Just like Restall, Steve J. Stern in his book, Peru’s Indian Peoples and the Challenge of Spanish Conquest, challenged the myth of native desolation. This myth claims that natives were helpless against the Spanish onslaught. Its roots come from the Black Legend which had two parts—Spanish cruelty and native victimhood. As Stern explains, the natives of the Andean highlands were not simply overrun by the Spanish. They were able to adapt to the European presence and crave out a niche for themselves in colonial Peru.
To the Spanish settlers the natives appeared open to Christianity. This was due to the fact that historically in the native Andean culture they tried to control, obligate, or appease the gods of the victors. Since the Spanish defeated the Inca, the Andeans were willing to ally themselves with the Spanish and their “deities.” Since the natives were polytheistic, the acceptance of Christianity did not necessitate the abandonment of their traditional gods (page 39).
The economy of colonial Peru was based on labor intensive industries such as mining, agriculture and textile manufacturing, therefore the Spanish made deals with the kurakas to extract tribute and labor from the natives (pages 40-41). During the early days of the colony, the Spanish settlers had to respect some of the traditional ways the natives dealt with “taxes” and labor requirements. For example, “households continued to retain exclusive rights to crops produced on ayllu lands for local use; to pay tribute, households and ayllus contributed labor time on other lands specifically designated to satisfy outside claimants” (page 40). This was not the typical European style of tribute.
In this book Stern did not elaborate on the military resistance of the natives. However, when the natives actively resisted the Spanish, they used European technology and strategies. For example, when the Huancas prepared for an anti-colonial war they set up factories to produce Spanish pikes and battle-axes (page 70). Even though the Spanish eventually bent most of the natives to their will, the natives retained their identity and were not decimated.
I agree with you that Stern is interested in how the Andean and Mesoamerican peoples dealt with the Spanish Conquest. Stern even says way back in the intro that he will be discussing how the natives dealt with the Spanish conquest (xv). However, as we discussed in class, he is more interested in social and economic relationships than he is with political and military relationships.
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