Annotated Resource Set (ARS)
Title / Content Area:
Diversity and Cultural Traditions in Latin America
Developed by:
Natalie Arsenault, Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, University
of Texas at Austin
Grade Level:
Grades 6–12
Essential Question:
How do various traditions and celebrations in Latin America reflect its history and
diversity?
Contextual Paragraph:
Much like the United States, the countries of Latin America reflect a mixture of various
peoples and cultures. Latin America is not a single, monolithic culture; each country in
the region has its own history and cultural roots. Indigenous, European, and African
influences—among others—have blended to form unique nations that maintain some
traditions among small groups and incorporate other traditions into their national
identity. Music, dance, and festivals offer an entrypoint into each country’s history and
diversity.
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
1
Resource Set
Dancing Zamba,
Argentina
Carnival in Oruru
(Bolivia)
Candomblé (Bahia,
Brazil) Ritual Dance
A Feast Day in San José,
Costa Rica
African Dance (Cuba)
Fiesta in a Village Near
Quito (Ecuador)
Couple in traditional
costumes dancing zamba,
one of Argentina’s most
popular dances. From the
Peruvian zamacueca,
adopted in Chile as the
cueca.
Carnival dancer in an
elaborate devil costume.
Carnival in Oruru has a
strong religious
connection, seen in its two
most prominent icons:
Pachamama (Mother
Earth/Virgin Mary) and Tio
Supay (Uncle/Devil).
Women in traditional
dress dancing a ritual from
Candomblé, a religion
based on African beliefs
that incorporates Christian
elements.
Religious procession with
floats that feature young
women and girls dressed
as angels and saints. The
Virgin Mary and St.
Catherine of Alexandria
are two of the figures
depicted.
Guajiro (Cuban peasant)
performing traditional
dance in front of bohio
(thatched huts that go
back to the Taíno Indians,
the island’s original
inhabitants).
Men in feathered
headdresses performing
traditional indigenous
dance at a fiesta in a town
outside of Quito.
http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/
item/2666/
item/2752/
item/2753/
item/2757/
item/2762/
item/2766/
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
2
Playing the Marimba
(Guatemala)
Carnival Costumes
(Haiti)
Dance and Popular
Dress (Haiti)
Creation of the Fifth Sun
Festival (Mexico)
Indian Style Ferris
Wheel (Mexico)
Oaxacan Feather Dancer
(Mexico)
Indigenous man playing a
marimba made of
different-sized gourds. The
marimba is believed to
have originated in
southern Africa.
Two masqueraders in
costumes that are
simultaneously pigs and
humans. Haiti has a long
tradition of animal papiermaché Carnival masks.
Dancers elegantly dressed
in 18th century clothes
worn by free people of
color (gens de couleur)
when Haiti was a colony of
France (called St.
Domingue).
Musicians in costume
wearing distinctive
headdresses. The creation
of the fifth sun is part of
Aztec mythology about the
origins of the world.
Voladores in Mexico held
against the length of the
poles as they revolve
around the wheel in the
middle. Each individual on
the wheel wears a large,
circular headdress that is
itself like a wheel.
Oaxacan dancer in an
elaborate costume that
features intricate, detailed
headdress, breastplate,
and shield. The
Guelaguetza is a festival
that celebrates Oaxaca’s
folk traditions and dances.
http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/
item/2775
item/2783/
item/2781
item/2785
item/2788
item/2790
Notes/Comments: Set of 22 photos includes the following countries (one photo each unless noted otherwise): Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba,
Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti (2 photos), Mexico (4 photos) Nicaragua, Peru (2 photos), Trinidad & Tobago (2 photos), Uruguay (2 photos), Venezuela (2 photos).
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
3
Masks Used in Native
Dance (Mexico)
Dance (Nicaragua)
“Bury dance,” Carnival,
Peru
Fiesta “Huayno,” a Folk
Dance (Peru)
Steelband Playing on
the Beach (Trinidad &
Tobago)
Attending Muslim
Festival (Trinidad &
Tobago)
Indigenous dancer wearing
seven masks around his
head that are used in the
Dance of the Seven Vices.
Folk dancers in Nicaragua,
performing an informal
version of the traditional
Las Inditas.
Carnival scene in Cuzco,
Peru with indigenous men,
women, and children in
traditional clothing
performing a dance.
Indigenous dancers
preforming huayno, the
most representative folk
dance of the Andes.
Old Oak Starlift Steel
Orchestra playing steel
drums, a Trinidadian
invention resulting from
the British outlawing the
use of regular drums by
Africans in 1783.
Men attending Hosay
festival stand in front of a
tadjah (model
mausoleum).
http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/
item/2791/
item/2794
item/2798/
item/2799/
item/2808
item/2809
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
4
Montevideo Celebrates
Carnival Dancing
Candombe (Uruguay)
Parade, The Three Kings
Celebration (Uruguay)
Fiesta baile Chichimaya,
Zulia (Venezuela)
El Tambor de Curiepe
Dance (Venezuela)
Panamanian girl in a
pollera (brightly colored
national dress worn for
festivals and Carnival)
Women dressed in
costume, part of a carnival
band dancing Candombe.
Candombe is a drumbased Afro-Uruguayan
rhythm that has roots in
the Bantu regions of
eastern and equatorial
Africa.
Men dressed as kings, with
crowns, flowing capes, and
long beards, mounted on
horses greet their
"subjects." Tres Reyes, or
Three Kings Day,
celebrated on January 6, is
when Uruguayan children
receive Christmas gifts.
Indigenous people in the
state of Zulia performing a
traditional dance. The
northwestern part of Zulia
is inhabited by the Guajiro
Indians, the largest
indigenous group in
Venezuela.
Men and women dancing
in the town of Curiepe.
Founded in the early
1700s by liberated slaves,
Curiepe is known for its
annual San Juan Festival
and its famous drums
This photograph shows a
Panamanian girl in a
pollera, a brightly-colored
national dress worn for
festivals and carnival, with
an elaborately decorated
headdress and earrings of
a similar pattern.
http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/ http://www.wdl.org/en/
item/2817/
item/2819
item/2821
item/2822
item/2795/
Foundations Annotations
Curriculum Connections
Social Studies, adaptable for use in Spanish, Music, Dance
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
5
Curriculum Standards
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies
§113.18. Social Studies, Grade 6
(1) History. The student understands that historical events influence contemporary events. The student is expected to: (A) trace characteristics of various contemporary societies
in regions that resulted from historical events or factors such as invasion, conquests, colonization, immigration, and trade.
(15) Culture. The student understands the similarities and differences within and among cultures in various world societies. The student is expected to: (D) analyze the
experiences and evaluate the contributions of diverse groups to multicultural societies.
(17) Culture. The student understands relationships that exist among world cultures. The student is expected to: (D) identify and define the impact of cultural diffusion on
individuals and world societies.
(18) Culture. The student understands the relationship that exists between the arts and the societies in which they are produced. The student is expected to: (A) explain the
relationships that exist between societies and their architecture, art, music, and literature; (B) relate ways in which contemporary expressions of culture have been influenced by
the past.
21) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired through established research methodologies from a variety of valid
sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to: (A) differentiate between, locate, and use valid primary and secondary sources such as computer software;
interviews; biographies; oral, print, and visual material; and artifacts to acquire information about various world cultures; (B) analyze information by sequencing, categorizing,
identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and
conclusions.
§113.34. World Geography Studies
(5) Geography. The student understands how political, economic, and social processes shape cultural patterns and characteristics in various places and regions. The student is
expected to: (A) analyze how the character of a place is related to its political, economic, social, and cultural characteristics.
(16) Culture. The student understands how the components of culture affect the way people live and shape the characteristics of regions. The student is expected to: (A) describe
distinctive cultural patterns and landscapes associated with different places in Texas, the United States, and other regions of the world, and how these patterns influenced the
processes of innovation and diffusion.
(18) Culture. The student understands the ways in which cultures change and maintain continuity. The student is expected to: (C) analyze examples of cultures that maintain
traditional ways.
§113.33. World History Studies
(5) History. The student understands causes and effects of European expansion beginning in the 16th century. The student is expected to: (A) identify causes of European
expansion beginning in the 16th century; and (B) explain the political, economic, cultural, and technological influences of European expansion on both Europeans and nonEuropeans, beginning in the 16th century.
(20) Culture. The student understands the relationship between the arts and the times during which they were created. The student is expected to: (B) analyze examples of how art,
architecture, literature, music, and drama reflect the history of cultures in which they are produced.
(25) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a variety of sources including electronic technology. The student
is expected to: (C) analyze information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making
generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and conclusions; (D) explain and apply different methods that historians use to interpret the past, including the use of
primary and secondary sources, points of view, frames of reference, and historical context.
Content & Thinking Objectives
Content Objective 1: Students will be able to name the groups that contributed to Latin American culture.
Objective 2: Students will identify indigenous, European, and African characteristics of Latin American cultural traditions.
Objective 3: Students will describe the degree to which Latin American traditions blend characteristics from different cultures.
Thinking Objective 1: Students will analyze photographs to determine the subject/event of each photo and its cultural roots.
Objective 2: Students will categorize Latin American countries/traditions by their dominant influences.
Objective 3: Students will compare and contrast cultural influences of various Latin American countries.
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
6
Inquiry Activities & Strategies
1.
[If this has not been covered previously] Provide a brief overview of the history of Latin America, establishing that indigenous cultures were present when Europeans arrived in
the sixteenth century and that Europeans established slave economies throughout the region. Explain that, as a result, Latin American cultures represent the blending of these
three primary groups. Introduce the term “syncretism” (noun, the combination of different forms of belief or practice; adj., syncretic); syncretism is a blending of various cultural
traditions to make something new and it is common throughout Latin America. {Extension: discuss later waves of immigration, including that from other parts of Europe, Asia,
and the Middle East, during the twentieth century.}
2.
Explain that students will see the influence of these three groups in music, dance, and celebrations in Latin America. The class will be looking at historical photos for evidence
of which groups have influenced traditions in different Latin American countries.
3.
Model the activity by discussing the last photo in the set, the color image of the Panamanian girl in the pollera. Work through the Photo Analysis Worksheet (linked below)
using this photo, having students share their responses to each section.
4.
Divide students into groups of 4–5. Each group will be given a set of photographs, one for each student in the group. Groups should not have more than one photograph from
any country. Note: groups do not have to have completely different sets; there can be some overlap of photos if needed.
5.
Individual analysis: Each student will analyze his/her photo using the Photo Analysis Worksheet: http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/
photo_analysis_worksheet.pdf. Students can work together to analyze the photos, but each student will be responsible for his/her photo and worksheet.
6.
Group discussion: Again, begin by modeling the discussion using the Panamanian photo. Each group discusses its set of photos and answers the following questions (which
can be displayed on board):
7.
a.
Does this photo look like it was taken at a public event or in a private setting? Based on this, do you think the photo is part of national or local culture? Explain your
answers.
b.
Which cultural groups—indigenous, European, African—have influenced what is taking place in the photo? Explain your response.
Homework: each student conducts research on the cultural tradition depicted in his/her photograph. Provide students with the contextual information (listed above the photos)
for each photograph as background information to start their research. Students should write a one-paragraph caption for their photos, illustrating their understanding of the
tradition and the people who practice it. Captions should include information on: (1) the tradition, (2) the country (location, size of population, etc.), and (3) the ethnic heritage
and/or history of the country. They need to provide a list of at least three sources for their information (you can choose whether or not Wikipedia can be used).
Model the activity by providing the following caption for the Panamanian photo: Girl in Panama dressed in a traditional pollera. Polleras are long, ruffled skirts, with matching
shirts, that were worn in Spain as far back as the seventeenth century. The pollera is now the national costume of Panama, the southernmost country in Central America, with
a population of 3.5 million. Panama has a very mixed population reflecting its native roots (such as the Kuna), its history of African slavery, and European immigration. The
dominant influences in Panama are Caribbean and Spanish, as reflected in the pollera, which has been worn in Panama for at least 150 years.
8.
In class the next day, set up four areas in the classroom, labeled as follows: Indigenous, European, African, Blended. Each student should go to the category that he/she feels
represents the tradition in his/her photo. Students in each group explain their photos to one another. [There is no right/wrong answer. Students should go where they feel their
photos fit best.]
9.
Before returning to a whole class discussion, create a list on the board with each category and the countries represented in that group. Students should return to their seats
and you can discuss the following questions as a class:
a. Go through each country and discuss under which category(ies) it fell. What explains the influence of that culture on that specific country?
b. Based on the groupings on the board, the photos, and your research, do you think Latin America is all the same? How are countries similar and how are they different?
c. Final reflection: What surprised you about what you learned during this activity? [Can be done as homework.]
Assessment Strategies
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
7
Photograph caption completed during activity.
Final assessment: students should demonstrate an understanding of diversity among Latin American countries, as well as within each country, through a visual representation
(PowerPoint, tri-fold, booklet, etc.) with images and background information that depict diversity in the region (using photos they find in their own research; not from the collection
used in the classroom). Students must discuss at least two countries in the region.
Alternate assessment: students should demonstrate their understanding of Latin American diversity by researching a country not included in the photo collection and creating a
visual representation of that country’s cultural influences and history.
Other Resources
Web Resources
Map: The Atlantic Slave Trade Routes Map, 1500-1619: http://www.maps.com/ref_map.aspx?pid=11318
Map shows early slave trade, including regions of Africa from which slaves were drawn and their destinations.
Map: Slave Trade From Africa to the Americas, 1650–1860: http://www.slaverysite.com/Body/maps.htm#map5
Map shows flow of slaves, providing background information on numbers of African slaves in various parts of the Americas as well as the economic sectors they served.
“Europeans in South America”: http://www.everyculture.com/South-America/Europeans-in-South-America.html
Discussion of European populations in South America.
Latin American Music and Dance: http://users.wpi.edu/~arivera/music.html
Background on traditions and influences, including observations on the three main influences.
Latin American Network Information Center: http://lanic.utexas.edu/
Good starting point for research on Latin America; all links are critically reviewed.
Secondary Sources
Collier, Simon, Thomas Skidmore, Harold Blakemore, eds., The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge Univ Press, 1992.
Mann, Charles C. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. New York: Vintage, 2006.
Teaching with Primary Sources - Annotated Resource Set
8