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| Zuni Men (circa 1870) |
Zuni's reaction to Spanish Conquistadors
If I was a Zuni, I would be fairly surprised to see someone come to my homeland uninvited and for them to assume that because they were Spaniards from Europe, that they had a better social status and more power over me, it would upset me quite a bit... But, to prevent violence, I would attempt to offer them a sign of peace from our tribe and attempt to gain a mutual friendship with them and show them that we were all equal with each other.
I do think that social status, race, and religion played a large part in the Conquistadors attitude toward the Indigenous people because they thought that they were better because they were full blooded, Catholic, European Spaniards and that these Indigenous people weren't important because they weren't very well known people to those overseas. I think this still plays a big effect in today's society because some of our own people feel like they're too good for other minority groups just because of they're skin color, beliefs, and especially they're social class ranking.
Having the conquistadors realize they were equal to the Native Americans was one of the main and most difficult tasks.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting pictures! You do a great job of recognizing the importance of equality in creating more peaceful relationships. This is indeed a difficult task, and something we still struggle with today. Nice job!
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