Contrasting Healways
Colonization by Pathologization and Resistance through CHamoru Healing during the Spanish Colonization of Tåno’ Låguas Yan Gåni By Matilde Carbajo PhD Candidate, La Caixa INPHINIT Fellow, Universitat Pompeu Fabra Abstract: During the Early Modern period, the Pacific saw significant encounters between different healing paradigms. In Tåno’ Låguas yan Gåni, about it meant the juxtaposition of Latte CHamoru/Chamorro healways, rooted in Indigenous practices and beliefs, and Colonial perspectives on illness, healing and therapeutic relationships, which were mostly influenced by Christian ideas of the world. The establishment of a Catholic mission in the archipelago, after 1668, interlaced Indigenous and Colonial healways with the power dynamics of colonialism. Healing processes were either instrumentalized as vehicles of colonization or acquired new meanings as ways of resistance. In this contribution, I explore different strategies of colonization by medical means, such as the pathologization of Indigenous resistance, the attempt to replace local kinship collective dynamics of healing with the assistance of the missionaries, or the enforced Christianization of local spiritual healing practices. During the Spanish colonization of Tåno’ Låguas yan Gåni, CHamoru healways were not only a means of providing physical health and spiritual relief but also served as acts of preservation of CHamoru identities.
Presentation Recording
Presentation slides on the following page.