Civilizations

The Inca Empire existed in The Andes in Peru from the late 1400s to the early 1800s. Even though the empire ended many years ago some Inca culture still lives on in Peru. For example Machu Picchu is believed to be a royal estate or a religious site from the Incas. Machu Picchu still exists in Peru and is a main attraction site that is visited by over a million people every year. By people continuing to visit this place it allows for the culture and history of the Inca people to live on. In Peru they also have things like Inca Kola, in which I think is meant to honor or remember that the Incas ruled Peru. In Peru some of the population are Inca Natives and still speak the native language instead of Spanish. In Peru, a quarter of the population speaks Quechua, and about a third of the Quechua speakers speak no Spanish. It amazes me that after hundreds of years there are still natives that do not speak Spanish. Mexico is also similar. In Mexico there is a place called Chichen Itza which is a civilization where the Mayans lived and very much like in Peru there are still natives Mexico that keep the culture alive. Mayan language has many dialects: Qhuche, Cakchiquel, Kekchi, and Mam these are still spoken by about 300,000 people. When I went to Chichen Itza a couple of years ago I experienced the Mayan natives first hand. Many of them sell handmade crafts to make a living because they are treated horribly. Many of them also don't speak Spanish very well because it is not their first language. When we were trying to buy crafts from them it was hard trying to communicate with them because of the language barrier. All of these native populations whether it was the Inca,Maya, Aztecs etc. they were all destroyed by colonizers, specifically by the Spanish. It amazes me that after so long the civilizations they built are still standing. I think it is amazing that after so much time they have found a way to preserve their culture and language even without help from the government. These civilizations have been treated unjustly from their governments ever since they were destroyed and taken over. Many of them are homeless in the land that was theirs first but the government does not help them. They took their land without proper compensation. It is sad that many of them are not respected or seen as less because of their lack of education and their appearance.