A History of Indigenous Latin America

Aymara to Zapatistas

René D. Harder Horst

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2026
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781040692622
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

In its second edition, this book provides a comprehensive Indigenous perspective on Latin American political, social, and economic changes from pre-colonization to the present.

Set within a postcolonial framework and enhanced by interdisciplinary insights from anthropology, economics, sociology, and religion, the book delivers a unique understanding of Indigenous histories, resistance movements, transculturation, labor, and political organizations. Its innovative organization into 50-year historical periods facilitates semester-long classroom discussion, while images, maps, textboxes, and linked documents in every chapter support active learning. A new final chapter brings the work up to the present. This approach enables readers to contextualize major historical events and cultural changes within manageable timeframes, providing fresh perspectives that broaden traditional Latin American historical narratives.

This textbook is designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying Latin American history, Indigenous studies, postcolonial studies, and related fields. It provides an ideal introduction for students.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Praise
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Maps
• List of Textboxes
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Indigenous People from South America Meet an Important Person
• 1 Indigenous Latin America: Introductions, Methodology, and Definitions
• 2 Indigenous Latin America: Abya Yala
• 3 Indigenous Encounters with Europeans: The Fifteenth Century
• 4 Natives Challenge the Conquerors Yet Help Create a New World, 1500 to 1549
• 5 Colonial Alliances and Demographic Collapse, 1550 to 1599
• 6 The High Colonial Period Indigenous People Join Imperial Systems, 1600 to 1649
• 7 Transculturation, Urbanization, and Isolated Revolts, 1650 to 1699
• 8 Demographic Recovery and Growing Insurrections, 1700 to 1749
• 9 Religious Conflicts, Widespread Resistance, and Nation States, 1750 to 1825
• 10 Indigenous Responses to New Rulers and Frontier Expansion, 1811 to 1871
• 11 Struggles for Land, Labor, and Political Leverage in Neocolonial Latin America, 1870 to 1929
• 12 Diverse Indigenous Paths Toward Self-Determination, 1930 to 1971
• 13 Indigenous Organization and Opposition to Military Rule, 1971 to 1989
• 14 Indigenous People Enter the New Millennium, 1990 to 2010
• 15 Indigenous People Challenge Conservative Rule as the Environment Changes
• Conclusion: Moving Ahead with Indigenous History in Mind
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Organization Abbreviations
• Indigenous People
• Index