The historical significance between Native Indians and Europeans will be the topic of a Thursday and Friday conference sponsored by the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies.

The conference titled, “Early Encounters Between Europeans and Indians in Latin America,” will be held at 1 p.m. at the Holmes Student Center’s Illinois Room.

The conference is an “opportunity to present and discuss the historical significance between Native Indians (of Latin America) and Europeans, said Michael Gonzales, director of the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies.

The speakers are mostly historians from all over the United States who are interested in Native American and Latin American studies.

The events of Christopher Columbus, tragic and otherwise, also will be discussed, Gonzales said. Columbus’ coming to America and Latin America was an important event that changed history for Europe, America and Asia, he added.

Other topics which will be presented by various speakers “relate to cultural, religious, social, economic and intellectual aspects” of the early encounters, Gonzales said.

Scholarly history from the border of Mexico to Chile and Argentina also will be presented, Gonzales said.