Traffic - The Unequal Encounter Between European and Indigenous People of the Americas in Terms of Demography, Social Institutions and Ecology

With a curated selection of books, journals and zines, from established publishers to independent small presses, focusing on the arts, social studies, humanities, critical theory and non-fiction literary writings.

Featured publishers include Alfred A. Knopf, Bergen Kunsthall, Brusselssprout, Canongate Books, Chris Boot, Gagosian Gallery, Green Art Gallery, HarperCollins Publishers, Hatje Cantz, JRP Ringier, Metropolitan Books, MIT Press, Phaidon, Prestel, Routeledge, Saatchi Gallery, Semiotexte, Skira, Steidl, Sternberg Press, Tate Publishing, Thames and Hudson, The FLAG Art Foundation, The Third Line, Traffic, TransGlobe Publishing, Trinity University Press, University of California Press, among others.

For more information on publications, please contact Traffic on +971 4 347-0209.

The Unequal Encounter Between European and Indigenous People of the Americas in Terms of Demography, Social Institutions and Ecology

Talk by Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna

Thursday 31 May at 7:30pm

The Unequal Encounter Between European and Indigenous People of the Americas in Terms of Demography, Social Institutions and Ecology
Talk by Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna

BOLDtalks and Traffic are pleased to host Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna to present on the topic of European encounter with the Indigenous people of the America. The conquest of the Americas by the empires of Europe resulted in the nearly total loss of the cultural, technical and intellectual achievements of one third of the population of the world of that time. It is now estimated that 95% of original population of the Americas died within 150 years of contact. The Amerindian crops adopted by the European conquerors spread around the world, yet the advanced technical capabilities of many Amerindian societies and their sophisticated and efficient use of the land did not have any significant impact on the home countries of the conquerors. This talk will explore some of the reasons why this unequal encounter may have taken place.

Dr. Luis Eduardo Luna has a Ph.D. from the Department of Comparative Religion Stockholm University (1989) and an honorary doctoral degree from St. Lawrence, Canton, New York (2002). He retired from the Department of Modern Language and Communication at the Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki. He was an Assistant Professor in Anthropology (1994-1998) at the Santa Catarina Federal University in Florianópolis, Brazil. Dr. Luna is the author of Vegetalismo: Shamanism among the Mestizo Population of the Peruvian Amazon (1986), a co- author with Pablo Amaringo of Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman (1991), a co-author with Slawek Wojtowicz, Rick Strassman and Ede Frecska of Inner Paths to Outer Space: Journeys Through Psychedelics and Other Spiritual Technologies (2008) and co-editor with Steven White of Ayahuasca Reader: Encounters with the Amazon’s Sacred Vine (2000). He is the Director of the Research Center for the Study of Psychointegrator Plants, Visionary Art and Consciousness, Florianópolis, Brazil.