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Indigenous Slavery in South America, 1492–1820

Bibliographic Data

ID23486372
AuthorsNeil L Whitehead (corresponding author)
Year2011
Pages248-272
Publication date2011-07-25
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeCHAPTER
VenueThe Cambridge World History Of Slavery (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/chol9780521840682.012
OpenAlexW2480735559
ISBN9780521840682
LanguageEN
Citations received5

INTRODUCTION This chapter examines the forms of servitude and slaving practiced by indigenous peoples in South America. The principal focus of the chapter is the contrast between indigenous conceptions of captivity and obligatory service on the one hand, and the intrusion of European forms of slavery and servitude on the other. The evidence from the archaeological record, as well as from the history of European conquest in South America, points to indigenous systems of captivity and obligatory service as being quite prominent in many native social orders. The eminence of chiefs and kings, the ritual and political necessity for human sacrifice, and the obligatory nature of exchange relationships were reinforced by and used to justify the presence of human captives. Culturally, the figure of the captive, or sometimes “pet,” was, and still is, important not just at the level of political representation, but also cosmologically, because the key relationship between humanity and divinity is one of predation for many native peoples. Animal pets are socially liminal and arise from the killing of the pet's kin, usually in a hunting expedition. This killing implies an obligation to take on the roles of the dead's kin in feeding and housing the pet, and it is this set of relationships that are also used to picture the status of the human captive.

Archaeology · Captivity · Environmental ethics · Ethnology · Genealogy · Geography · Humanity · Indigenous · Liminality · Political science · Politics · Sacrifice · Sociology · Anthropology · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Ecology · History · Law

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  • «Infieles traídos de la guerra del sur». Perspectivas desde el bautismo de indios cautivos y desnaturalizados de la guerra de Arauco (Santiago de Chile, 1585-1610)

    Open Access•Jaime Valenzuela Márquez•Anuario de Estudios Americanos•2020

  • Subjugated in the San Juan Basin

    Ryan P Harrod•KIVA•2018

  • Indigenous Slavery from Out on the Edge

    Nancy E Van Deusen•Ethnohistory•2020

  • Guest Editor's Introduction

    Arne Bialuschewski, Linford D Fisher•Ethnohistory•2017

Unique citing works5
Citations per year0,45
Citation span2015 - 2020 (6)
Citation velocityhistorical
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 4

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Open DOISci-Hub
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae