What is INDIGENISM and what are its CHARACTERISTICS

From the arrival of Europeans to the American continent there has always been a curiosity towards the indigenous cultures of these areas, and even more so when many of them were annihilated or disappeared due to the constant attacks of the Europeans. One of the main currents that are in charge of the study of these indigenous cultures is the so-called indigenism, and for this reason in this lesson of a Teacher we must talk about what is indigenism and what are its characteristics.

The indigenism is what is called an ideology focused on valuing and studying from an anthropological point of view the different indigenous cultures. Basically the idea of ​​indigenismo is to change the western thought from which we usually look these cultures, since since the conquest the indigenous civilizations have been discriminated against by the Europeans.

Although after the conquest there were some attempts by certain people, especially members of the clergy of interested in indigenous cultures, the reality is that indigenism as such appears much later, being its beginning

Image: Markachapa

The earliest origin of indigenism is usually placed early 16th century, when some religious figures gave sermons to defend the figure of the indigenous against the Europeans, the most important of these being the one given by Antonio de Montesino.

Over the years, and the appearance of independence and wars between europeans and americans indigenism gradually faded into the background, especially due to the enormous differences that appeared between Europeans and indigenous people.

Already in the 20th century the first academics who used the word began to appear. indigenism, being native american descendants anthropologists who considered that the history of their ancestors had been hidden by the Europeans.

After these first attempts, the older advances in indigenism took place in Mexico, and especially after the revolution that the nation had suffered. At that time, indigenous culture was related to Mexican nationalism, causing great support from the Mexican population.

Finally, In 1940 one of the key moments of indigenism took place, and when for many this movement was born, being the First Inter-American Indigenous Congress. Representatives from all the countries of the continent met at this meeting, making indigenism official as the official policy of these nations.

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To continue this lesson on what indigenism is and what its characteristics are, we must talk about the main elements that define this ideology, to better understand what base.

Thus, the main characteristics of indigenism are the following:

• They do not intend to show the abuses or problems suffered by the indigenous people, but show its existence.
• You try to see the indigenous as the protagonist and hero of history, trying to see history from his perspective rather than from that of the Western European.
• Rejects the enormous Europeanization that the American states have suffered, since they must be free to have their own culture, accepting their past instead of changing their tendencies to resemble the Europeans.
• Is about portray the conflict occurred between Europeans and Americans, to understand the great differences that arose between both systems.
• It is an ideology that tries touch all fields possible, both the most common ones such as politics, social classes and the economy, as well as other more specific ones such as the issue of race or traditions.
• It focuses on many models, but tries to be present in art and literature, since he considers it important to appear represented so that more people join the movement.

To understand the relevance of indigenism we must comment on some of its main managers and meet the figures who have focused their lives on defending this ideology. We must take into account that indigenism appeared in numerous disciplines, so we will comment on a representative of each of the branches that make up indigenism.

Some of these representatives are the following:

• Alexander Marroquin: Mexican anthropologist known for having carried out some of the main studies of indigenism. Among his works, the so-called Balance of indigenism should be highlighted.
• Jose Maria Arguedas: Peruvian writer known for having written numerous stories and novels on topics related to indigenism. Arguedas writes in his novels a Peru divided between the Andean world and the European, being a beautiful portrait on the subject.
• Candido Rondon: Brazilian explorer and soldier known for his numerous trips throughout Brazil to discover his country to a greater extent. He is one of the most famous explorers of the Amazon.
• Diego Rivera: Mexican painter well known for being a great muralist. Among all the themes, his paintings focused on indigenism, showing indigenous cultures in his precious paintings.

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