t lie in the hands of the Indians or blacks. Instead it was projected onto them and into their being, nowhere more so than in the image of the shaman. In attempting to appropriate this power, we see how the colonists redefined their mythology of the pagan savage, became subject to its’ power, and in doing so sought salvation, from the civilization that tormented them as much as the primitive onto whom they projected their anti-selves”(Taussig, 168). The white man benefited and learned from these people, but it gets distorted and overlooked in the rapid transformation that takes place within the native lives. Accompanied with the act of colonization comes the creation of the colonial consciousness for South American Indians (Keesing, 402-412). This consists of two main parts: one psychologically based and the other economically based. The first part of this process is when the South American native people begin to conceptualize and acknowledge the colonizer’s concept of what it means to be “native” and the negative form of the meanings that are implied by the term. In order for the dominant group to actually suppress new elements of culture upon them without extreme forceful aggression, the weaker group has to begin to believe that they are an inferior group. “It was more reassuring to deny the humanity of the natives and decry the barbarism of their customs, and then seek to uplift them. One could rationalize exploitation with a sense of moral responsibility”(Keesing, 412). Culturally reproduced stereotypes will generally take the form of perceived social facts as time passes. In addition, the development of an economy and the introduction of a world market, society evolves and goes through changes. Capitalism and class systems are subsequently the predominant results. With that in mind, it generally is the “elites” of the Native population, those who went on to missionar...
