As discussed above, there is a key point that is usually ignored by some historians when discussing the religious conversion of the Native American natives. Many of them were at the mercy of more powerful tribes who often raided their campsites with deadly results. Those that were not killed by their enemies in the frequent raids were usually taken as slaves. As a matter of fact, many of the raids were indeed to capture slaves. Many were at the point of starvation and extinction, regardless of the arrival of the Spanish.
As such, it is not difficult to understand some of the natives’ eagerness to align themselves with the missions and presidios for the self-preservation of their group. So convinced were they of the necessity to do this that clan elders themselves often suggested the location of missions to minister to their groups. As a testament of their willing conversion, there are no people in the entire world that have embraced Christianity as have the native indigenous people of Mexico, Central, and South America.
To some of the members of the more powerful indigenous societies, Christianity offered a step up to enlightenment and took them far away from their brutal pagan ways. For instance, they found inner comfort in prayer and were taught by the priests to ask God for solutions to their problems, regardless of their nature.
Whereas before, their sorcerers sacrificed human beings to make it rain, they found it more acceptable to pray for rain instead. Prayer and chanting may not have miraculously worked to bring relief, but neither did the sacrificing of young children and captured slaves. Thus, massive conversion to Christianity served as a kinder, gentler belief system that may be considered a spiritual Godsend to the indigenous people.
To be sure, the indigenous groups suffered great losses in their numbers after the arrival of Europeans. However, that does not mean they were all killed by the conquistadores as some writers are prone to quickly tell us. In truth, intermarriage into the Spanish-Mexican culture was a major factor in the so-called disappearance of indigenous people.
In reality, they did not disappear at all, since they exist in the blood that runs through the veins of many U.S. citizens of Spanish-Mexican descent and modern-day peoples of Mexico and Central, and South America. Another issue to consider here is the effect of diseases that each group transmitted to the other.
For example, diseases that the Native Americans could not defend against took their toll and vice versa. However unpleasant that facet of natural selection is, it tests the influence, strength, and resiliency of each group. After all, the meeting of different groups may be the closest thing to a miniature Big Bang event here on earth. The result of the encounter is that the two groups underwent tremendous change.
What is important to note is that the missionaries satisfied the most basic day-to-day needs of faith, food, and shelter. As long as they stayed within the confines of the mission, they enjoyed a fair amount of safety and security. At the same time, many Native Americans liked the fact that they didn’t have to pick up and change camp every few days. So, they quickly adapted to the white Spanish Europeans’ way of life and in time, built what is now considered the Spanish-Mexican culture.
In the end, the two groups blended into one group that is not all white and not all brown. In other words, both bloodlines flow today through the veins of Tejano descendants in Texas and Spanish Mexican descendants in the U.S. Southwest states of California, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Nevada and Utah. Their descendants are now spread throughout the world. Such is the legacy of the strong spirit of the Spanish Mexican people who were first to settle so much of what is now the U.S.A.
oOo
As far as the future U.S.A is concerned, the footprint impressions of the first inhabitants will practically disappear in the fairly short time span of 250 years. Ironically, Europeans in the U.S.A. celebrating and boasting of “their” freedom is founded on the natives’ loss of “their” freedom and homeland. Beginning in 1620, white invaders from across the Atlantic will rob the original settlers of their ancestral lands. Any discussion of the “taking” of the New World by the Europeans is provocative at best. The abuse and displacement of the perceptively weaker Native Americans and utter destruction of their distinctive cultures is unprecedented in recorded history.
To be fair, both the English and the Spanish are equally to blame for the destruction of several distinct civilizations in the New World. For their part, the Spanish encounter with the great civilizations of Mexico, Central, and South America was vicious and bloody. That was due to a number of complicated issues.
One point should be made here. The Spanish alone were not to blame for the nearly total slaughter. They came here in small numbers. As such, their mission would not have been successful had it not been for the key help provided to the Spanish by the several indigenous tribes, such as the thousands of Tlascalan warriors. Certain indigenous groups allied themselves against more powerful super tribes that had abused them for years. Using the small numbers of Spanish soldiers with their superior weapons as a vanguard, several minor chieftains declared that it was “payback” time in attacking their traditional tribal enemies.
However, what is not debatable is what happened to the native people in what will be the future U.S.A. Those Europeans who landed on the eastern shores of “America” are guilty of the most horrible genocidal actions. In constant, deliberate gruesome acts soon after their arrival, the unwelcome, uninvited white European immigrants will first try with all their might to destroy and exterminate the indigenous people they find in America. When that doesn’t work, they will devise the cruelest form of punishment with their introduction of “Indian Reservations”. The white invaders will prod the Native Americans like cattle into these deplorable open air prisons where thousands will die getting there, thousands will die when they get there, and thousands continue to die.
Regrettably, most of their descendants still live there today. In a most sobering way, reservations serve as perfect reminders of man’s inhumanity to man. It is difficult to find another more ruthless takeover of land in all of the history of the world. To be sure, this is a discussion point that many white European descendants in America find uncomfortable to discuss.
As a matter of perspective, today, politicians and certain public media pundits are quick to blame all our nation’s problems, real and imagined, on the illegal immigration issue with rancorous, hateful verbal attacks. They regularly feed the anti-immigrant frenzy of white ethnocentric people whose descendants, like their own, actually came from another continent – Europe. The “nativists” beam with their pseudo-patriotic pride when they demand that even the most basic Christian virtues of charity, compassion, and goodwill be denied to the “illegal” immigrants in America, the very people who are truly American!
Appendix 7
Proud to be a first American
By José Antonio López
Recently, I discovered that I belong to a segment of the world population known as Haplogroup C.
It is a human genetics classification based on mtDNA blood testing found in the earliest people in America. That means that I am a descendant of the first Americans. In other words, even though my appearance is Spanish European, my DNA reveals that the blood running through my veins is unmistakably Native American. Of course, as a Spanish-surnamed U.S. citizen of Mexican-descent, I already knew that I was blessed to have both Old World and New World family roots.
Unfortunately, those of us with dual European and Native American heritage have a frustrating dilemma. First, we have generally been raised to emphasize only our European ancestry. Second, most historians hold a typically dismissive opinion of Native Americans and do not consider recording of their history at a par with Europeans. That may be because mainstream historians write history with a pronounced European viewpoint.
Regrettably, the human aspects of first American history are usually understudied in today’s school curriculum. As a result, students in the classroom lear
n of the group as an ancient, foreign civilization, rather than the ancestors of their fellow students of Mexican and/or Native American-descent. Also, the long-term damage caused by movies and books mostly depicting Native Americans as a savage people makes learning of their enriching story virtually impossible. More disheartening is that practically any attempt to tell their story is often seen as a threat to mainstream Anglophilia in the U.S. For instance, that’s how the Mexican American Studies Program is mistakenly perceived by some officials in Arizona schools. That is a tragedy.
Group C’s beginnings are truly fascinating. They originated 60,000 years ago in present-day Northeast Russia (Siberia), between the Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal. Specifically, Group C, along with Groups A, B, D, and X, were literally the first humans in America. In other words, Columbus did not discover America. Our first American ancestors did! Over 25,000 years ago, they began to cross over Beringia, a snow-covered land bridge that once connected Asia and America. Successive generations then established several blood-related clusters of indigenous inhabitants (Indians) in America all the way to Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America.
Clearly, I had not realized the depth of my Spanish European and Native American family roots in America until just recently. Based on the DNA test and genealogical research, I received an added bonus. Isabel Olea, my great grandmother of 15 generations ago, was born in Mexico, America in 1542. Because she seems to be the source of Group C in our maternal family tree, the first marriage between our Native American and Spanish European ancestors occurred just over 50 years after the 1492 Spanish arrival in America.
It is due to this quick assimilation that some of us in the U.S. look Mexican (Native American) and some of us look Spanish. Also, due to the beautiful blending of the two genetic pools, many of us look like a combination of both (especially those of us originating in the Southwest). In truth, the Spanish are the ones who created the proverbial melting pot in America. The English chose not to. That is why most of today’s Anglo Saxon-descent (and other non-Hispanic white) citizens look mostly like their European ancestors who did not assimilate and intermarry with America’s indigenous people to the degree that the Spanish did. It is this key fact that historians fail to stress in writing the story of Mexican Americans whom they see only as a Spanish population sub-group. Rarely do historians delve into the group’s direct First American roots.
It is important to note that my genealogical story is typical of the bigger Mexican American community. This largest group of Spanish-descent citizens in the U.S. is indeed half white (Spanish) and half brown (Native American). In fact, we are living proof that the First Americans are not an extinct civilization. As their descendants, our birthright earns us the honor of calling ourselves Americanos.
In my view, the direct connection between Mexican Americans and our Native American brothers and sisters gives rise to three provocative possibilities (food for thought). (1) The time has come to designate the entire Mexican American group as a separate race of people. In the U.S. alone, they are 30 million strong and growing; (2) based on their First American DNA pedigree, Mexican Americans deserve recognition as a separate Native American tribe; and (3) the Native American population in the U.S. is being undercounted by about 30 million people.
For me, verification of my origins adds another dimension to my human profile. Equally vital, it identifies my First American bond as a main ingredient in my salad bowl of ethnicities. For example, I take great pride in that part of my ancestry that created the beautiful Old World Spanish prose of Miguel Cervantes. At the same time, I am proud of my New World Native American genetic link to the eloquence of Benito Juárez. That says it all.
Finally, with only the most basic tools, our First American ancestors were truly the first pioneers in America. As the saying goes, “The proof is in the pudding” regarding their impressive accomplishments. They established thriving civilizations in Canada, the Southwest, Gulf Coast, Ohio Valley, Great Lakes, and East Coast. Of course, they also created the fabulously great civilizations in Mexico, and in Central and South America.
Their inspirational stories should serve to motivate Mexican American students to stay in school, graduate from a four-year university and become productive members of their community. Lastly, our First American ancestors merit as much dignity and respect as our European heredity. Yet, that is an equality that they have yet to gain in U.S. history books. It is time for historians to fix it. ¡Caso cerrado!
Appendix 8
Remembering our Earliest Texas Ancestors
(Rio Grande Guardian Newspaper Article, July 23, 2013)
The rewarding response to my recent articles and presentations continues to open up a renewed desire in many people to learn more about early Texas history.
For example, some readers were surprised to learn that those of us who originate in South Texas (Villas del Norte) did not become Tejanas and Tejanos (Texans) until 1848. That is simply because the southern border of Texas was the Nueces River; not the Rio Grande.
It was not until then that the U.S. forcefully moved the Texas southern border to the Rio Grande and also took over half of Mexico’s sovereign land. In fact, it is this aggressive land grab by the U.S. that makes its Berlin Wall-type fence on the southern border offensive for two reasons: (l) they’re building it in the middle of Old Mexico; and (2) they are splitting the Native American Tohono O’odham Nation’s homeland in two.
It is in regard to the second point above that I’m asked about the earliest residents in Texas, our Native American brethren. It is with that thought in mind that I offer the following:
By the time Spanish Mexican pioneers began arriving in the early 1700s; several indigenous groups had lived here for thousands of years. The first Americans crossed the ancient Asia-America land bridge (Beringia) between 20,000 to 40,000 years ago. It’s estimated that hundreds of groups existed across America. Dozens of them called Texas home, each with its own language and culture. In the earliest recording of Texas history, indigenous people are mentioned at least three times – in 1528-36, 1554, and 1629. Following is a brief summary of each of these accounts.
As a result of a 1528 shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico, Cabeza de Vaca and three shipmates washed ashore onto the upper Texas coast. There, they began an eight-year adventure (1528-36); walking across Central and South Texas. At times, they were held as slaves and brutally treated. At other times, they were allowed to wander on their own, as when they established reputations as healing shamans. For example, Cabeza de Vaca is considered the first doctor in Texas.
De Vaca writes about living among various tribes; the Capoques, Hans, Caddo, Karankawa, Charrucos, and Quevenes, to name a few. In fact, de Vaca identifies nearly 20 different groups in the small coastal area between the Guadalupe River and Rio Grande alone. Of interest to folks in South Texas, Cabeza de Vaca crossed the Rio Grande through present-day Zapata County.
Observing that some of the tribes lived with long-term animosity toward each other, de Vaca became useful. He volunteered to mediate in disputes between warring clans. Also, since each side had items that the other needed for survival, he soon excelled as a trader of goods, thus becoming the first European-descent merchant in Texas.
Once he was rescued in 1536, de Vaca wrote about his ordeal in his Relación in a most objective manner. In his famous report, he was not bitter and described Texas natives as fellow human beings. As a result, Cabeza de Vaca is recognized as the first advocate for Native American human rights.
The second time indigenous people are described in Texas occurs in 1554. A four-ship flotilla loaded with families sailed from Veracruz bound for Cuba and Spain. A violent storm rammed three of the ships onto the Texas coast near the north end of Padre Island. Close to 200 survivors began walking the shoreline back to Veracruz.
Sadly, hostile natives picked off the tired, frightened stragglers one by one. All perished, except Brother Marcos de Men
a, a lay priest, who had been left for dead. He recovered, walked back to safety and told the sad story. Upon hearing of the savage attack, the Spanish authorities sent soldiers to punish the natives.
However, the terrain was still so menacing that the Spanish accomplished little success. The poignant story of the shipwreck survivors is yet another inspiring Spanish Mexican rendering of bravery, determination, and endurance that is missing in mainstream Texas history books.
The third time we hear about native people in pre-Spanish Texas happens in 1629. In that year, the Isleta, New Mexico Convent Abbot was stunned! A group of Jumano Indians from Texas had just arrived unexpectedly after walking many miles. They asked for a mission to be built in their village. When the priests asked why, the Indians replied that “The Lady in Blue” had sent them.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Spain, Nun Maria de Jesús de Agreda, reported to her religious superiors that she had often visited the indigenous people of Texas and New Mexico to pray with them. What makes the story so intriguing is that Maria never left her convent in Spain. From all indications, while in prayer, she put herself in a deep trance. It appears that in that state, her spirit left her body and traveled many miles to America. The Native Americans welcomed her apparition as a miraculous sign; and tell of a legend that Bluebonnets began appearing in Texas when the Lady in Blue last appeared.
A question remains. What happened to the original Texas residents? The short answer is that they (we) are still here. The reason is that as more Spanish Mexican pioneers moved into Texas, the nomadic lifestyle of the individual clans slowed significantly. For example, many found work in pueblos and ranchos. Weaker tribes threatened by stronger ones found refuge in Catholic missions where they became the first cowboys and cowgirls. So, natural absorption into the Spanish culture through marriage was inevitable.
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