Abstract
The historical reconstruction activity of the Indian project is an important element of its political strategy. Using numerous sources of documentation, the author shows how Christianity and the conquest of America undermined the various Indian utopias. Today, the Indian cause cannot be considered without taking into account the influences and constraints of world history, introduced by the conquest and Christianity. Through an historical approach, the author brings to light the structures of power and of neglect which led to the destruction of Indian identity. During the course of the “spiritual conquest”, Christianity not only destroyed Indian identity but also its own identity and integrity. The historical reconstruction of these 500 years offers help to Indian peoples and Christianity in liberating themselves from the traumatizing and paralysing experiences of powerlessness and guilt and in taking a first step towards a new identity. This identity is the indispensable basis of the struggle against the exogenous oppression of Indian peoples and against the endogenous ideology of Christianity. Yet this reconstituted Indian identity must not yield to the temptation of a postmodern turning inward on itself. Their minority condition implies that Indian peoples can only bring their political interests to the fore in linking them to the survival of the whole of humanity. On the political level, the Indian project can only be thought of in the context of alliances and reciprocal solidarity. It is within this context that the possibility of an institutional and ideological cooperation between churches and Indian peoples is to be situated today.