Monument to Spanish conqueror removed in New Mexico

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Cedar Attanasio and Morgan Lee, Associated Press
Updated 4:35 pm CDT, Monday, June 15, 2020

ALCALDE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities removed a bronze statue of a Spanish conqueror from a cultural center in northern New Mexico on Monday to cheers of those who saw the memorial as an affront to indigenous people and an obstacle to greater racial harmony.

A forklift pried the massive bronze statue of Juan de Oñate from a concrete pedestal in Alcalde.

The statue of Oñate at a county-operated heritage education center has been a source of criticism for decades.

Oñate, who arrived in present-day New Mexico in 1598, is celebrated as a cultural father figure in communities along the Upper Rio Grande that trace their ancestry to Spanish settlers. But he’s also reviled for his brutality.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/article/Monuments-to-Spanish-conquerors-teeter-in-New-15340665.php

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[roamer65]

1. The Spanish were utterly brutal.

The Native Americans who they didn’t kill from diseases were enslaved, tortured and killed.

It was genocide.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

2. That is pretty much the story for all of Colonial Europe.

[roamer65]

3. THIS.

[Warpy]

5. The diseases were passive genocide, Europeans had no idea what they were

or how to prevent their spread. Nearly every European virus was a novel virus to indigenous people. Imagine 50 epidemics as serious as Covid, all at once. That's what the indigenous people faced. It wasn't intentional, either, something like 80-90% died within 2 years of first contact, the traders who had made contact going back for more furs and other items a few years later and finding nothing but deserted villages.

The Spanish enslaved people here, anyone not bowing down to the cross was fair game. If a slave ran away, the punishment was to amputate a foot.

They put up an Onate statue near the university some years ago. Right after it went up, someone sawed off one of its feet. I've always thought it should have been left that way, people need to ask hard questions about that period of history and how the local Hispanos were treated in turn by the first Anglos. History here is very ugly, but some tribal people say the Spanish were the best of the bunch since they also brought things like domestic animals, kitchen and farm equipment, and loom technology, so it's also complicated.

A good history of the region from the indigenous point of view can be found at https://www.amazon.com/Pueblo-Nations-Centuries-Indian-History/dp/0940666073

[Drahthaardogs]

7. And the many natives were brutal too

Moctezuma sacrificed tens of thousands during his coronation party. Some say over 80,000 people.

It was different times. I get the Confederate statues. Stuff from 500 years ago - I don't.

[Judi Lynn]

8. So true. I've read multiple times many indigenous people also committed suicide.

No one ever will have the right to invade the country of other people, and do what you've mentioned, NEVER, no matter how many pathetic morally dead racists attempt to excuse this pure evil.

They inflicted so much suffering and grief many who survived the atrocities simply killed themselves once they realized what was left of their lives.

[abqtommy]

4. Fun Fact: There are NO statues of Cortes in Mexico and that's a fact, Jack...

[Judi Lynn]

6. Good grief, never heard about his statue in Mexico. Just found this petition:

(Apparently it was written some time ago, it's not dated)

The Government of Spain must remove the statue of Hernán Cortés, stepping on the Effigy of an indigenous head
Addressed to: King of Spain Felipe VI
Rafael Coutiño Created by Rafael Coutiño
Ciudad Netzahualcóyotl, Mexico

Addressed to: King of Spain Felipe VI



Because it denigrates the original peoples of America and demonstrates the contempt of Europe and Spain for what was committed by the conquerors of sword and cross to the natives of Mesoamerica. And it would be a demonstration of good faith, forgiveness and forgetfulness before the date of the 500 years (1521-2021) of those facts.

https://www.sosvox.org/en/petition/the-government-of-spain-must-remove-the-statue-of-hernan-cortes-stepping-on-the-effigy-of-an-indigenous-head.html

~ ~ ~

Found this article:

Mexico asks Pope Francis and Spanish king to apologize for colonialism

Mexican President Manuel Lopez Obrador told the Spanish king and the Vatican that "wounds are still open" from the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1521. The Spanish government was not amused.



Spanish King Felipe VI and Pope Francis should apologize for the 16th-century conquest of Mexico, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Monday.

The populist leftist Mexican president has sought to cast himself as a champion of Mexico's indigenous peoples and, until now, he had cultivated cordial relations with both Spain and the Vatican.

Obrador seeks 'historic reconciliation'

The president said he had asked for an apology in a letter to both leaders. In the letter, he wrote:

Both leaders should apologize to the indigenous peoples of Mexico.

He plans to apologize to indigenous people for post-colonial repression in Mexico.

Historic wounds are still open. Forgiveness is necessary for "historic reconciliation."

A full account of the atrocities committed during the "so-called conquest" was needed.

More:
https://www.dw.com/en/mexico-asks-pope-francis-and-spanish-king-to-apologize-for-colonialism/a-48060575

Very glad to hear this information, abqtommy! It makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Thank you.

[abqtommy]

9. Yes, Spain has a very different recollection of the history of The Conquistadors than Mexico

does. While I was proudly told by Mexican citizens when I was working in Mexico about the lack of
monuments to Cortes there, it didn't stop the Mexican Government or military from becoming
involved in putting down the Zapatista Revolution in the southernmost Mexican State of Chiapis
beginning in 1983 and still continuing.

Of course the citizens of Chiapis are mostly very poor descendants of the local indigenous people
who were mostly ignored by the early Spanish...

It's very interesting if a person need another example of hypocrisy...
https://www.thoughtco.com/zapatistas-4707696

[cannabis_flower]

10. I was in Galveston, Texas on Saturday

The one thing that me and my husband do to keep from being bored staying home is to go for a drive. We don't stop anywhere unless we have to (for bathroom at the convenience store) and when we do we wash hands afterwards and then use hand sanitizer.

Saturday we drove to Galveston. We drove by the beach but didn't go because it was way too crowded. Had a nice ride though and rode the ferry and saw pelicans and dolphins. It was fun.

I noticed that they had a Christopher Columbus Ave. They need to change that. Maybe to Indigenous Peoples Avenue.