As a result of the Indian slave trade in the American Southwest, a group of detribalized Indians emerged in New Mexico during the Spanish colonial period. These Indians came to be known as the genízaros and, through the process scholars call ethnogenesis, developed their own identity by incorporating Hispano-Christian cultural practices while preserving their native ways. The genízaros were products of a widespread and lucrative trade in Plains Indian captives and, as such, they represented various tribes, including Apaches, Navajos, Comanches, Kiowas, Pawnees, Utes and Wichitas. The term genízaro emerged as a caste label during the Spanish colonial period and usually refers to members of these Plains Indian groups who were captured in the Indian wars and raiding expeditions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and in turn sold to New Mexicans as servants to be instructed in Hispanic customs and baptized as Christians. The genízaro experience in New Mexico was an ongoing practice of cultural reinvention in the interest of self-preservationa practice consistent with the cultural survival and legacy of other Native Americans in the region. As individuals, genízaros underwent social and cultural transformations upon leaving their native communities and entering Hispanic society through servitude. The extent to which these individual experiences produced a shared genízaro consciousness and legacy to survive and become a distinctly genízaro culture is the story that unfolds here.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MONTANA/oai:etd.lib.umt.edu:etd-05302008-122456 |
| Date | 07 August 2008 |
| Creators | Avery, Doris Swann |
| Contributors | Dr. Dan L. Flores, Dr. Jody Pavilack, Dr. David R.M. Beck |
| Publisher | The University of Montana |
| Source Sets | University of Montana Missoula |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.umt.edu/theses/available/etd-05302008-122456/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Montana or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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