ABSTRACT
In the past, Indigenous responses to a variety of evangelizing and conversion attempts have led to a complex set of conditions and differences between and among communities. The role of visual culture and its presence in the construction of relationships between catholic and Indigenous communities assumes the perspective of art as a socially constructed act that reflects and perpetuates dominant ideology and interpretations. Visual representations and images in catholic churches often are not the subject of critical analyses, explicit review, or interpretation by community members from inside or outside the church. Covert institutional moves under the rubric of 'inculturation' may still reflect the assimilation and missionization policies of the past, yet they are harder to identify and counter with resistance. Unequal relationships of power and hierarchy support and maintain a system in which the practices and traditions of Indigenous Peoples are assumed and presumed by Euroamericans to be open for and to interpretation, usage, and appropriation.
