Post 13

Stern does support some of the same arguments that Restall makes in his book. Stern makes comparisons to the myth of the white conquistador. Stern starts his second chapter by claiming that “easy conquests create false mystiques” (27). Stern focuses more on the economic strategies that the Andean people used to their advantage. He explains that communities and ethnic groups hoped that allying with the Europeans it would help in their personal benefits. For example, the Lucanas were complaining that neighboring groups were intruding in their hunting space. With European help they could obtain a legal document to preserve their rights. The alliances offered more such as being free from Inca rule and special privileges to karakas (34). It is very interesting because Restall claims that the Spanish play an important role both secondary ones as agents of native ambition because the Spanish seem unaware of its incompleteness (46). This also goes with the myth of completion that the Spaniards had conquered the big great empires. Stern has gone into great details in the kinship social structure the Andean had before the Spanish came in. The Spanish did not try to change their system as long as they got their own profit out of it. We can see the example of Diego Maldonado as a very generous Spaniards who did not mind helping out the Andeans. Essentially, ecomenderos needed to have stable relationships with the natives so that they could have a stable economy in terms of labor and tribute (38). Sterns languages tends to portray the natives in a positive light.