missionaries

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/world/americas/07venez.html

this article in the new york times today brings back lots of confusing memories for me. missionaries in the amazon have brought much more than christian faith to practically powerless (in terms of political leverage and capital accumulation) peoples. the ones we hear about most are education and medicine, but i challenge that they are far beyond this as well. new ways of thought, ethical and moral codes, priorities, relationships, and self perception. with regards to statehood, missionaries teach the tools for having more power, especially through activism. the secoya were planning their march to the capital this summer, which has happened before. but protest is not a common tool in traditional secoyan life. their history, until meeting orville and mary, contained mainly stories of compliance, accentuated by the lack of resources, tools, and education. the secoya lived as slaves on the rubber plantations of peru, only escaping slavery under the conditions of war, fleeing to ecuador amidst the ecuador-peru war. now, their lives are defined by their struggles and protests, and would not be possible without their extensive education, health, exposure to modern (western) styles and forms of communication, and the convergence of their self perception of their rights and it's application to the legal and government systems. the secoya are who they are today because of the johnson's, but they aren't who they we're 50 years ago because of the johnson's.

maybe i just notice it more, but this seems to be a big tool for many indigenous peoples in amazonia. in colombia too, indigenous groups march in the streets to put pressure on president uribe.