Biblioteca Digital de VanguardiaLa religión y el despertar de los pueblos indígenas en América Latina
The "awakening" of the indigenous people of Latin America raises the following question: is it accom- panied by a religious revitalization and a return to an- cestral beliefs and rituals? Religion is, indeed, present in protests and visible movements such as those in Me- xico or Ecuador, b...
| Autor principal: | |
|---|---|
| Formato: | artículo científico |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Iztapalapa
2006
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=74703207 http://biblioteca-repositorio.clacso.edu.ar/handle/CLACSO/96780 |
| Sumario: | The "awakening" of the indigenous people of Latin America raises the following question: is it accom- panied by a religious revitalization and a return to an- cestral beliefs and rituals? Religion is, indeed, present in protests and visible movements such as those in Me- xico or Ecuador, but religion does not appear to be the principal factor or the deepest source of these move- ments. Thus, alongside the rapid expansion of evange- licals (especially Pentecostals) among the indigenous communities, it is also observed the higher profile and the increased respect achieved by ancestral indigenous religious traditions. Elsewhere, intense missionary acti- vity, performed by various churches, has contributed to the emergence of new indigenous leaders; shamanic rituals function as a means of reaffirmation of ethnic identity and support of the struggle to recover ancestral lands is acquiring a sacred character because of in- digenous worldview. The battle is political and ethnic; it is fought for recognition of indigenous rights, for the specificity of people and their communities, for their ancestral lands and for their cultural expression. Belief is by no means uniform among indigenous peoples. However, there is no doubt that religion is a part of the process of recovery concerning ethnic identity, even though it is under threat from globalization. |
|---|