Colonialism
Colonialism has often spread to areas where it is economically valuable for the colonizer to develop. South America was one of these places. First came the Spanish for gold, then for rubber. As colonization took place two cultures met, thinking they were opposites, but in reality they were very much connected to one another, their histories were now tied together. In considering the question of how Indians have developed their healing practices and spiritual beliefs as a reaction to colonization, there are a number of areas we must explore. First, we will discuss how Indian and white cultures have integrated one another to the point where certain beliefs coexist or blend together. Secondly, we will look at the stereotype of the "wild savage" built up by the colonizers, and the creation of the colonial consciousness. Finally, we will examine the healer-patient relationship that exists within shamanism. What happened within the culture of the South American Indians was syncretism, or the synthesis of both old and borrowed traditions, a common occurrence of colonization as one civilization dominates the other and forces conversion. (Keesing, 394). Because of pre-existing beliefs, Cathol
Keesing. Cultural Anthropology. Ch.19. Taussig. Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man. Ch. 7-10. 18, 23-24, 28 Finally, we need to look at the healer-patient relationship is so essential to shamanism. Instead of using the shaman for some purpose, or to some end, the patient and the shaman rely on one another. The patient needs the shaman to see, and the shaman needs the patient to be his voice in what he sees. "Yet both figures, that of the shaman as certainty and that of the patient as doubt, only acquire this configuration by their coming together, because both contain within themselves, taken as individuals, the same vexation with regard to the credible impossibilities that course through life's contingencies as much as through the ambiguities of social relations" (Taussig, 462). Shamans become shamans to heal themselves, but they need the patient in order to do this.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2013
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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