Amerindians of South America

The Amerindians are the original peoples of the South American continent, who from the time of the first European invasion 500 years ago and the continuous settlement since, have had their populations decimated by a combination of warfare and disease. More than 20 million Amerindians have died — a figure equal to that of the original pre-European population. Amerindians are found throughout South America; they are not a homogenous group and are divided into many peoples — increasingly referred to as “nations”. The two major divisions are between those of the Andean highlands and of the tropical lowlands which contain the Amazon and Orinoco River basins. The rights of indigenous people centre on the principle of self-determination and especially land rights.

History

The first Amerindians crossed the frozen Bering Straits about 30,000 years ago and between 15,000 and 20,000 years ago began to spread throughout the highlands and lowlands of South America. Agricultural settlements began to appear around 5,000 years ago. The most famous quasi-state organization — there were several — was the Quichua-speaking Incas who held power between present-day Equador in the north and northern Chile and Argentina in the south. The continent contained a broad spectrum of socio-economic and cultural patterns.
Soon after Colombus’ arrival on American soil, Spain and Portugal had agreed to divide the uncharted world amongst themselves. The colonists were eager to exploit trade in wood and sugar, which soon brought them into conflict with the indigenous peoples. Labour shortages caused colonists to seek indigenous slaves which produced resistance in the form of hostilities that lasted throughout the century. To complicate matters, French and Dutch interests in the continent fought Portuguese hegemony — and exploited Indian resistance to their own ends. Meanwhile Jesuit missionaries tried to bring Indians intoreducions, where they were killed in their hundreds of thousands by diseases such as dysentry, influenza and smallpox. Settlers looking for more land were also responsible for countless deaths among Amerindians. On the Pacific coast, the Spanish did not bother setting up trading relations, but proceeded to milk the Andean area for minerals.
By 1750 the continent was under Iberian rule, although many areas defied the invaders. Portugal expelled the Jesuits in 1759 and Spain followed nine years later. The French Bourbon dynasty, which had control of the Spanish throne began to liberalize practices in Peru, mainly as a means of combating British interests in the area. However, Britain eventually gained economic predominance in South America, Andean Indian resistance in Quichua and Aymara, though solidly backed, was put down. Even today several

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