In her book, Ambivalent Conquests, Inga Clendinnen portrays the Yucatan Maya as the heroes. She shows them as heroes because they were able to adapt to the Spanish presence while maintaining their unique identity. From 1540 to 1562 the Maya resisted the Spanish presence by both military and social means. After the Maya uprising of 1546-1547 was put down by the Spanish, the Maya never again challenged the Spanish by military means. However they continued to preserve their social uniqueness by maintaining their social hierarchy and continuing the practice of their traditional religion. They practiced most of their ceremonies at night, for secrecy, in Christian churches or cemeteries because the Spanish had their temples torn down (page 170). The Maya noblemen were the ones most intent on keeping their traditional ways alive. The nobles were both the political and religious leaders of the Maya. Their power was based on their possession of sacred knowledge (page 159). Even though they vigorously strove to continue their traditional religion, they also sought to learn Christianity in order to see what they could add to their religion. When the Spanish friars gathered the sons of the nobles to schools in order to teach them Christianity, they did not put up a fight (page 172).
In 1562 two native boys found a cave filled with native idols and human skulls. When they reported their find to the Spanish friars it started a chain of events that lead to an inquisition to see how many natives were “backsliding” into their old religion. During the inquisition the friars had any idol they could lay their hands on destroyed. Just as in other historical inquisitions, the Spanish friars acted cruelly and used multiple torture techniques to extract information from suspects. By the time the inquisition was over it was clear to the Maya, “that the time of the old gods was over and the rule of the new gods had begun” (page 190). The Maya started to convert to Christianity however they resisted the Spanish dominance of the religion. They believed that when Jesus Christ comes again that “at last there will be an end to the domination of the foreigners” (page 192).
When viewing the history of the conquest it is difficult not to be entirely appalled by the actions of any invading force. Today we face no real threat of invasion and the only modern history that is relatable and fresh in the social consciousness is Hitler’s march across Europe. Today we always see the aggressor as the evil invading force. So when talking about the Spanish gallivanting through another country I do not believe it is so farfetched to believe that while we may be reading objective history it may come as a condemnation of the invading (in this case Spanish) force.
ReplyDeleteYou mention the people being able to maintain their social hierarchy as if it took effort to do so, however Clendinnen states that the Spanish never cared to disrupt the social hierarchy (38) they respected it because all they really cared for was the acquisition of material after the realization there was no gold to be had in the area. Also the native people did not seem to pay much mind to the Spanish taking wives and Clendinnen seems to relish in the fact that understanding was being achieved through such practices (44). Coercion into attending mass was commonplace which seems indicate a level of indifference amongst the natives that correlates well with the native method of fighting which was mainly evasion and attempting to outrun the Spanish in the hopes that they would simply leave if no wealth was to be gained. You mention the children being taken by the friars and educated in the church, which seems to me to not be an act which one would put in a book that sought to paint natives as freedom fighters. In fact it seems downright counterintuitive to put that in and present it to a western culture that holds the lives and well-being of children in such high regard and expect people to have a positive view of the people as defenders of culture. I think Clendenins picture of the natives is one of general apathy towards the Spanish. From mass shallow baptismal ceremonies to the very fact that the natives kept their shrines and ceremonies secret, it seems as though the natives were simply going through a sort of cultural ropeadope in which they simply wanted the Spanish to have ostensibly won so that they could go about their business. That does not seem to me to be the actions of a people that most would deem as courageous or heroic.