Cultural Genocide In The Mission

I do believe that the Jesuits were not guilty of cultural genocide in their dealings with the Indians of South America. The term “cultural genocide” was first introduced in the mid 1900s as a cultural component to the already existing word genocide. The word genocide, comes from the ancient greek and latin words “geno” and “caedere”; literally translating to “to kill a tribe or race”. The formal definition of cultural genocide therefore being “ the systematic destruction of traditions, values, language, and other elements which make a one group of people distinct from other groups” (Cultural Genocide). I believe the purpose of cultural genocide is to try to homogenize our world into one superior culture. However, not one race and all of its …show more content…
From many instances in the movie, we could see that the Jesuits indeed established a good relationship with the indians because their mission had both the Jesuits and the Gurani living in peace. In contrary, the Portuguese wanted to commit genocide by enslaving the indians, and in the process take their land and identity. The Jesuits response to this, try to oppose the Portuguese to the best of their ability and the movie ends with the Jesuits dying while fighting the Portuguese to defend their new friends, the indians. In fact, this bond between the Indians and the Jesuits really confirmed that there was no way the Jesuits could be considered to have committed cultural genocide. A scene that really shows this was the one where the Guarani leader forgives Captain Rodrigo Mendoza, the former indian slave trader. After Mendoza kills his brother in a fit of rage, he locks himself in prison where he meets the Jesuit priest Father Gabriel. Father Gabriel then convinces him that he should come to his missionary to help relieve him of his sins. After his journey all the way to the mission, still believing only the indians can relieve him of his guilt, he encounters the indian leader who forgives Mendoza. Even though the indian leader has lost a lot because of Mendoza, this scene just shows that the indians accept the Europeans when they come without ill …show more content…
any Indians who converted to Christianity exercised their right of agency. No indian was ever forced to convert, or was punished because they didn't. There is no doubt that the Jesuits had good intentions and infact were not guilty of robbing the indians of their culture. Contrary to what Columbus wanted with the Arawaks, the Jesuit’s goal was for them to live in harmony with the Guarani. Unfortunately that was cut short because of the Portuguese; the true cultural genocide