Tuesday, June 26, 2007

The Great Inca Rebellion: tonight on PBS

contribution by Cesar A. Muedas

Nashville's Channel 8 will air tonight (7pm CDT) a Nova/National Geographic special that examines a particular chapter in the story of the fall of the Inca empire.
How did the Inca Empire become as vast as the Roman in just over a century? How did less than 150 conquistadors take over the mighty Tawantinsuyo?
If you have to miss some of these answers or the whole show today (and don't get a chance to program your VCR or TiVo) you may catch the webcast version in a couple of weeks directly from the Nova archive online. In the meantime, you can read the candid behind-the-scenes story by Graham Townsley, the show's producer. And for the Ivy League angle, check out the Q&A with Terence D'Altroy, anthropology professor at Columbia University and author of "The Incas".
Furthermore, if you want to befriend a local Peruvian to talk about the show and the rich history behind it, a quick online resource may be the site of the15-month old UPAN (United Peruvian Association of Nashville).
Happy viewing and Que viva el Peru ......!

About Cesar: Born and raised in Lima, Peru, he landed in JFK in August 1986, moved from Houston to Nashville in February 1996, became a US citizen in November 2004, and lives in Davidson county with his wife of 10 years and his 2 children. Cesar is an independent business consultant and is completing his term as first chairman of COPLA (Council of Hispanic parents with children in Metro schools).

1 comment:

  1. Although, the program "The Great Inca Rebellion" should have been remembered for documenting the first gunshot wound of the Americas, I believe that instead it will ultimately be remembered for its scholastic dishonesty in inkeeping with a general American Culture bent on revising history (particularly historical accounts by Christians). I am not against revising history when the facts warrant it. But this program is almost comical in its proposition that an archeological find revealed facts that were not previously known. The idea that Pizarro had an Indian concubine who saved the day is familiar to anyone who has actually studied the conquest of the Americas written by priests (called scribes by Townsend/Nova/PBS’ religiously secular program). Does “La Malinche” ring a bell to Townsend or any NOVA scholars? Didn’t the dishonest Spanish Chroniclers reveal to us the important role that an indigenous woman had in the conquest of Mexico? Didn’t most of the Spaniards follow much the same pattern in the conquest of all the Americas? This very biased Townsend/NOVA/PBS program never really analyzed why the Spaniards found so many willing allies (if the Spaniards were so evil) among the indigenous peoples. Could it be that the cruelty and cannibalism of the Incas, the Aztecs (Mexicas) and other Imperialistic tribes compelled other Indians to join the Spaniards? What does that tell us about the evil Spaniards (that they actually played a liberating role)? As for the dishonest Spanish Chroniclers: who told us that the Spaniards used other indigenous tribes as allies? The dishonest Spanish Chroniclers. Who told us that there was a siege at Lima? The dishonest Spanish Chroniclers. Who told us that cavalry charges were NOT the single greatest reason for the Spaniards’ military victories? The dishonest Spanish Chroniclers. Who recorded the eyewitness accounts of the Indians who were present at the siege of Lima? The dishonest Spanish Chroniclers. You know, for being dishonest, they sure did tell us a lot. It appears that Townsend/Nova/PBS (and National Geographic) have never read any Greek, Roman, Assyrian, Egyptian or Babylonian Chronicles. The Spaniards were paragons of honesty in comparison. By the way, none of the facts that were uncovered negate the Spanish version of the facts. Though more credit was given to the Spaniards than Townsend/NOVA/PBS wanted, nothing in the Spanish account precluded assistance from other indigenous tribes at the siege of Lima: PARTICULARLY WHEN THIS FACT WAS A GIVEN THROUGHOUT ALL OF THE SPANISH CONQUEST ACCOUNTS. Bernal Diaz del Castillo (an eyewitness to the conquest of Mexico) and other Spanish Chroniclers NEVER hide the fact that the Spaniards depended on indigenous tribes for intelligence, logistical support, translation and even food.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...