No. 24 (1997)
Articles

The true meaning of El Dorado

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  • Betty J. Meggers
Betty J. Meggers
Smithsonian lnstitution. Washington, D.C. Estados Unidos

Published 2021-05-10

Keywords

  • Colonialism,
  • El Dorado,
  • Sustainability ,
  • indigenous groups,
  • History

Copyright (c) 1997 IOA-author

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Meggers, B. J. (2021). The true meaning of El Dorado. Revista Sarance, 24, 13-22. https://doi.org/10.51306/

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Abstract

The myth of El Dorado, which emerged in the context of European colonization, has persisted as a symbol of the insatiable search for material wealth. This article revisits the concept of El Dorado from a critical perspective, analyzing how the exploitation of natural resources by Europeans contrasted with the sustainable practices of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. By examining the harmonious relationship between pre-Columbian inhabitants and their environment, it is suggested that the true El Dorado does not lie in gold, but in the deep ecological knowledge and adaptability that guaranteed the survival and prosperity of these civilizations. Thus, the validity of greed in the face of sustainability is questioned.

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