Native Society and Disease in Colonial Ecuador (Cambridge Latin American Studies, Series Number 71)

This book examines the relationship between the indigenous peoples of northern Ecuador and disease, especially those infections introduced by Europeans during the sixteenth century. It addresses an important and often overlooked element in the history of Amerindian populations: their biological adaptability and resilience. But it is more than a history of disease incidents, medical responses, and population trends. The history of the biological experience under colonial rule. It differs from other studies in the field by its emphasis on the relationship between biological and social responses.

This book examines the relationship between indigenous populations in the north-central highlands of Ecuador and disease, especially those infections introduced by Europeans during the sixteenth century. Disease, of course, existed in the Americas long before 1500. But just as native societies resisted and eventually adapted to European conquest, so too did they adapt to Old World pathogens. Just as the responses of Indian communities to the economic and political demands of Spaniards varied over time, so too did the immunological responses of indigenous populations change over generations. What began in the sixteenth century as contact and invasion soon would involve both Indians and Europeans in a new history of biological, as well as social, adaptation.

Along The Avenue Of Volcanoes -- Disease, Illness, And Healing Before 1534 -- Conquest And Epidemic Disease -- Changing Patterns Of Disease And Demography -- Disaster And Crisis In The 1690s -- Disease And Demographic Stagnation. Suzanne Austin Alchon. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 137-147) And Index. "When the Spanish marched into the highlands of Ecuador in 1534, they knew that they were entering the northern sector of the Inca empire."