Claudia Brosseder’s book portrays pre-Columbian religion as
the unifying factor among Peru’s natives. The term Huaca (wak’a in the original
language) means “sacred object” or some inanimate structure, like a burial
mound, where spirits were thought to reside. It’s not exclusive to Peru; other
cultures, like Japanese Shinto, had similar animistic beliefs. But in this
case, it was more significant because it allowed the people to keep some
independence under colonialism.
From the start, Brosseder makes clear that Peru’s natives
weren’t all swayed by Christianity. It was introduced by their Spanish
Conquistadores, and since the natives had no rights, Christianity didn’t seem
very welcoming either. Indigenous religion continued into the 1600’s, but the
Jesuits made efforts to lure the people away from it. Unlike the Franciscans,
the Jesuits permitted local religious customs along with Christian ones, so
they weren’t entirely averse to animistic beliefs. However, they did use sneaky tactics with the
natives, such as offering rewards to those that were cooperative with the
missionaries and using them to influence others.
The author discusses other reasons for Spain’s proselytizing
in Peru, such as the protestant versus Catholic conflict in Europe. With
Catholic Spain fighting Protestant-led forces in the Netherlands, perhaps Spain’s
Bishops saw Latin America as a recruiting ground. But at the same time, Spain
was also the nation that had a violent Inquisition, and that didn’t offer much
encouragement. If Spanish speaking Priests wanted to stamp out the belief in
demons, then violent sermons would not have been much help.
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