enduring understandings
- Art of the Indigenous Americas is among the world’s oldest artistic traditions. While its roots lie in northern Asia, it developed independently between c 10,000 BCE and 1492 CE, the beginning of the European invasions
- Regions and cultures are referred to as the Indigenous Americas to signal the priority of First Nations cultural traditions over those of the colonizing and migrant peoples that have progressively taken over the American continents for the last 500 years
- Ancient Mesoamerica encompassed what are now Mexico (from Mexico City southward), Guatemala, Belize, and western Honduras, from 15,000 BCE to 1521 CE, the Mexican (Aztec) downfall cultural similarities of ancient Mesoamerica include similar calendars; pyramidal stepped structures, sites and buildings oriented in relation to sacred mountains and celestial phenomena; and highly valued green materials, such as jadeite and quetzal feathers
- The ancient Central Andes comprised present-day southern Ecuador, Peru, western Bolivia, and northern Chile. General cultural similarities across the Andes include an emphasis on surviving and interacting with the challenging environments, reciprocity and cyclicality (rather than individualism), and reverence for the animal and plant worlds as part of the practice of shamanistic religion
- Despite underlying similarities, there are key differences between the art of Ancient America and Native North America with respect to its dating, environment, cultural continuity from antiquity to the present, and sources of information
- Colonization by different European groups (Catholic and Protestant) undergirds distinct modern political situations for Amerindian survivors. Persecution, genocide, and marginalization have shaped current identity and artistic expression
- Although disease and genocide practiced by the European invaders and colonists reduced their population by as much as 90 percent, Native Americans today maintain their cultural identity and uphold modern versions of ancient traditions in addition to creating new art forms as part of the globalized contemporary art world
Resources
http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/AA/aaflashfront.htm