The Indian in Latin American History

This collection of articles examines the complex cultural relationship between the many Indian peoples of Latin America and the Westerners that settled there, beginning with the Spanish. Far from being a footnote in Latin American history, Indians form the structure upon which Latin American history is based. Initially decimated by disease and later faced with the loss of lands, political autonomy and many of their traditional ways, the Indians displayed remarkable cultural resilience. They have resisted cultural hegemony with rebellions, initiated petitions to demand remedies to perceived injustice, and consciously selected certain aspects of the Western world to incorporate in their cultures. The ten historians, anthropologists and sociologists examine Indian-Western relationships from the Spaniards' initial contact with the Incan empire to the complex cultural negotiations happening in today's Latin America.