military consequences. Thus, they were less “divine” to them. *Wachtel states that his account of the Spanish conquests could take a psycho-analytical approach, however, he chooses not to for two reasons 1. the applications of psycho-analysis to history is at an early stage and the results are far from conclusive. 2. this undertaking would require a more searching analysis of the mental structures proper to each society and he has only review native literature on the topic. The trauma still reaches Indians of this century. Focus should be placed on the events that occurred rather than state of mind as we may see this effort of construction of the past as a kind of compensation for reaction to the trauma of the conquest. It is a therapeutic exercise. 4. In the last stand by the Incas against the Spaniards, the Spaniards were aided by an apparition of the saint, Santiago. This saint played a role in the defeat of the Moores in Spain and the Aztecs in Mexico, but the Andeans accepted Santiago as one of their own gods because of his power and similarity to the indigenous deity Illapa. Oddly, although Santiago’s intervention showed his close identification with the Spaniards, the Andeans received him and proceeded to name their sons after him, owing to Santiago’s close association with firearms. According to Choy, it was the Andeans desire for firearms (and thus the power to defeat the Spaniards) that marked the similarities between Santiago and Illapa. This interpretation is t...