American SouthMain tendencies of the

cultural and historical

development

South America has an area of 17,840,000 square

kilometers. South America ranks fourth in total

area and fifth in world population.

It includes twelve independent countries:

o Argentina

o Bolivia

o Brazil

o Chile

o Colombia

o Ecuador

o Guyana

o Paraguay

o Peru

o Suriname

o Uruguay

o Venezuela

—as well as French Guiana, which is an overseas

region of France and the Falkland Islands of the UK.

Indigenous peoples of South America The indigenous peoples of South America are found from the Isthmus of Panama to

Tierra del Fuego.

An estimated 30 million people were living there when the Europeans arrived.

In the Andean region extensive remains show developed cultures at Chavín de

Huántar and among the Paracas in Peru;

the *Mochica, *Chimu, and Nazca in Peru;

the Chibcha and Aymara of the Andes;

and the Araucanos and Mapuche of Chile had socially complex pre-Columbian cultures,

surpassed only by the Inca.

Descendants of these peoples live today in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, northwestern

Argentina, and Chile.

Quechua, spoken by the Inca, is the most widely spoken language in South America.

Since the Spanish conquest indigenous peoples have been used as laborers, poorly

paid and lacking political representation these conditions of semiservitude are

changing slowly.

Some, notably the Inca, play a significant role in the national culture; but many live

in small, peripheral groups.

A few descendants of the Arawaks and Caribs live in Venezuela, the Guianas, and

Northern Brazil. The Guaraní in Brazil are few and scattered, but in Paraguay their

language is widely spoken and, like Quechua in Bolivia, is the official language of the

country.

Among tropical forest groups are the Jívaro of Ecuador and Yanomami of Brazil and

Venezuela. The Colorados of Western Ecuador and the Puelches and Tehuelches,

hunters of Patagonia, are virtually extinct. A dwindling number of Fuegians, so

called for their campsites at Tierra del Fuego, live by hunting and fishing.

Sadly, the indigenous peoples of South America continue to be assimilated into

white-dominated national cultures as their traditional ways of life and homelands

are being destroyed by over-population growth and industrial development.

The cultural and historical development

Over the course of thousands of years, American indigenous

peoples domesticated, bred and cultivated a large array of

plant species. These species now constitute 50–60% of all

crops in cultivation worldwide.

The South American highlands were a center of early

agriculture. Genetic testing of the wide variety of cultivars

and wild species suggests that the potato has a single origin

in the area of southern Peru, from a species in the Solanum

brevicaule complex.

Over 99% of all modern cultivated potatoes worldwide are

descendants of a subspecies indigenous to south-central

Chile, Solanum tuberosum ssp. tuberosum, where it was

cultivated as long as 10,000 years ago.

George Raudzens: "It is clear that in pre-Columbian times some groups struggled to

survive and often suffered food shortages and famines, while others enjoyed a varied

and substantial diet."

*Quechua woman cooking up a vat of potatoes at a community event

Chibchas (or "Muiscas" or "Muyscas") and the Tairona, of Colombia;

the Cañaris of Ecuador;

the Quechuas of Peru;

the Aymaras of Bolivia.

*In the last two thousand years there may have been contact with Polynesians across

the South Pacific Ocean, as shown by the spread of the sweet potato through some

areas of the Pacific, but there is no genetic legacy of human contact.

The 3 most important sedentary Indian groups

in South America:

Chibchas /Muiscas/ of Colombia

Chibcha, also called Muisca, South American Indians who at the

time of the Spanish conquest occupied the high valleys surrounding

the modern cities of Bogotá and Tunja in Colombia. With a

population of more than 500,000, they were notable for being more

centralized politically than any other South American people

outside the Inca empire.

Numerous small districts, each with its own chief, had been

consolidated through conquest and alliance into two major states

and several lesser ones, each headed by a hereditary ruler.

Although these states were not very stable, it seems clear that the

arrival of the Spanish cut short the development of even larger

political units.

Their political structure was crushed in the 16th century. In the

18th century their language ceased to be spoken, and the Chibcha

became assimilated with the rest of the population.

Settlement of Muiscas

The Muisca Culture

The Muisca were an agrarian and ceramic society of the Andes of the north of

South America. Their political and administrative organization enabled them to

form a compact cultural unity with great discipline.

The contributions of the Muisca culture to the national Colombian identity have

been many.

Ruins of an ancient Muisca temple

at El Infiernito (the little hell) near Villa de Leyva

The Muisca Culture had certain sports

which were part of their rituals. The

turmequé game, also known as tejo,

has survived. Also important were

matches of wrestling. The winner

received a finely woven cotton blanket

from the chief and was qualified as a

güeche (warrior)

Solar cult

Although they did not have a precise calendar, the Muisca

knew exactly the timing of the Solstice (June 21). It was

then the Day of Sue, the Sun-god. The Sue temple was in

Sogamoso, the sacred city of the Sun-god and the seat of

the Iraca (priest). The Muisca name of the city, Suamox or

Sugamuxi, means The City of the Sun. On the solstice, the

Zaque went to Suamox for a major festival. Ritual

offerings were made. It was the only day of the year when

the Zaque showed his face, as he was considered a

descendant of the Sun-god.

The statue of the Goddess of Water was carved in stone

by Bogotan sculptor María Teresa Zerda.

The Water Goddess -Sie is identified with Bachué.

Monument to Bochica in the town of Cuitiva (Boyacá).

Indigenous peoples in PeruQuechuas (also Runakuna, Kichwas, and Ingas) is the collective term

for several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, belonging to

several ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru, Ecuador,

Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Argentina

During the pre-Columbian period, the three main linguistic groups that

dominated the territory now known as Peru were the: Quechua (who

are the majority in the Coastal and Andean regions) Jivaro, and the

Pano.

They possessed different organizational structures and distinct

languages and cultures.

Some historic Quechua peoples include:

Inca; Tawantinsuyu Empire (largest Pre-Columbian Empire)

Chancas (in Huancavelica, Ayacucho, and Apurímac, Peru);

Huancas (in Junín, Peru; spoke Quechua before the Incas did); and

Cañaris (in Ecuador; adopted the Quechua language from the Inca).

Regions :

Argentina; Bolivia; Chile;

Colombia; Peru; Bolivia; Ecuador

Languages:

Quechua languages, Spanish

Religion:

Roman Catholicism, traditional

Andean religion

Related ethnic groups: Aymaras

The Quechuas of Ecuador call themselves as well as

their language Kichwa–Kichwas or Quichuas.

Material cultureThe various Quechua ethnic groups have numerous cultural characteristics in

common. They also share many of these with the Aymara, or other

indigenous peoples of the central Andes.

Traditionally, Quechua identity is locally oriented and inseparably linked in

each case with the established economic system. It is based on agriculture

in the lower altitude regions, and on pastoral farming in the higher regions

of the Puna.

Quechua woman with llamas

(Cusco Department, Peru)

The Quechuas came to terms with their repeated historical experience of

genocide in the form of various myths:

figure of Nak'aq or Pishtaco (“butcher”);

the white murderer who sucks out the fat from the bodies of the

indigenous peoples he kills;

a song about a bloody river.

Of the myths still alive today, the Inkarrí myth common in southern Peru is especially interesting; it

forms a cultural element linking the Quechua Indians throughout the region from Ayacucho to Cusco.

Quechua woman with children

Traditional clothing

Many indigenous women wear the colorful traditional costume, complete with

bowler style hat. The hat has been worn by Quechua and Aymara women since

the 1920s, when it was brought to the country by British railway workers. They

are still commonly worn today.

The traditional dress worn by Quechua women today is a mixture of styles

from Pre-Spanish days and Spanish Colonial peasant dress.

In certain regions, women also generally wear Western-style clothing.

A woven belt called a chumpi is also worn which

provides protection to the lower back when

working in the fields. Men's fine dress includes a

woollen waistcoat, similar to a sleeveless juyuna

as worn by the women but referred to as a

chaleco. Chalecos can be richly decorated.

Older men still wear dark wool

knee-length handwoven bayeta

pants.

Younger Quechua men

generally wear Western-style

clothing, the most popular being

synthetic football shirts and

tracksuit pants.

CañarisThe Cañari were a group or confederacy of united tribes who formed a people; they inhabited the area from the limits of Azuay

to Saraguro, from the Gualaquiza mountains to the Narajal beaches and the coasts of the Jambelí canal. Within the Cañari

territory, the most important areas were Cañaribamba, Cojitambo, Chobshi, Shabalula, Molleturo, Coyoctor, Culebrillas,

Yacubiñay, Guapondelig and Hatun Cañar. After the Inca Conquest, the newcomers renamed the last two Tumebamba and

Ingapirca, respectively. Located in the present-day provinces of Azuay, Cañar, and El Oro in what is modern Ecuador, ruins and

archeological remains of Cañari and Inca cultured influence are left in many of those locations.

The Cañari people were supposed to have had a federative monarchy.

Each leader had hegemony over their individual tribe, however in certain cases the confederacy, would unite and choose a

single leader, in cases of disasters or wars.

Some held a matriarchal society. This was one of the principal reasons the Inca were able to use marriage to subjugate

them. By marrying a female leader, the Inca gained de facto power over certain Cañari.

The Cañari used a lunar calendar and built temples in circular or moon-like shapes. At Ingapirca, examples of round Cañari

buildings can be seen juxtaposed against rectangular Inca buildings.

As many as ten Cañari dialects may have survived into the current century. Any surviving speakers are

few and far between, and almost no information seems to be available about the languages or how to

speak them. Most indigenous people in Ecuador claim to speak Kichwa or Spanish.

During the Inca conquest, the Canaris learned Quechua (Kichwa), but, as always, the language of the

conquering people was enriched with many vernacular words taken from the language of the conquered

people, so the names of certain objects or places such as rivers, mountains, etc. . today hold no synonym

sense in Quechua. In this aspect we find names in many rivers, mountains and towns that have no

meaning in Quechua / Kichwa.

During Spanish colonialism a catechism was ordered to

be made in cañari language, given the need to

evangelize this population. However, no copy of it has

reached our days. With the passage of time evangelism

in the language of each people was very difficult, so it

was decreed that vernacular speaking Cañaris learn

Kichwa, propelling the language into disuse, and

obsolescence. The lack of documentation makes very

little known about this language.

Aymara people of BoliviaThe Aymara or Aimara, people are an

indigenous nation in the Andes and Altiplano

regions of South America; about 2 million live

in Bolivia, Peru and Chile.

Their ancestors lived in the region for many

centuries before becoming a subject people

of the Inca in the late 15th or early 16th

century, and later of the Spanish in the 16th

century.

With the Spanish American Wars of

Independence (1810–25), the Aymaras

became subjects of the new nations of

Bolivia and Peru.

After the War of the Pacific (1879–83), Chile

acquired territory occupied by the Aymaras.

Aymaras themselves make significant

distinctions between Bolivian and Chilean

Aymaras

Total population: 2million

Regions: Bolivia; Peru; Chile

Languages:

Aymara, Andean Spanish

Religion: Roman Catholicism

Related ethnic groups:

Quechuas, Urus

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Culture of Aymara

Most of contemporary Aymaran urban culture was developed in the working-

class Aymara neighborhoods of La Paz, such as Chijini and others.

Both Quechua and Aymara women in Peru and Bolivia took up the style of

wearing bowler hats since the 1920s.

*According to legend, a shipment of bowler hats was sent from Europe to

Bolivia via Peru for use by Europeans working on railroad construction.

When the hats were found to be too small, they were given to the indigenous

peoples.

The luxurious, elegant and cosmopolitan Aymara Chola dress, which is an

icon of Bolivia (bowler hat, aguayo, heavy pollera, skirts, boots, jewelry, etc.)

began and evolved in La Paz. It is an urban tradition of dress. This style of

dress has become part of ethnic identification by Aymara women.

Aymara women smile during the Miss Cholita 2013

beauty pageant in La Paz, Bolivia

The Aymaras have grown and chewed coca plants for centuries, using its

leaves in traditional medicine as well as in ritual offerings to the father

god Inti (Sun) and the mother goddess Pachamama (Earth).

During the last century, there has been conflict with state authorities over

this plant during drug wars

the officials have carried out coca eradication to prevent the

extraction and isolation of the drug cocaine.

But, the ritual use of coca has a central role in the indigenous religions of

both the Aymaras and the Quechuas. Coca is used in the ritual curing

ceremonies of the yatiri. Since the late 20th century, its ritual use has

become a symbol of cultural identity.

Argentina Argentina has 35 indigenous groups or Argentine

Amerindians or Native Argentines

(according to the Complementary Survey of the Indigenous Peoples of 2004 y.)

By the year 1500, many different indigenous communities

lived in what is now modern Argentina.

They were not a unified group but many independent ones,

with distinct languages, societies, and relations with each

other.

As a result, they did not face the arrival of the Spanish

colonization as a single block and had varied reactions

toward the Europeans.

The Spanish people looked greatly down to the indigenous

population, to the point that they held in doubt whether

they had souls, following the general thought in Europe.

For this reason, they kept very little historical information

about them.

The regions and people of Argentina

The Cuyo Area - The culture of Huarpes occupied the present provinces of

San Juan, San Luis and Mendoza. They farmed, grew corn and hunted guanacos

and nandus. They worked ceramics and believed in a supreme being.

Pampa and Patagonia Region - In Pampa and Patagonia there was a large

amount of communities such as the Querandís and the Araucanians coming from

Chile, apart from the Tehuelches and the Onas in the south and the Pampas in the

center. They had common characteristics. They hunted hares, foxes, nandus and

also fished. They lived in groups led by one cacique.

The Neuquén Area - The Pehuenche culture was settled down in Neuquén,

living by hunting and gathering and they were grouped in bands made up by

families and they believed in a supreme being who dwelt beyond the sea.

The Chaco Area - In Chaco there were the Tobas, Mocovíes and Abipones.

They basically hunted and gathered. They were integrated into a system of bands

led by one cacique. The families were monogamous but polygamy was allowed to

chiefs.

The Littoral and Mesopotamian Region - The Guarani culture prevailed

in this area. They were sedentary and farming people, who lived in large houses

accommodating several families. They believed in a lost paradise where they would

return some day.

Rush Canoe. Huarpes

Pampas peoples

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Conclusion

Indigenous people have inhabited parts of South America for at least 12,000 years, and prior to

European colonization was home to several highly sophisticated civilizations. Today, there are hundreds

of indigenous groups struggling for survival in South America, from the Yanomami of Venezuela and

Brazil to the Mapuche of Chile and Argentina to the Achuar of Ecuador and Peru. Combined, it is

estimated that there are over 21 million indigenous people from over 400 broadly defined indigenous

groups. Like their indigenous brothers and sisters, they face a number of common struggles:

sovereignty, the right to self-determination, preservation of language and heritage, rights to land and

natural resources, impacts from climate change and environmental damage, and recognition within

local, federal, and international governments and laws.

Culture and History of the Indians of South America is incredibly rich and multifaceted.

In fact, you can explore it forever.