Pre-Colombian Museum focused on the basement floor. This indicates how the floor is set up in context to the post.
These are head pieces worn by commoners and sometimes important members of the community. Colors and size are an important element that distinguishes someone in a community.
These are head pieces worn by leaders of the community which are entirely made of silver. Chile is known for its silver industry.
As someone with a background in criminal justice and recognition of our nations laws I am walkways fascinated with understanding the structure that sets up hierarchies in society. I truly believe history tells us a lot about how it molds current societies. My experience with the Pre-Columbian Museum was able to teach me a little bit about what I wanted to know about Chile- what happened historically in Chile with specific tribes\groups that caused Chile to be shaped the way that it is? Or Why is the current class structure the way it is? And most importantly how was it reinforced and how do we memic that today? ( how is power reinforced). These were all questions that were answered through a historical perspective as I learned about the Mapuches. I discovered the importance of detail- but detail in their traditional wear-when it came to distinguishing people in society. This was my fascination with it because I would assume it would be based on race like in the history of the United States but it was determined by class. Furthermore, this distinction could be easily determined by understanding the color and size of someone’s hat. ( pictured below). Customs in this culture focused a lot on the traditional wear and that is exactly how the power dynamic was set up. In addition, I wanted to look at leaders in the community. Specifically, how they determined power and what set them apart. Not surprisingly I found that this was a social structure between themselves all based on the amount of silver they wore in their heads pieces. As many know, Chile is rich in its silver industry and this group took advantage of it as every coin of silver on their head piece represented more power. As described by one of the informants of the museum this power could grow naturally from year to year or it could be gained by acts of bravery and hard work that one would do for its people. This was someone that blew me away as a social major because I always learned about the American society which made me utilize it as a reference for comparison. Shockingly I found something completely different in Chile.
I really hope to keep learning about Chilean history as I indulge with conversation with locals and come across intelectual spaces like these.
Honestly, I enjoyed learning a lot on day 3.