Some Latin American countries that come to mind are Mexico and Peru, because Peru shares a Spanish and Chinese/Japanese influence, while Mexico shares a Spanish and American influence, as well as a literal movement of thousands of Filipinos to Mexico during the colonial period. I would have to say either those in Southeast Asia or Latin America seem most similar, though with their differences.
One key difference to understanding the development of Filipino cultures versus those in Latin America were the settlement patterns and the Indigenous civilizations existing in respective countries. Mexico received anywhere from 300,000–700,000 Spanish colonists during the colonial period, as it was Spain’s favorite colony (It was named New Spain after all). But the problem was that most were poor, uneducated men, seeking wealth. Those that could not marry Spanish women (who were a minority) would choose Indigenous women or in some cases have a concubine system which they adapted from Spain. And I am certain that rape happened as well. Either way, a mestizo component of the population ended up being around 1/2 of the Mexican population by the end of the colonial period, with Whites being a minority and surviving natives largely retreating into forests and mountainous regions to get away from the Hispanics in the cities. Central and Northern Mexico as a result are largely Hispanicized, and mestizo culture dominates the country. Southern Mexico, by contrast, is dominated by Indigenous cultures with Hispanic influence since Spaniards were always a small minority there due to the enormous presence of surviving natives and the tropical climate. So specifically Southern Mexico seems to have a lot in common with the Philippines in that sense, and it is also the region that received the Manila galleons, so the average person in Guerrero can be around 5% Southeast Asian in ancestry.
So……Southern Mexican culture?
Next would be Peru for me. Like the South of Mexico, Peru had a core indigenous population that remains dominant even til this day. While the culture was largely affected by Spain, the genes of many Peruvians still show a strong indigenous ancestry of 2/3 of their dna. In the Andes and Amazon regions, it is around 90% native.
I would say the coast also resembles the Philippines, with a strong Hispanic influence, but also a Chinese and Japanese influence from the arrival of thousands of migrant workers to the coast after slavery was abolished. As a result, the coast is a melting pot of Indigenous, Latin European, East Asian and even West African influences. So it bears a resembles to Philippines more than many other countries.
So..Coastal Peruvian culture??
Indigenous Malay or Indonesian??
It's hard to say because Philippines most genetic and ancestrally similar countries (Indonesian and Malaysian) have also been heavily influenced by outside cultures (English, Arab, Indian, Chinese, etc.)
Honestly beyond that, I do not know…
No comments:
Post a Comment