week 15: Stern reassessment

The reading from week 14 had me convinced that Stern's work supported the idea of the Black Legend.  After completing the reading for this week, however, I felt I needed to reassess how Stern sees the Black Legend.  This week's reading certainly did more to show how the Andean peoples were not simply helpless victims to Spanish oppression, but that they did many things to fight against Spanish oppression and even, in some cases, took actions which hurt their own people.

Peruvian natives were far from pushovers and continued to battle for their rights under Spanish colonial rule.  Indians used the Spanish judicial system to battle the colonial system.  Stern writes: "by the 1550's, they [Indians] were flooding the viceregal court...in Lima with petitions and suits" (115).  Natives became successful enough to make this strategy of legal action a viable form of struggle (119).  Though taking action through juridical means would never allow Peruvian Indians to gain a prominent position under colonial rule, they were able to defend some of their rights, and this system of action certainly provided them with some form resistance.  This shows an opposition to the ideas of the Black Legend.

Stern's work also shows that, in some cases, Natives were responsible for the exploitation of their own people.  In order to have success within the Spanish legal system, Natives needed to develop individualized interests and privileges.  One result of this was the development of dependence upon colonial authorities to gain benefits.  This, as described by Stern, "encouraged a native lord to work out private arrangements which accommodated the exploitative practice of local functionaries" (134).  Natives began to take advantage of their own people in order to put themselves in a better position with their European rulers.  Stern shows that the Spanish were not the only ones to oppress and exploit Indians, but in fact, Indians were guilty of exploiting themselves as well.  I was not able to determine this from last week's reading, but the week 15 reading made this aware to me.  I feel as though I now need to reassess my stance towards Stern's feelings about the Black Legend, as I now feel his work does not fully support the ideas of the myth.