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The American Continent
The nation pauses to reflect upon the history of and the contributions made
by the Hispanic-indigenous peoples in the conquest, development, and settlement
of the Americas between September 15 and October 15. The contributions by our
indigenous forefathers, the original inhabitants of what would be named "The
American Continent," are recalled with pride, as are the changes that were
brought about by our forefathers, the Españoles of the Iberian Peninsula.
The Aztec Empire before the conquest.
The `encuentro' between the conquerors and the ancient civilizations would
result in massive changes that to this day we still struggle to understand. No
historical writings of the Americas would be complete without the inclusion of
the Mestizos, which were the result of the interbreeding of the Spaniards and
the local Indigenous people who originally inhabited the American continents.
The result of this `encuentro' laid the foundation for the creation of what is
now the largest Mestizo race of today's American continents.
Who are we?
We are the offspring that resulted from the conjoining of the conquistadors from
the Iberian Peninsula with the indigenous women of the Huichol, Yaqui, Huasteca,
Maya, Tara-humara, Zapotecan, Azteca, Tolteca, Taino and Inca tribes, just to
name a few of the vast number of indigenous tribes that were part of the "en-cuentro".
Our indigenous forefathers created vast pyramids, cities and centers of
civilization that spanned North America and the Southernmost reaches of the
continent. They discovered the ancient roots and seeds that yielded vast fields
of corn with which they fed hundreds of thousands of their peoples. Our
indigenous forefathers were astronomers, mathematicians, warriors, priests, and
sculptures of stone. They cured their people of illness, war wounds, set
fractures and performed surgeries. Our indigenous forefathers had government and
ruled by their established laws and religious beliefs.
The Conquest
At the time of the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, the population of the
indigenous peoples numbered in the millions. Of course, in those days there were
no census takers, but records indicate that major population centers held
upwards of 50-100,000 residents. Each complex, such as Teoti-huacan, had the
capability to put large armies into the field of battle.
One must wonder why the Aztecs (the Mexicas) lost the most important battle of
Otumba in the war for conquest. The Mexica warriors, after their uprising in the
capitol, fielded overwhelming superior forces against the Spaniards and their
allies, the Tlaxclan. With his Imperial banner flying, the Mexica Lord charged
into battle fully believing that their Gods were with them against Hernando
Cortez, a brave and brilliant seasoned warrior in the service of his King and
Queen. He too, charged into battle with his heraldic banners. Cortez also
believed that his God was on his side, as well as Saint Peter, his Patron. His
men also charged into battle believing that Saint James (Santiago, Patron Saint
of Spain) rode with them as he had in other dangerous battles in the Americas.
The Mexica defeat began when Hernando Cortez charged on horseback through the
encirclement of Mexicas and killed the Mexica Commanding Officer! He then
triumphantly raised the captured Imperial Battle standard. The Mexica believed
that the battle standard housed their God. The loss of the Standard signaled to
them that the battle standard flown by Cortez housed a stronger God. For the
Mexica it was their firm belief that in battle, the supernatural played a key
role. For them, the battle standard was an embodiment of a potent spiritual
being whose presence and performance was critical to their success.
With this loss, the Spaniards were henceforth able to conquer the entire
continent. Eventually, the Indigenous people merged their Gods with Catholic
belifs and, perhaps in their minds, they now felt that they had the best of the
two supernatural worlds. The foundations for "La Gente de Bronz" were laid down.
Our Hispanic forefathers brought to the mixture the basis for our modern day
society. They formed the common thread that encompasses and unites the various
subgroups, nationalities and ethnic categories throughout the continent.
Hispanic: What does it Mean?
The term Hispanic comes from the noun Spania, the name which was given by the
ancient Carthaginians who colonized the southern part of the Iberian peninsula
(Spain) around 500 years B.C.
The Roman Empire occupied the peninsula in the first century A.D. They brought
state authority, law, education, and commerce. They also brought architecture,
roads, livestock and Roman Catholicism. The language of Roman Spania became
Latin and the peninsula was known as Hispania. The Roman Latin formed the basis
for the `Romance Languages: "Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian.
LATINO is Spanish for Latin, which is often used to describe us in contemporary
U.S.A. It is only partially correct.
It is irrational to deny 2,000 years of Spanish history and culture. We are not
only the children of the Spanish Conquistadors, but we are the result of the
commingling of the Indigenous people and those of Spanish blood. From this, a
new dominant racial group was created: the MESTIZO. We became the people who
assimilated the Hispanic ancestry, culture, and language. We commingled it with
the history, language and culture of our indigenous forefathers. Our country of
origin identifies us; thus, a MEXICAN AMERICAN is a person whose origins are
from the country called MEXICO. Someone from Columbia is a Columbiano... But we
all share our common Spanish ancestry.
Today as we celebrate our Hispanic Heritage, let us not forget that Latinos,
Hispanos, Mexicanos, Chilianos, all of us whose origins are based in Latin
America (geographical areas of the Caribbean, Northern, Meso, and South
America), are joined together in the greatest "mestisaje" since the Spanish
conquest. The results of this new race that is being created, will define the
United States of America as well as all the continent of the Americas for
centuries to come.
(We are indebted to David Freidel, Linda Schele, & Joy Parker for
the concepts on the battle of Otumba in their book MAYA COSMOS: Three Thousands
Years on the Shaman's Path)
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