Examining Pueblo Civilization in Pre-Columbian Times

HIST 2290 Midterm Exam: Examining Pueblo Civilization in Pre-Columbian Times & American Indian Encounters with the Spanish, French, and English Allison Brown History of North American Indians Dr. Means 15 October, 2020 “Before the arrival of Europeans, North American Indians lived in isolated communities, practiced inefficient economies, and lacked governments despite having the same cultural beliefs as Europeans” 1, this initial part of the quote from the prompt could not be more wrong. Pre-Columbian American Indian societies thrived with trade and communication between different regions, cities like Cahokia that competed with large European settlements and their trade routes suggest that American Indians thrived in ways incomprehensible to Europeans. In the textbook, Calloway builds further on this idea, stating, “Europeans often pictured Indians as nomadic hunters living in isolation. In reality, long before European contact, much of Indian America was a farming country …. with well-traveled networks 2 and trade and communication” . To debunk this portion of the quote it is necessary to examine an American Indian society in pre-Columbian times. A clear example of an advanced society before European contact were the Ancestral Pueblo, commonly referred to as the Anasazi. Their culture emerged around 900 CE and reached its height between 1100 and 1300 CE. Settled in and around the modern day four-corners region and Chaco Canyon, this culturally rich and advanced agricultural society does not fit with the quotation’s statement. Chaco Canyon was not an isolated society and flourished in trade with both neighboring populations and those afar “...with over four hundred miles of straight roads spoking out from it, Chaco Canyon was a center of trade … exchanged turquoise to distant peoples, abstaining seashells from the Gulf of California, exotic birds and feathers form Central America, and minerals and ores from the Rocky Mountains''3. Their dynamic and far-reaching roads allowed also for communication and cultural exchanges to take place, allowing the Ancestral Pueblo to build their culture and society. Societally, in the San Juan River basin they constructed dozens of towns and about two-hundred outlying villages, some of which are believed to have been the largest human-made structures in North America until New York City’s skyscrapers surpassed them in the nineteenth century. Their economics would have been efficient, the combination of their aforementioned trade routes and their production of corn, woven baskets, and pottery led to successful and economically profitable trade, which is clear in their rich culture and advanced dwellings. Their flourishing economy, advanced road-system, and dynamic city construction suggests a well-organized and representative government. The Ancestral Pueblo would eventually desert some of their cliff dwellings and cities, natural disasters and climate changes are thought to be why, including the eruption of Sunset Crater Volcano 1 Midterm Examination Prompt,fictional quotation 2 Calloway, Colin. First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History. 4th ed. Benford, 2012, pg.33 3 Calloway, Colin. First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History. 4th ed. Benford, 2012, pg.28 1 4 Between 1080 and 1150 . The Ancestral Pueblo then migrated and mixed with Pueblo communities that had developed in the Rio Grande valley, causing a dramatic population increase in that region. For centuries after, the Pueblo thrived as another example of a society with outside trade with the Apache and what was described in Dr. Means’ lecture as a “... balanced culture politically, economically, and socially” 5. However, the Pueblo civilization would face a direct and tremendous threat from Spanish colonizers that would put their societies’ survival at risk. The first larger-scale interaction the Pueblo had with the Spanish occurred in February 1540, with Francisco Coronado arriving during the summer solstice at the Pueblo of Hawikuh. Coronado arrived with four-hundred Spanish men and fifteen-hundred Native “allies” (presumably captured/ forcibly being brought). Upon their arrival, a Requerimiento read by Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, two friars and a notary informed the Pueblo that they were know subjects of the Crown of Spain and would be given 6 Christianity if they were to accept them as a gift of sorts . For the Pueblo, after a period of economic/resource strain and violence in their community's Coronado would react to a Tiwa attack on horses (an intelligent attack) by murdering an entire village and taking it over as their place to continue to wait for Spring. After a period, Coronado would then leave their region as he continued his search for the Seven Golden Cities of Cibola. The Pueblo would then be left until 1598, as the Spanish colonized Mexico but would return as rumours of gold spread again. When Don Juan de Oñate arrives, the Pueblos are friendly towards them as they fear violence from them. Onate, unlike Coronado, stays in the region 7 and settles in Acoma in 1599 . Oñate feared that the Pueblo were plotting against him and the Spanish and restricted Native movements. A clash that angered the Pueblo took place, extreme disrespect of an elder, and they killed Onate’s nephew, Juan de Zaldivar, and twelve other Spanish. This leads Onate to attack Acama with his full force, kill eight-hundred, enslave eight hundred and fifty, and 4,700 Pueblo managed to escape. Onate then infamously cuts off the left feet of those Pueblo who he captured and the left arm of the two Hopi messengers. The Pueblo then are repressed by the Encomienda System and then were coerced by Franciscan Priests. These tensions lead to the Pueblo Revolt in 1680, which Calloway describes as “...one of the most effective Indian resistance movements in American8history” . Through conflict and intelligent war tactics, the Pueblos were able to liberate their communities and were rewarded with twelve years of independence and free from worry about the Spanish. The interactions the Pueblo 4 Calloway, Colin. First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History. 4th ed. Benford, 2012, pg.29 5 Dr. Means, Lecture Slides: “The Spanish and Native Southwest: New Mexico” 6 Dr. Means, Lecture Slides: “The Spanish and Native Southwest: New Mexico” 7 Dr. Means, Lecture Slides: “The Spanish and Native Southwest: New Mexico” 8 Calloway, Colin. First Peoples: A Documentary Survey of American Indian History. 4th ed. Benford, 2012, pg.92 2 had with the Spanish were heavily impacted by the Spanish’s desire for wealth and in part by their wish to “save” the “savages” of the New World with Christianity. A religion that arguably gave the Spanish the confidence a sense of confidence that their actions with the “savages” no matter how severe, is what “God wanted them to do” in this New World. Switching gears to the North of the New World. Interactions between Native Americans and English settlers came at a different time and a different way. Early attempts at colonization would take place in 1585 by Sir Walter Raleigh at Roanoke, which would infamously be abandoned in 1588 for reasons that are still unknown. Although, many speculate that the English colonists were adopted into the Croatan neighboring tribe. King James I then allowed funds and people for the Jamestown Colony which was formed in 1607, their first year saw only 38 survivors out of9,105 conditions were difficult and desperate in the eyes of Native Americans. Tensions rise between the two, however, resulting in the capture of John Smith and the relations that would take place between Pocahontas (13 at the time) and himself. The interactions that take place between Powhatan and his people and the English settlers occur out of broken expectations of kinship, the expectations that the Native Americans have with reciprocity to provide products and trade are not met by the English who are very different culturally. This all brings conflict to a head in 1609 with Opechancanough, during which Pocahontas was captured (1613) but then peace is achieved when she marries John Rolfe. Again, we see an example of kinship. A sort of peace was formed between the two states when kinship was achieved. The English approach towards colonization of the New World was drastically different. Where the English tried to understand and even pander towards kinship, the Spanish abused elderly in a Pueblo community. Where the English gave presents to Native Americans in order to form relationships, the Spanish demanded food supplies and violently reacted when they were unmet. It is obvious that neither of these methods came to a completely different end, in both regions ultimately the English and Spanish won and colonized the regions, but, trying to understand the Native cultures that they were colonizing was more of a benefit to Native Americans than simply European ignorance to their ways, this middle ground that was created with the English settlers allowed for at least in the beginning a less violent and detrimental relationship than that of the Pueblo and the Spanish. A clear example of this understanding was evident in the relations between the French who settled in modern day Canada and Native American tribes who resided in the same region A kinship existed at times between the French and the Ottawas. The “middle ground” formed between the two 9 Dr. Means, Lecture Slides: “English Colonization: Virginia” 3 societies to establish trade relationships and ultimately was a way for both the French and the Ottawa to say that they can agree that they both have a misunderstanding about each other’s cultures, in other words, “Even though the French and natives don’t and will never fully understand one another, they have 10 enough in common where they can do business and understand kinship relations” . Their interactions formed an alliance that was based in part on a mutual dependence against the Iroquois. Some interactions, similar to the English and Spanish, did turn to violence and again ultimately the ultimate outcome of French colonization would be the same, but French interaction with Ottawa was focused on finding a Middle Ground in order to attempt to live in better harmony with one another in the region. In conclusion, the first portion of the quote in the prompt is incorrect, Native American groups before European contact and interactions were one that had diversity in cultures and economies, communication and trade between one another, and their own unique societal structures. They were not isolated in their own villages, but were connected to one another not only through their physical trades but in their cultural exchanges. Regarding the second portion of the quotation, the English, Spanish, and French all had their own different ways of approaching colonialism. Perhaps these approaches all led to the same “dictation” and “control” of American Indians, but it is not true to state that each European powers’ approach was the same, this is clear in the different attempts at kinship and the creation of the Middle Ground. Every American Indian civilization before European exchanges was unique, and so too were the attempts at colonization and acts of violence from Europeans. 10 Dr. Means, Lecture Slides: “French Colonialism: Different in North America” 4 5