“The ‘Wretched Indians’: What We Don’t Learn in History Books”
The Spanish Conquest as we know it has been largely painted as a valiant and remarkable achievement deemed justifiable through widely-accepted perceptions of European superiority. Indeed, when taught about these expeditions, rarely are we given sources that encourage us to picture the Indigenous peoples fighting on the same side as the Spaniards; After all, the textbooks say they were the ‘bad guys’ to beat, right? Matthew Restall’s Seven Myths of The Spanish Conquest reveals the subjective perceptions of the Spanish Conquest in an attempt to help modify the erroneous aspects of the Indigenous peoples’ narrative. In addition, as noted by Restall, even William H. Prescott, a historian …show more content…
One reason for this was the enforcement of Spanish rule, and the dependency the conquest had on the Native peoples; Restall explains that “Spanish settlers depended upon native communities to build and sustain their colonies with tribute, produce and labor” (128). Being a conquistador meant striving to receive an encomienda, “a grant of native tribute and labor” - and this was the ultimate form of slavery for the Indigenous peoples. Furthermore, the second reason for the exploitation of the very victims of the Conquest was the need for survival; as Restall writes, “[Native peoples] tenaciously sought ways to continue local ways of life and improve the quality of life even in the face of colonial changes and challenges” (129). While it was common for Native peoples to demonstrate extreme resistance to the Spaniards when immediately encountered, there were other kinds of defensive strategies. One type of defensive strategy was done through the adaptation of Spanish culture as a way to ‘cover’ and preserve their original practices and systems. A specific example of this is the way the Xiu were able to preserve their municipal systems by hiding them behind a curtain of Spanish cabildos. This in turn gave them the ability to gain titulos for their own land, hence spreading their own culture and prolonging their survival (127). On another note, Restall also explains an additional defensive strategy, one that was used by native leaders like Atahuallpa and Moctezuma. Restall quotes historian Charles Gibson to sum up such strategy: “Indians accepted one aspect of Spanish colonization to facilitate their rejection of another” (124). In Restall’s words, “At the highest level of native leadership, that of the Mexica and Inca emperors, such collaboration served only to
The Spanish Conquest as we know it has been largely painted as a valiant and remarkable achievement deemed justifiable through widely-accepted perceptions of European superiority. Indeed, when taught about these expeditions, rarely are we given sources that encourage us to picture the Indigenous peoples fighting on the same side as the Spaniards; After all, the textbooks say they were the ‘bad guys’ to beat, right? Matthew Restall’s Seven Myths of The Spanish Conquest reveals the subjective perceptions of the Spanish Conquest in an attempt to help modify the erroneous aspects of the Indigenous peoples’ narrative. In addition, as noted by Restall, even William H. Prescott, a historian …show more content…
One reason for this was the enforcement of Spanish rule, and the dependency the conquest had on the Native peoples; Restall explains that “Spanish settlers depended upon native communities to build and sustain their colonies with tribute, produce and labor” (128). Being a conquistador meant striving to receive an encomienda, “a grant of native tribute and labor” - and this was the ultimate form of slavery for the Indigenous peoples. Furthermore, the second reason for the exploitation of the very victims of the Conquest was the need for survival; as Restall writes, “[Native peoples] tenaciously sought ways to continue local ways of life and improve the quality of life even in the face of colonial changes and challenges” (129). While it was common for Native peoples to demonstrate extreme resistance to the Spaniards when immediately encountered, there were other kinds of defensive strategies. One type of defensive strategy was done through the adaptation of Spanish culture as a way to ‘cover’ and preserve their original practices and systems. A specific example of this is the way the Xiu were able to preserve their municipal systems by hiding them behind a curtain of Spanish cabildos. This in turn gave them the ability to gain titulos for their own land, hence spreading their own culture and prolonging their survival (127). On another note, Restall also explains an additional defensive strategy, one that was used by native leaders like Atahuallpa and Moctezuma. Restall quotes historian Charles Gibson to sum up such strategy: “Indians accepted one aspect of Spanish colonization to facilitate their rejection of another” (124). In Restall’s words, “At the highest level of native leadership, that of the Mexica and Inca emperors, such collaboration served only to