The Intruders Ramon Gutierrez, the author of book When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away reveals through research and evidence what occurred in New Mexico during 1500-1846. The Spaniards had difficulty submitting the Pueblo Indians, living in New Mexico however it was not an easy task. In addition, the Pueblo Indians are faced with another intruder the Franciscans who claim will save the natives’ souls. This book shows the native perspective and their social lives before and after the Spaniards intrusion into New Mexico. These intruders, the Spaniards and Franciscans, forcibly alter the natives’ culture, marriage, and sexuality, claiming to civilize these savages. These events are easily comprehensible due to the structure of the book. Ramon Gutierrez’ book categorizes the information into three parts making it simpler for people to understand what transpired. The three categories are as follows: the sixteenth century, the seventeenth century, and the eighteenth century. The first category presents the Indians way of culture before the Spanish influence. The book goes into the mindset of the natives, letting the reader see the Indians in a different angle than what other presents them. Usually, the Indians are portrayed as unintelligent, uncivilized Indians without a structured society in biased books, however this book gives a more unbiased view. The beginning several pages of the first section reveals how their religion came about and how the Acoma Indians
In Santa Biblia: The Bible Through Hispanic Eyes, Justo L. González invites the reader to read the Bible in fresh ways, and gain insight from the perspective of “those who claim their Hispanic identity as part of their hermeneutical baggage, and who also read the Scripture within the context of a commitment to the Latino struggle to become all that God wants us and all of the world to be—in other words, the struggle for salvation/liberation.” (González 1996, 28-29) Published hot on the heels of the quincentennial of Columbus’ voyage to the new world, and abreast of discussions taking place in the larger Hispanic community, González’s book is both timely and well researched.
Moved from their land, forced into a new religion and way of thinking the natives were also mostly extinguished by European microbes. Not everyone was passive however and one of these people was Popay, being the leader various groups was very well known for his successful revolts in pueblo communities across New Mexico, keeping Spaniards for 12 years. The book also talks about the communities built by the natives and how they were mostly eradicated by disease. The story of Apolonaria Lorenzana is also talked about, living through the early days of Spanish missions to the closing of the American frontier and her importance as “La Beata” in San Diego missions. The identity crisis of those with Spanish ancestry and of Mexican decent by in new American soil is also mentioned. The legacy left by the Seguin family, to be more specific the importance of Juan Seguin’s role as a Mexican taking the American side for Texas
In this paper, I will be summarizing the following chapters: Chapter 3: "A Legacy of Hate: The Conquest of Mexico’s Northwest”; Chapter 4: “Remember the Alamo: The Colonization of Texas”; and Chapter 5: “Freedom in a Cage: The Colonization of New Mexico. All three chapters are from the book, “Occupied America, A History of Chicanos” by Rodolfo F. Acuna. In chapter three, Acuna explains the causes of the war between Mexico and North America. In chapter four, Acuna explains the colonization of Texas and how Mexicans migrated from Mexico to Texas. In chapter five, Acuna explains the colonization of New Mexico and the economic changes that the people had to go through.
One extreme change for the Indians was the arrival of Anglo-Europeans. Native peoples’ lives were changed at the blink of an eye while new ideas, practices and beliefs were shown to them. The arrival of the Europeans changed the way the Indians viewed their world and manipulated their resources. This new change could be viewed as positive as well as negative, for while some tribes entered into trade relations with the Anglos, others were used as slave labor and all were subject to disease brought on by the European newcomers. However, despite all the advantages and disadvantages, no other introduction changed the lives of the Indians more than firearms and horses. West outlines one of the most important evolutions for Native life and how it represented a new way to harness resources and gain power. In just a few chapters, we are able to see the great advancements the Indians made in hunting and trade due to these new technologies and how they allowed the Cheyennes to rise to a new purpose as the Called Out People.
It is said that in December 1531, the Virgin Mary appeared on three occasions to a Christian Indian, Juan Diego, six kilometers north of Mexico City, and identified herself as Guadalupe. It is said that the Guadalupe symbol “links family, politics and religion; the colonial past and the independent present; and the Indian and the Mexican. It reflects the salient social relationships of Mexican life and embodies the emotions they generate.” (Merrill & Miró, Religion) Devotion to the Virgin Guadalupe remains strong even as Mexican society changes. For example, in a national opinion poll found, nine out of ten Mexicans still continued to ask intercessions from the Virgin or another saint. (Merrill & Miró, Religion)
While Verrazano speaks kindly of these courteous and generous groups, he also speaks of encounters with people he deems “full of crudity and vices.” He claims that interaction with these groups was difficult. He describes their attempts to trade with this group; “they sent us what they wanted to give on a rope, continually shouting to us not to approach the land.” This description provides us some insight into the feelings of the Indians towards these new European invaders. Their actions seem to be based on fear and apprehension towards these unknown men (Voices of Freedom, 9).
In American Indian life, they believe their life is interconnected with the world, nature, and other people. The idea of a peoplehood matrix runs deep in Indian culture, in this essay the Cherokee, which is the holistic view of sacred history, language, ceremony, and homeland together. This holistic model shapes the life of the American Indians and how their sense of being and relationship to their history is strong and extremely valuable to them. This essay will try to explain how each aspect of the peoplehood matrix is important and interconnected to each other and the life of the Native Americans.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Europeans started to come over to the new world, they discovered a society of Indians that was strikingly different to their own. To understand how different, one must first compare and contrast some of the very important differences between them, such as how the Europeans considered the Indians to be extremely primitive and basic, while, considering themselves civilized. The Europeans considered that they were model societies, and they thought that the Indians society and culture should be changed to be very similar to their own.
Ramon Gutierrez’s When Jesus Came, The Corn Mothers Went Away is an exploration of the merging of Spanish, Franciscan and Pueblo Indian cultures throughout Spain's “frontier” in its colonial American empire before Anglo contact. Gutierrez builds a foundation for his analysis by discussing Pueblo Indian life prior to outside contact, Franciscan theology, and the class structure of Spanish communities in each of its respective book sections. He examines meanings of the cultural interactions of gift exchange, ownership, trade, sexual rights, labor, kinship, social status, religious beliefs, and honor among many others using marriage as a window. His interpretation of the complex cultural meanings of marriage illustrates the ways in which the
Dawson, Alexander S. “From Models for the Nation to Model Citizens: Indigenismo and the ‘Revindication’ of the Mexican Indian, 1920–40.” Journal of Latin American Studies 1998 : 279-308. Print.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Europeans started to come over to the new world, they discovered a society of Indians that was strikingly different to their own. To understand how different, one must first compare and contrast some of the very important differences between them, such as how the Europeans considered the Indians to be extremely primitive and basic, while, considering themselves civilized. The Europeans considered that they were model societies, and they thought that the Indians society and culture should be changed to be very similar to their own.
This paper tries to explain Jack Weatherford's Indian Givers by examining the history of the Native American connection to many agricultural products would not have been produced without the knowledge that Indians gave. Weatherford further stipulates that it is through these advances in agriculture that the United States has remained a strong contender in the global market, that without the influences of the Native Americans on the early settlers those early immigrants to America would not have survived. Through his work, "Indian Givers: How Indians of the Americas Transformed the World", Weatherford brings an insight to a people that most
When Jesus Came, The Corn Mothers Went Away gives an in-depth history of the Pueblo Indians before and after the Spanish conquest. It describes the forced changes the Spanish brought to the Indians, and also the changes brought to the Spaniards who came to “civilize” the Indians. The author's thesis is that the Pueblo Indians and other Indians were treated cruelly by the Spanish, who justified their crime by claiming they were civilizing an
In the 16th century Spaniards Herman Cortes and Christopher Columbus set out on endeavoring journeys in search of new worlds. Christopher Columbus encountered, in the Caribbean islands, a group of extremely simplistic Native Americans. Herman Cortes however encountered a much more advanced Native American group in Meso America; we formally know this area to be Mexico. In my essay I will be comparing and contrasting several aspects between both of these Native American Civilizations including sophistication, technology, housing, weapons, religion and their reaction to the Spaniards. Letters written by Columbus and Cortes will be used to make these comparisons.
This paper will discuss the impact Spanish colonization and Mexican control had on the indigenous Indian population in California between 1769 and 1848. As well as discussing the historical origins, social organizations, material conditions, and world-view of the California Indians prior to 1769, this paper will explain the impact of New Spain’s Mission System on the Alta California Indian population between 1769 to 1821 and the response of its system by the Indians.