This week explores concepts like "frontier," "borderlands," and "Indian Country." During the 17th-18th centuries, many Native societies of the Americas experienced various forms of conquest and colonialism. Conquests, though, were sometimes ambivalent and not so clear cut.
Ultimately, Native history was early colonial history.
Points of entry:
"Devil's Miner" website:
"Aguirre: The Wrath of God" link:
The account of Cabeza de Vaca, an early Spanish explorer kidnapped and sold into slavery for 7 years provides a fascinating window into the more "ambiguous" conquests that occurred during this period. See the links below for this account:
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/one/cabeza.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgtRIyqLsMk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgtRIyqLsMk&feature=related
Pueblo Revolt -
The Middle Ground/Native Ground/Facing East Reviews:
Comanches:
Questions for blog discussion:
List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading. What are the authors arguing in these passages? How is this related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?
“Everywhere in Spain’s American empire, Native people fought against conquest, colonialism, and Catholicism, sometimes in full blown wars of rebellion, sometimes in small everyday acts of designed to keep Spaniards and their ways at arm’s length.” pg. 166
ReplyDeleteWasn’t the Americas the Natives empire. They were there first and had built their lives their until the Spanish and Europeans came in and destroyed the life they had, enslaved them, took their resources, forced religion upon them and ultimately wiped them out. I feel this is an incorrect statement. This was Native’s land and they are fighting to keep it.
“During the initial years of conquest, the friars’ vow of chastity may have impressed the Indians as a sign of their spiritual power, but, in Ramon Gutierrez’s words, “as time passed and isolation increased, the flesh became weak.” Spanish soldiers could not protect the Pueblos against Apache raiders; Spanish priests could not protect them against drought and pestilence; Pueblo husbands and fathers could not protect their wives and daughters against the priests. Pg.173
-As time time went on the friars became week in their vows and promises. I found this to be extreemly problematic. How could the Indians be expected to follow the rules and principles of a religion that is being forced upon them when the people enforcing them are not following the same rules and principles?
"In California,Spainiards encountered the most linguistically diverse and densley settled native population in all of North America.Estimating that 310,000 Indians lived within the boundaries of the present state on the eve of Spanish colonization," pg.116
ReplyDeleteThis reveals that California out of all regions in present day USA was the most diverse culturally of all regions and because of the moderate climate that prevails over much of the region the Indians of California were able to further their pursuits in such things outside of hunting/gathering activities and seminomadic farming practices.
"To eighteenth-century Spainiards, the California Indians' small huts and scattered villages were a sure indication of a savage and undisciplined existence." Pg.117
The reason for the Spanish belief that such kinds of people were "savages" goes back to the reconquest of Spain from Muslim control and Spanish practice that promoted the incorporation of people on the fringe of settled areas during the Reconquest this was called municipio or township.
“Spanish forces returned to restore the rule of the king and Christ, by diplomacy and persuasion if possible, by fire and sword if necessary.” Pg. 186 (OVWC)
ReplyDeleteI chose this quote because I feel that is nicely ties everything as well as summarizes in a short sentence. The Spanish were there mainly to convert the native Americans, as well as taking resources etc. However they were going to conquest and colonize by any means necessary, if that be by persuading the natives of a better life under one God and a crown, or by force.
“Indians confronted missionaries with mixed feelings. Some (…) willingly converted to the new religion, while others staunchly resisted. And some tribes integrated Christianity into their societies while continuing to practice their ancient religious rituals.” Pg. 94 (MP)
Once again this is a sentence that best sums up the passages, however I wish that they had gone into more detail about the organized rebellions. I feel those were every important in terms of their resistance, while others did whatever it took to make the Spanish happy and then in secret practiced their own beliefs. Kind of makes you think what you would have done under the same circumstances.
“Most Pueblos may have accepted baptism reluctantly, but there were practical reasons for doing so.” p.151 This quote shows that natives were not always forced against their will to convert to Christianity. They would sometimes do it in order to receive shelter and protection from the Spanish military.
ReplyDelete“Within a decade, the unity that the Pueblos had brought to bear so effectively in August 1680 was gone.” p. 186 This shows that the Pueblos real strength to overcome Spanish colonization was in their number when united. After their alliances fell apart the Spanish were able to come back to the southwest and take back the territory.
It is amazing how clueless Spaniards were for supposedly being the 'superior culture'. Calloway demonstrates this Spanish misunderstanding by writing "Two hundred Zuni warriors placed themselves between the Spaniards and the town and scattered a line of sacred corn, symbolically closing the road. The Spaniards either ignored or misunderstood the gesture" (134). Spaniards were completely clueless about how their actions would effect others and eventually themselves. However Indians exhibit an understanding ability.
ReplyDeleteAgain, Spaniards thought they were the intellectuals by tricking the local Indians. Calloway writes that "the Spaniards tried to win over the Indians with gifts and impress them with their firearms, which, they thought, showed the Indians they were 'children of the sun' (143). Not only do Indians understand the Spaniard gesture but they were not blindly tricked into thinking the Spaniards were some sort of God. Makes you wonder how on Earth the Spaniards did not die from so badly misunderstanding any given situation, but I guess it was a 'good' thing they had Cortes.
" I must open to thee heart:there is no indian who deos no consider himself infinely more happy aand more powerful than the French" (Hurtado 140). The implemenatation of this quote by the author is displaying his argument that the Native Americans were in fact in good hands without the intervention of European. This quote also explains that the Native Americans were better off within their individual microcosm rather than to be depended on Europeans due to thier abundance of resources and sophisticated lifestyles.
ReplyDelete"Finally, the inter-pueblo ritual experience gives a strong historical basis for discountning the possiblity of a single leader and indicats a pattern of shared authority amog several pueblos" (Hurtado 110).
This quote support the notion that the pueblo revoly of 1680 was a communal and organzized effort rather than an individual one. It shows that culture has a majore role in orgnazing the various pueblo peoples which made the revolt a group effort.
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ReplyDelete“Spain’s missionary efforts were part of a comprehensive plan to conquer the Indians and integrate them into Spanish colonial society.”(Hurtado 93)
ReplyDelete"The French and the British were interested in converting Indians to Christianity...although neither nation devoted as much energy to this pursuit as did the Spanish,(Hurtado 134)
In these two quotes we can see how the Southern Borderlands, mainly the Spaniards, and the Northern Borderlands, mainly the French and English, had diffrent priorities during their conquest. The French and English were mainly interested in trade, and the Spaniards were more into converting the Natives at all costs.
"These things were observed and obeyed by all except some who, moved by the zeal of Christians, opposed it, and such persons the said Pope caused to be killed immediately" Pg 96 Major Problems in American Indian History
ReplyDelete"...burned the images, temples, crosses, and other things of divine worship," pg 96
These two quotes demonstrate the hatred that the Native Americans had over the Spanish. The Spanish had created Pueblos over land where they had conquered from the Indians. They forcefully made them adapt their Europeans tradition and abandoned their so called "barbaric" ways.
"They traveled through so many types of people and such diverse languages that memory is insuficient to be able to recount them all." Pg 123 calloway
ReplyDeleteThese are not Calloways words they are actually the words of Cabeza de Vaca who was one of the few Europeans to come to the Americas and adapt and respect the lifestyle of the natives. This passage can clear any false understandings of the people herebefore the spaiards arrived.
"It also meant the creation of new worlds for Indians and Eurpoeans alike, of new societies unlike anything that had existed previously in Europe or America." pg 119 calloway
When I first read this i kind of felt that it was wrong. After reading deeper in the chapter you start to recognize that even though the conquest was a complete and utter mess, not all europeans were bad to the indians. For the societies to work as well as they eventually did they needed intelligence from both the native peoples and the europeans.
"The God of the Spaniards was worth nothing and theirs was very strong" pg 97
ReplyDeleteThis was an attempt to unite the Indian tribes by and Indian named Pope. He was trying to dispell the Spaish God and make their God more prevailent. Pope was trying to unite these tribes in order to show that if they succedd their god will allow them to prosper with their crops once all Spanish had been forced out of their land.
Now you wont be going to any part of the earth from here, Father you will be going to heaven.
This quote shows that the Indians who kiled the Father were converted for that they believed in heaven. Although they may have been mordering a Priest, to them he was abusing the rights given to him by their new found God.
"They began the process of producing colonial knowledge and imposing colonial rule: writing, as the memory of subordination, as the record of theft, as the erasure of culture, as the process of territorialization, and as the imposition of regimes of law, created and perpetuated power structures" (One Vast Winter Count 119)
ReplyDeleteThis entry by a Spanish explorer into his personal journal show the true intentions of the Spaniards as they began to push farther and farther into native lands. There was a great sense of entitlement in their discovery of North America with little morality or physical resistance that prevented them from achieving their destructive goals.
"In this region, know to Europeans as Alta California, Spain depended on religious missions more than military fortifications or civilian towns to solidify its control" (Major Problems 115)
The Europeans and more specifically the Spanish's use of missions in order to convert natives to Christianity was yet another tool in the attempt to completely over run the native population. While still largely inferior in numbers, the Spanish were able to set up and use missions quite successfully.
"in 1998 plans to construct a Cuarto Centenario memorial in honor of New Mexico's first governor, Juan de Oñate, sparked heated debate between the State's Native American and Hispanic citizens. In Espanola, someone took and electric saw to a twelve-foot-high bronze state of Oñate on horseback and severed his right foot "on behalf of our brothers and sisters of Acoma Pueblo," According to a statement issued to the media."
ReplyDeleteThis quote reveals some of what we had discussed in class about public history and commemoration, and how it is at times not compatible with Native American experiences in history. Just as students at Brown opposed celebrating Columbus, Native peoples in New Mexico opposed celebrating Oñate. In this particular case, vandalizing the statue was necessary to communicate the Pueblo experience of Oñate, which included an incident at Acoma that resulted in amputation for Acoma men. This act of vandalism was done to ensure that Oñate was not remembered as a hero, but remembered by his actions.
"The Revolt was unique in its size and success, but it occurred in a context of rebellion and resistance that was long established and widespread."
I think this quote was interesting in that it highlighted that even though huge rebellions were not constantly taking place in New Spain, other forms of resistance were still present. I think that even subtle resistance is important to note in understanding the dynamic between Native peoples and European colonists.
"People lived short and sometimes violent lives. Most of them died in the same place they were born. They communicated by the spoken word, observed natural phenomena for meanings and omens, embodied "every event, every action... in expressive and solemn forms, which raised them to the dignity of a ritual." (Calloway 119)
ReplyDeleteI believe that if this quote does anything it makes the native population just seem like a bunch of animals. It really gives you an idea of how people saw the Indians.
" Spain's missionary efforts were part of a comprehensive plan to conquer the Indians and integrate them into Spanish colonial society. "While Spaniards te Indians and integrate them into SPanish colonial society. While Spaniards regarded their missionary enterprises as a human, Christian duty that benefited Indians, native people often resented and resisted European efforts to alter American religious traditions."(Hurtado 93)
This quote just shows how set the Indians were in their traditions and how much the Europeans wanted to convert them to Christianity. Though the Spanish were just trying to help them but this is another form of conquering the Indians. The Spanish were saying you are barbarians and we are we are educated. They were saying Christianity is better then your religion.
"Slaving and Killing, not healing and humanity, became the marks of the spanish conquest." (126, calloway)
ReplyDelete"The Spaniards established a mission at Zuni in 1629, but the people killed their resident priest three years later. At Taos the people killed their missionary and burned the mission in 1639." (153, Calloway)
Both these quotes prove that the Spanish conquest was full of violence. The first quote suggests it was the Spanish only inflicting violence. The second quote shows that the native people returned the violence by burning down the mission and killing priests. A major theme in the Spanish conquest, and most conquests, is violence.
"Seven centuries of warfare to drive out the infidels left an indelible mark on the Christian warrior culture of Spain.”
ReplyDeleteWar was apart of life for the Spanish and it was a way of life. they carried these very ideals to the conquest, killing and looting the Indians of everything that they have all in the name of the lord. the "requerimiento" were just justifications for the Spanish to go about there business and kill for what they wanted. these concepts of conquest are what led to the destruction of may great empires.