The Catholic Church and the Colombian State; Combined Construction of a Nationality in the South of the Country

Nicolás Restrepo
resnicolas@gmail.com
Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Abstract:

With this paper I intend to show the historical context in which the process of acculturation of the Amazonian indigenous societies took place, specifically the ones that lived by the end of the nineteenth century in the territory that today conforms the Putumayo region. In order to present this concept, I analyze the 19th century legislation in Colombia that refers to the indigenous problem and the relations between the Colombian government and the Catholic institution; with the essential axis of both being the 1886 National Colombian Constitution and the concordat established in 1887 between the Vatican State and the Colombian government. Another element that I use to establish this historical context is the ideological discourse of that time, specifically the prime discourse of the Colombian leading elite, understanding this as the originator, due to its nature, of the acculturation process and the imposition of occidental beliefs and way or life onto the indigenous people.

Keywords: Acculturation, concordat, regeneration.