Weaving the Past: A History of Latin America's Indigenous Women from the Prehispanic Period to the Present

by Susan Kellogg

Weaving the Past offers a comprehensive and interdisciplinary history of Latin America's indigenous women. While the book concentrates on native women in Mesoamerica and the Andes, it covers indigenous people in other parts of South and Central America, including lowland peoples in and beyond Brazil, and Afro-indigenous peoples, such as the Garifuna, of Central America. Drawing on primary and secondary sources, it argues that change, not continuity, has been the norm for indigenous peoples whose resilience in the face of complex and long-term patterns of cultural change is due in no small part to the roles, actions, and agency of women. The book provides broad coverage of gender roles in native Latin America over many centuries, drawing upon a range of evidence from archaeology, anthropology, religion, and politics. Primary and secondary sources include chronicles, codices, newspaper articles, and monographic work on specific regions. Arguing that Latin America's indigenous
women were the critical force behind the more important events and processes of Latin America's history, Kellogg interweaves the region's history of family, sexual, and labor history with the origins of women's power in prehispanic, colonial, and modern South and Central America. Shying away from interpretations that treat women as house bound and passive, the book instead emphasizes women's long history of performing labor, being politically active, and contributing to, even supporting, family and community well-being.

Genres: Nonfiction, Latin American History, History

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Dasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kellogg’s Weaving the Past provides a broad synthesis and comparative analysis of indigenous women’s lives in Latin America. Kellogg also analyzes a broad time period, stretching from evidence of the first people crossing over the Bering Strait up to contemporary times. Despite the magnitude of the synthesis, Kellogg’s argument is clear and present throughout the book. That argument being that women acted as agents of change throughout history and were responsive to various demographic, economic, political, global, and social pressures. Kellogg highlights that the decline in women’s status resulted from a complex myriad of factors and was not inevitable. As such, Kellogg looks for continuity as well as change that marked the experiences of Latin American women.
Kellogg supports her argument through her thorough and multi-disciplinary approach to research. Considering her training in anthropology this is not surprising. As well, her use of anthropological sources, such as pottery and religious symbols, is helpful in assessing gender relationships where written sources lack. In addition to anthropology, Kellogg draws on historical, archeological, and ethnographical studies to complete her synthesis. As Kellogg admits, much of the book focuses on Mesoamerican and Andean women due to the dense populations and larger abundance of English and Spanish sources on the topic (p. 3). Although the Caribbean, Central America, Brazil, Mexico, and even parts of the United States receive attention it is not as frequent or as in-depth as the sections on Mesoamerica.
This is a significant piece of research because it reshapes how readers think about Latin America’s indigenous women. As Kellogg notes, as a professor of history she noticed that the field lacked a comparative history that focuses on ethnicity. Thus, Kellogg set out to fill this void. The section on contemporary women masterfully demonstrates the full effect of prehispanic, colonial, and global influences. Successfully Kellogg does so and demonstrates indigenous women’s work in labour, politics and activism, religious institutions, and family contexts. It is clear after reading this book that women, while it varies depending on period and region, were not passive victims of change.

[Garret Shields · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skim-read this book. Argues for the agency of indigenous women in Latin America, despite the strict social structures imposed upon them. Paints a very bleak picture of their lives and what they have endured over time (domestic violence, sexual harassment and assault, limited opportunities, etc.).

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't too crazy about this book. It does give a good overview of what life was and is like for women in Latin America, but Kellogg tends to contradict herself. It seems like she wants to be able to say that attitudes toward women were much more progressive than one might think, but the examples she cites lead me to think otherwise. Her generalizations didn't fit with the examples she gave. An interesting read, just not what I really wanted from a book about women in Latin America.

Plus, she is all about gender complementarity and that got frustrating.