Although I took these classes out of order (first New Spain in the fall then Pre-Columbian in the spring). I analyzed the Aztec pre and post-contact, looking at how traditions differed or were erased altogether. This paper caps my comparative analysis of Maya and Andean textiles well by describing the destruction of textile culture with the arrival of the Spanish.
With the arrival of the Spanish, the textile industry was significantly affected in nearly every aspect revolving around textile culture. People across Pre-Columbian Latin America used textiles as a means of significant trade value, establishing a power of status and gender, and conduction of spirituality during rituals. In the post-conquest period, innovations were implemented as well as oppression, spiritual abandonment, and the toppling of previous status structures. New ways of weaving and new materials, such as sheep for wool, made exciting new developments in textile production. However, without the old ways of status and spirituality, one must ask: how does this offer new ways of expression for recently oppressed peoples? Textiles had been stripped of cultural value, the economy no longer accepted them as a way of exchange or value, and they are no longer a strong representation of gender or status. Even the Church stripped ritual rites of native people, and textiles could no longer be of spiritual importance. How did textile culture transfer to New Spanish civilization?
Comments