Post by Kukul-Kan on Jan 2, 2004 16:49:10 GMT -5
The first Mestizos
The first Mestizos were the offspring of the Spanish Sailor Gonzalo Guerrero,who had shipwrecked on the shores of Yucatán peninsula , and a Mayan Amerindian from the tribe that had received him.
Gonzalo Guerrero is a figure known for an episode in the early stages of the conquest of
México. Even though the incident in which his name is brought to consideration is taken to be
anecdotal for the purposes of the Cortés expedition, it is my claim that it is basic for
understanding the whole enterprise of the conquest of México. The episode illustrates the
conformation and shaping of a Spanish Imaginary of the conquest.
The historical figure of Gonzalo Guerrero appears in Bernal Díaz´s Historia verdadera in
the often cited incident of his refusal to return with the other Spaniards, in testimony presented
through Jerónimo de Aguilar. He was, according to different sources and chronicles, a Spaniard
who married a Mayan cacique with whom he had children, spoke Mayan, tattooed his body and
his face, wore earrings and became a worshipper of Mayan Gods.
Jerónimo de Aguilar was a friar who also survived the shipwreck and lived with Guerrero
under the same Mayan rule, and who decided to accept the offer made by Cortés, in need of
lenguas (interpreters) at the time of starting his enterprise in México. Some of the reasons that
led to the creation of Gonzalo Guerrero as a figure through which Spaniards and Indians wrote
their narratives can be found in the interaction between the interests of Aguilar and Cortés. In the
physical and mental space of the border, a negotiation was taking place between the de-limitation
of such borders not only in the physical sense through confrontation and warfare between Indians
and Spaniards, but at the mental level as well.
136.142.158.105/LASA97/ricoferrer.pdf
Ixpilotzama, Xzamil, Zamil or Nicte-Ha
Ixpilotzama, also called Xzamil, Zamil or Nicte-Ha, was a Maya princess/priestess, a female relative of Nachan Can, wife of Gonzalo Guerrero, and mother of the first Iberoamerican mestizo children. In 1511, a Spanish ship on its way from Darien (Panama) to Santo Domingo wrecked off the Maya coast. One of the survivors, Gonzalo Guerrero, was saved from a life of servitude and possible human sacrifice through the intervention of the Maya noblewoman who is sometimes referred to as Princess Nicte-Ha (Water Lilly), and she is also known as Ixpilotzama. "Ix" is the preface for a Maya female name. Itzama was the supreme Maya deity, the heavenly monster and creator god. Ixpilotzama means "woman dedicated to the service of Itzama."
According to the historian Alvarez Coral, the conqueror Francisco Terraza's son, a poet, drew on his father's orally transmitted history, and in the mid-16th century wrote:
In Chetumal now lives Guerrero
So he is called, the one who remained;
A companion to the great Nachancan,
And he is Nachancan's sister's husband.
Both Diego de Landa and Bernal Díaz del Castillo tell how Nachan Can Siu placed Guerrero in command of the affairs of war and how he was married to a very high ranking Maya lady by whom he had children. Jerónimo de Aguilar, the other survivor reported "And no one remained but myself and a certain Gonzalo Guerrero, a sailor, who is with Nachan Can, Lord of Chetumal, and he is married to a rich lady of that land, by whom he has children." Ixpilotzma married Guerrero in 1515 or 1516. In 1519 Aguilar rejoined Cortés and translated along with MALINCHE, MALINTZIN or DOÑA MARINA. He tried to convince Guerrero to return.
Guerrero read Cortés's letter and reportedly responded, "Brother Aguilar, I am married and have three children and they consider me their chief and captain during times of war; go with God, for my face is tattooed and my ears are pierced. What would the Spanish say when they see me this way? And see my little children how lovely they are." Before Aguilar could respond, Guerrero's wife, who was there with the children "spoke to Aguilar in her language and very angrily said to him: What nerve this slave has to come calling on my husband; go away and be done with your talking."
www.hope.edu/latinamerican/Ixpilotzama,.html
The first Mestizos were the offspring of the Spanish Sailor Gonzalo Guerrero,who had shipwrecked on the shores of Yucatán peninsula , and a Mayan Amerindian from the tribe that had received him.
Gonzalo Guerrero is a figure known for an episode in the early stages of the conquest of
México. Even though the incident in which his name is brought to consideration is taken to be
anecdotal for the purposes of the Cortés expedition, it is my claim that it is basic for
understanding the whole enterprise of the conquest of México. The episode illustrates the
conformation and shaping of a Spanish Imaginary of the conquest.
The historical figure of Gonzalo Guerrero appears in Bernal Díaz´s Historia verdadera in
the often cited incident of his refusal to return with the other Spaniards, in testimony presented
through Jerónimo de Aguilar. He was, according to different sources and chronicles, a Spaniard
who married a Mayan cacique with whom he had children, spoke Mayan, tattooed his body and
his face, wore earrings and became a worshipper of Mayan Gods.
Jerónimo de Aguilar was a friar who also survived the shipwreck and lived with Guerrero
under the same Mayan rule, and who decided to accept the offer made by Cortés, in need of
lenguas (interpreters) at the time of starting his enterprise in México. Some of the reasons that
led to the creation of Gonzalo Guerrero as a figure through which Spaniards and Indians wrote
their narratives can be found in the interaction between the interests of Aguilar and Cortés. In the
physical and mental space of the border, a negotiation was taking place between the de-limitation
of such borders not only in the physical sense through confrontation and warfare between Indians
and Spaniards, but at the mental level as well.
136.142.158.105/LASA97/ricoferrer.pdf
Ixpilotzama, Xzamil, Zamil or Nicte-Ha
Ixpilotzama, also called Xzamil, Zamil or Nicte-Ha, was a Maya princess/priestess, a female relative of Nachan Can, wife of Gonzalo Guerrero, and mother of the first Iberoamerican mestizo children. In 1511, a Spanish ship on its way from Darien (Panama) to Santo Domingo wrecked off the Maya coast. One of the survivors, Gonzalo Guerrero, was saved from a life of servitude and possible human sacrifice through the intervention of the Maya noblewoman who is sometimes referred to as Princess Nicte-Ha (Water Lilly), and she is also known as Ixpilotzama. "Ix" is the preface for a Maya female name. Itzama was the supreme Maya deity, the heavenly monster and creator god. Ixpilotzama means "woman dedicated to the service of Itzama."
According to the historian Alvarez Coral, the conqueror Francisco Terraza's son, a poet, drew on his father's orally transmitted history, and in the mid-16th century wrote:
In Chetumal now lives Guerrero
So he is called, the one who remained;
A companion to the great Nachancan,
And he is Nachancan's sister's husband.
Both Diego de Landa and Bernal Díaz del Castillo tell how Nachan Can Siu placed Guerrero in command of the affairs of war and how he was married to a very high ranking Maya lady by whom he had children. Jerónimo de Aguilar, the other survivor reported "And no one remained but myself and a certain Gonzalo Guerrero, a sailor, who is with Nachan Can, Lord of Chetumal, and he is married to a rich lady of that land, by whom he has children." Ixpilotzma married Guerrero in 1515 or 1516. In 1519 Aguilar rejoined Cortés and translated along with MALINCHE, MALINTZIN or DOÑA MARINA. He tried to convince Guerrero to return.
Guerrero read Cortés's letter and reportedly responded, "Brother Aguilar, I am married and have three children and they consider me their chief and captain during times of war; go with God, for my face is tattooed and my ears are pierced. What would the Spanish say when they see me this way? And see my little children how lovely they are." Before Aguilar could respond, Guerrero's wife, who was there with the children "spoke to Aguilar in her language and very angrily said to him: What nerve this slave has to come calling on my husband; go away and be done with your talking."
www.hope.edu/latinamerican/Ixpilotzama,.html