Indigenismo in Latin America

Indigenismo: An Overview

Indigenismo is a multifaceted discourse encompassing politics, social sciences, literature, and the arts, all centered on the status and representation of indigenous people in Latin American societies. Originating from the Spanish word "indígena," it's used to avoid the negative connotations sometimes associated with "indio."

Historical Roots and Key Figures

The origins of indigenismo can be traced back to the 16th century with Bartolomé de las Casas, the "Defender of the Indians," who exposed the violence against native populations during Spanish colonization. His work set a precedent for defending indigenous rights against abuse.

In the 19th century, "Indianismo" emerged as a precursor to modern indigenismo, with creole elites incorporating "the Indian" into Latin American republican and nationalist thought to establish an identity distinct from colonial powers.

The Modern Indigenismo (1910–1970)

The period between 1910 and 1970 is considered the height of modern indigenismo, marked by:

1. Centering the "problem of the Indian" in national modernization efforts, revolutions, and renewal.

2. Integration of indigenismo into state policy.

3. Application of social theories (positivist, eugenicist, relativist, Marxist) to address the "Indian problem."

Indigenismo was prominent in Mexico and Peru, with significant activity in Bolivia and Brazil. Anthropologists played a crucial role in its development, and it flourished in literature and the arts. However, in the late 20th century, indigenous social movements and scholars criticized indigenismo for its paternalism and promotion of cultural assimilation.

Core Tenets of Indigenismo

Despite variations, indigenismo has several consistent features:

• Focus on native peoples and their situation in Latin America.

• Central role of "the Indian" in national identity discourse.

• Primarily voiced by non-indigenous criollos or mestizos.

• A form of activism or defense against dispossession and discrimination since the Conquest.

Indigenismo seeks to defend indigenous peoples against exploitation and injustice, critiques the socioeconomic and political status quo, and refutes negative views about native peoples.

Colonial Origins: Bartolomé de las Casas

Las Casas questioned the moral and legal legitimacy of Spain’s conquest, driven by the atrocities against indigenous peoples and the encomienda system of forced labor.

He refuted the Spanish Crown’s justification of "just war" with his work Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias (1552), arguing that the violence was illegal, immoral, and damaged the Crown. Las Casas opposed forced conversion, asserting it infringed on Indians’ sovereign rights, countering claims of Indian inferiority during the Valladolid debates (1550–1551) with Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda.

Modern indigenismo echoes Las Casas’ refutations, albeit in a context focused on postcolonial control and integration into the modern world system.

Independence and the 19th Century: Romantic "Indianismo"

Nationalists in the late colonial period and during the independence wars used the pre-Columbian past to symbolize an alternative ancestry to Spain, supporting national political autonomy as historical restitution. Indigenous figures appeared in national symbols, monuments, and writings, aiming to create a distinct identity from Spain.

Costumbrismo, a literary and pictorial sketch tradition, depicted regional customs and social types, influenced by European ethnographic writing. While not solely focused on indigenous peoples, it contributed to early indigenista thought by showcasing social and cultural diversity, exemplified by Ricardo Palma’s Tradiciones peruanas (1872–1910).

Literary "indianismo" in the 19th century, especially in Brazil, glorified indigenous people, with figures like Antônio Gonçalves Días and José de Alencar portraying valiant Indian warriors and women to express an authentic American sensibility. Novels such as Juan León Mera’s Cumandá and Manuel de Jesús Galván’s Enriquillo exalted the noble character of indigenous peoples victimized by colonizers, contributing to national consolidation.

However, 19th-century discourses often painted a negative portrait of present-day indigenous peoples, excluding them from national life. Liberal nation-builders launched genocidal campaigns and advocated European immigration to "whiten" Latin American populations. Domingo Sarmiento’s Facundo: Civilización y barbarie (1845) framed nation-building as a struggle between civilization and barbarism, with liberalism favoring European ideals and policies that harmed indigenous communities.

Ambivalence and Evolution of Racial Thought

Elite thinking about racial difference contained ambivalence, with Romantic ideas about nature influencing views of local inhabitants. Latin American thinkers believed that environmental and hereditary factors could be modified through education. In late 19th-century Mexico, positivist liberals, or científicos, believed in education's power to mitigate inherited inferiority and advocated extending education to indigenous people to improve citizenship.

20th Century: Indigenismo in the Era of Modernization

From 1910 to 1970, indigenismo was prominent across Latin America, significantly shaping political and cultural history in Mexico and Peru, and playing a notable role in Bolivia and Brazil. The movement sought to "nationalize" indigenous peoples by recognizing them as a source of vitality and cultural uniqueness.

Mexico

Mexican indigenismo became a central pillar of state policy after the Mexican Revolution, aimed at socioeconomic modernization and national unification through a state-sponsored, integrationist, assimilationist, and developmentalist approach. Anthropology, particularly applied and indigenista anthropology, played a leading role, celebrating contemporary indigenous peoples and pioneering a new national aesthetic based on cultural relativism. However, indigenista anthropologists also viewed Indians as "backward" due to insufficient modernization.

Mestizaje, referring to biological mixing, evolved into a cultural and political concept, aiming to homogenize Mexico’s diverse cultures into a unified national culture. Manuel Gamio, the "father" of modern Mexican anthropology, envisioned the nation as a statue with an Indian pedestal in his book Forjando patria (1916). Gamio promoted eugenic social science influenced by Franz Boas and championed an indigenista national aesthetic.

Gamio founded key indigenista institutions, such as the Department of Anthropology (1917) and the Departamento de Asuntos Indígenas (DAI) (1934), which advanced indigenous development through initiatives in public health, transportation, and education. The Inter-American Indigenista Institute was established with a conference in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, in 1940.

The arts during the Revolutionary period reflected indigenista influence, with recognition of vernacular arts, such as handicrafts, dance, and music, contributing to a new aesthetic of mexicanidad. Figures like Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera incorporated indigenous elements into their works, while intellectuals debated the artistic value of indigenous crafts.

In the 1930s and 40s, agencies like the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the National School of Anthropology and History were founded. By the 1950s, Mexican indigenismo shifted to allow for "mexicanization" without cultural destruction, emphasizing respect for indigenous languages. Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán focused on regions with oppressive race-class systems. Rosario Castellanos explored racial hierarchy in her literary works, and Ricardo Pozas produced an auto-ethnography with Juan Pérez Jolote (1948). Indigenismo experienced a revival with the opening of the National Museum of Anthropology in the early 1960s but faced self-critique by the end of the decade.

Peru

In Peru, discussions about indigenous identity emerged after the country's defeat in the War of the Pacific (1883) against Chile. Elites blamed indigenous people, leading to "Hispanismo," which exalted Spain. Indigenismo arose in response, with Manuel González Prada asserting the importance of indigenous populations.

Clorinda Matto de Turner’s Aves sin nido (1889) depicted indigenous people as victims of Andean social structures, suggesting national salvation through benevolent criollos. González Prada influenced activists like Doris Mayer, who founded the Asociación Pro-Indígena in 1909. Avant-garde indigenismo in the 1920s aimed at integration, modernization, and anti-oligarchy, centering indigenous people in Peru’s modern aims. Unlike Mexico, Peruvian indigenismo was led by intellectuals and activists and rejected the mestizo figure. The movement addressed indigenous peasant movements, with radical and liberal factions advocating for different approaches.

Luis Valcárcel's Tempestad en los Andes (1927) celebrated a "new Indian" and positioned Cuzco as the spiritual capital. José Carlos Mariátegui critiqued Peru’s social system and land control in Siete ensayos de interpretación de la realidad peruana (1928), advocating for a socialist alternative rooted in indigenous communities.

The Leguía government’s role was ambiguous, empowering some indigenista activities while suppressing others. Post-Leguía, indigenismo retreated to museums and universities. In the 1940s, Valcárcel created indigenista training institutes. Peruvian indigenista anthropology became more development-oriented with support from U.S. and European institutions, such as Cornell University’s "Vicos" project.

The field had an impact on avant-garde poetry, such as in the Boletín Titikaka, as well as on the visual arts, such as in the work of painter José Sabogal. From the 1940s onward, Peruvian indigenismo thrived in the novel, as seen in the works of Ciro Alegría (El mundo es ancho y ajeno, 1941), Manuel Scorza, and José María Arguedas, whose novels depicted the complex aspirations of Andean people in modernizing Peru.

Bolivia

The "problem of the Indian" was central to debates in Bolivia among mestizo and criollo elites about the country's future in the first half of the 20th century. Bolivian indigenismo was ambivalent, critical of elite racism but also racist itself. Alcides Arguedas’s Pueblo enfermo (1909) attacked Bolivian society for its corruption and indigence. Franz Tamayo’s Creación de la pedagogía nacional (1910) refuted Arguedas, celebrating Bolivia’s indigenous heritage.

Indigenous peoples were highly mobilized, leading indigenista initiatives to contain threats to the unjust hacienda system. Anti-oligarchical indigenismo emerged after the Chaco War (1932–1935), catalyzing a new generation of nationalist thinkers. The 1945 Congreso Nacional Indígena focused on ending "Indian slavery." The 1940s saw a rise in populist nationalism, with indigenista ideas incorporated into Indian education and freedom from servitude.

Tristan Marof’s La justicia del Inca (1926) found acceptance in the 1940s. MNR-affiliated thinkers laid the groundwork for the 1952 revolution. The MNR and later regimes promoted the "mestizo ideal," but indigenismo did not become the basis of a specific political movement or party. Evo Morales’s election in 2006 was influenced by early 20th-century indigenismo, with his government promoting Bolivia as a "pluri-national" country while rejecting key elements of indigenista thought.

Brazil

In Brazil, "Indians stand as a powerful symbol of nationality," despite a strong ambivalence about Brazil’s multiethnic composition. Brazil’s indigenismo is significant for its protectionist orientation. Indigenismo as state policy began in 1910 with the formation of the Serviço de Proteçao aos Indios (SPI), which was associated with land policy. Throughout most of the 20th century, and despite differences among various indigenista thinkers, indigenista policy was guided by protection (protecting Indians from new settlers), pacification (constraining Indians’ resistance to theft of their lands), and civilization (eliminating “savagery” and “improving” indigenous life ways in accordance with modern standards; this included attempts to eliminate nomadism).

The SPI gained new impetus in the 1940s under the influence of Mexican indigenismo and in the wake of the Pátzcuaro conference; it was then that the term “indigenismo” began to circulate in Brazil. Brazilian constitutions of the 1930s and 40s for the first time explicitly consecrated some protectionist indigenista policies, including respect for Indian lands and the exclusive role of the federal government in determining “Indian policy.”

An important figure defending the protectionist policies of the SPI during the 1950s was anthropologist Darcy Ribeiro. He founded the Musuem of the Indian in 1953 under the auspices of the SPI, created Xingu National Park, and through the idea of "ethnic transfiguration," posited that indigenous peoples could not assimilate to dominant national culture without being destroyed in the process.

Critical Perspectives and Contemporary Relevance

Indigenismo in the 20th century addresses ethno-racial diversity and stratification but is also prey to colonial legacies. Critics charge it with perpetuating colonial hierarchies through paternalism and undermining indigenous cultures through modernization and assimilation. Indigenous self-determination movements have challenged indigenista policies, advocating for new political rights and cultural pluralism.

Scholars have supported these critiques, highlighting indigenismo’s role in reinforcing internal colonialism and complicity with authoritarian states. Literary criticism emphasizes indigenista literature’s commitment to representing cultural heterogeneity but also its reproduction of colonial inequalities. Recent studies revisit indigenismo as a complex ideological project tied to regional economies and indigenous political discourse.

Indigenismo is now considered a "language of contention," involving diverse thinkers and indigenous peoples. State-sponsored indigenismo has declined with the rise of neoliberal globalization. However, its legacy remains strong in national identity discourses, influencing contemporary notions of authenticity and inclusiveness.

Discussion of the Literature

While broad comparative approaches to Latin American indigenismo are relatively rare (e.g., Henri Favre’s El indigenismo), numerous studies focus on specific countries and regions, with a vast bibliography devoted to critiquing indigenismo.