Although the tobacco plant has been employed as a medicinal and sacred herb by Indigenous cultures across the Americas, its usage drastically changed after the 15th-century colonial arrival; its large-scale commodification and global marketing once brought to Europe lead to hedonic and addictive uses harmful to health. As a consequence, tobacco…

Based on Indigenous education research in Canada, the U.S., and Peru, small Indigenous school founders and educators reveal visions and tensions emerging through commitment to community-based Indigenous schooling. Major themes encompass connections to histories, relationships with the environment, and navigation of local and state pressures.…

For decades social researchers have explored indigenous knowledges and practices, yet decisive input by Quechuan peoples in the research process has remained minimal, nearly non-existent. This non-participatory approach to research about Quechuan peoples, cultures, and languages has reproduced asymmetric relationships between subject and expert,…

Peru's prehistory, climate, and terrain are the landscape upon which one of humankind's longest migrations occurred. When the glacial period ended, a geographic and cultural transition began when the meltwaters carved river valleys across the South American continent. Culture-rich communities of fishers, miners, artisans, and morticians populated…

This paper analyses a "critical moment" in the educational trajectories of young indigenous children in Peru: the transition to primary school. It addresses the inequalities in educational services that affect indigenous children, before looking at the micro-level processes that take place in school settings, through a focus on two…

Much has been written about "indianismo" and "indigenismo" and their literary and social meaning, but rarely have these two "criollo" movements been positioned face to face with actual Indigenous expression. This article attempts a preliminary pass at just such an approach by comparing four indigenous themes…

Describes the founding of the Chuyma Aru Association, an Oxfam America partner based in Peru, which is adapting and using traditional indigenous knowledge to stabilize new agrarian infrastructure in peasant communities. Describes the process of gathering statistics and understanding the Aymara campesino world view and crianza (caretaking)…

The eight papers presented in this document discuss the link between substance and human life in Latin America and help readers uncover some of the myths surrounding drugs, especially cocaine. Contributions range from extensive research to field work and observation. Enrique Mayer demonstrates that the coca leaf is a vital Andean cultural element…

An examination and categorization of over 400 full-page drawings in the 1615 "Nueva coronica y bien gobierno" of Felipe Guaman Poma de Alaya, which details life in the Peruvian Viceroyalty. Explains the function of the illustrations in the text and that of five "signifying attributes" of spatial configuration. (SB)

This book presents research into the ways in which Indigenous peoples of the Andes create, transmit, maintain, and transform their knowledge, and the related processes of teaching and learning. Most chapters are based on papers delivered at a round-table conference at the University of Cambridge (England) in 1996 and include contributions from…

Presents information on the Capac Nan, the highway system of the Incas. Describes its use by the Spanish conquistadors in the destruction of the Incan empire. Includes suggested classroom uses for the article, a homework assignment, and discussion topics. (DK)

This resource packet includes a teacher's guide, reproducible student activity sheets, a simulation game: "Life with the Incas", and a poster. The resource presents a cross-curricular thematic approach to the United Kingdom's National Curriculum. The materials look at the Andes and the Andean people, the Quechuan, who live in the…

The Summer Institute of Linguistics runs several bilingual schools in the Andean and Amazonian regions of Peru. These are the only public bilingual schools in the country serving the Indian population, a majority of whom do not speak Spanish as their first language. Although public education is now available to some 80 percent of all children, the…