Indigenous Mesoamerica, Essay Example

How would you discuss the worldviews and value systems of Indigenous peoples prior to European contact/invasion?

The worldviews and value systems of the Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerican cultures prior to contact with the Europeans and their subsequent invasion of the lands and customs of these individuals was varied among the various tribes that inhabited the area.  Although these various cultures were targeted by the efforts of the Spanish conquerors, their success was varied, and many cultures retained their tribal customs without being heavily influenced for a long time before contact with the other cultures eventually changed this.

Civilizations such as the Aztecs and Mayans were essentially Imperial entities that dominated the surrounding areas through warfare.  Both the cultures, which had once flourished before the time of contact, the Aztecs and Mayans had already begun to descend into a state of decay.  Many of the cultures that had not come to be dominated by these larger imperial spheres were organized into classes that were dominated by hierarchies of chiefs that led the various tribes that had been consolidated through warfare.

This sense of large scale growth and consolidation that was apparent within both the larger and complex states and the smaller tribal outlying regions was primarily due to the religious and ideological beliefs of the people.  Reverence of the Sun God permeated Mesoamerican culture and the primary attributes of strength and power were considered a major part of their society.  These ideas would eventually lead to an unsustainable growth system that had already begun to cause problems for these cultures at the time of the European invasion.

How did these world views impact all aspects of life (science, agriculture, language, spirituality, cultural expression etc.) for Indigenous peoples?

These world views impacted all aspects of life for indigenous people, including science, agriculture, language, and cultural expressions.  These aspects of communal life were often interrelated, and most were based upon the expression of tribal leaders and shamans as spiritual and religious authorities.  The growth of the imperial structures of society that occurred in the pre-Columbian world embedded the sense of power and awe in the lives of these people.

Through their reverence of these power structures, the lives of Indigenous people at this time were often lived in service of the larger economic framework of which they were a part.  The polis created agricultural projects that changed the landscapes of the area and caused pressure on the environment at large.  The consolidation of power by the higher classes of society instilled their power into all aspects of communal life, including the allocation of land and the distribution of labor and the payment for such labor.

The religious beliefs of these cultures fueled conquests.  The continual need for human sacrifice in an expanding empire had begun to cause issues in the social lives of these individuals.  Sacrificial warfare was fueled by even the highest classes of society, and this drove the nature of the economic and social institutions into a difficult position, as the empires expanded and more individuals began to be considered a part of their borders.

To what extent has the history of Mesoamerica been taught from a Eurocentric perspective?

Many of the historical records of Mesoamerica have been lost due to the European interests that swept through the area at the time of the invasion.  Through the process of Christianization, many of these texts were lost due to being regarded as heresy by the Catholic conquerors.  Through the burning or destruction of these texts as well as the banning of traditional oral histories, much of the firsthand information regarding the history of this area has been lost.

Another issue with the cultural perspectives that this subject has been approached from is the bias of those doing the research.  For much of the early history of study, those researchers that contributed information to the academic community were of primarily white European, or American, origin.  Furthermore, many of the studies that have been done have been primarily from this same point of view.

What theories, ideas, and/or terminology are problematic when trying to assert an Indigenous perspective? (For example: Bering Strait, Malintzin, Cuauhtemoc, Human Sacrifice…there are many more examples!)

Theories and ideas such as the Bering Strait and human sacrifice are difficult to understand when discussing them from an Indigenous perspectives.  Due to the fact that many of the traditions and cultural aspects that could be attributed to these times have been lost, it is difficult to understand the context in which they should be understood.  In this way, a perspective that accounts for the cultural and sociological traditions of the time will help to inform these issues.

While there are many origin stories concerning the indigenous people of this area, the amount that have been lost has caused an impact on the ability of historical researchers to discern accurately the important information that that has been inherited by the modern world.  The problem with discussing ideas such as the Bering Strait is that they tend to fail to account for the historical and religious perspectives of those who actually lived within the culture itself.  These people’s terminologies as well as their understanding of the sociological factors that effected their communities can be easily misinformed by biased judgment.

The idea of sacrifice is another example of this.  While European cultures generally regard this type of practice as barbaric or inhuman, the reverence that these tribes had for strength and the practices of warfare can help to shed light upon the deeply rooted cultural and sociological frameworks that was inherited by this way of life.  In this way, it becomes apparent that the difficulty in reaching conclusions about these problems without taking into account the unique political and sociological conditions that inform them, the situation will give rise to problematic results.