there are statues to onate all over the place; there's even an onate high school in las cruces. in some ways he's one of the more visible of hispanic "founders" in new mexico. he was definitely one of the first spanish "conquerors" to come north into new mexico, from mexico, and establish a presence making new mexico part of mexico and by extension, part of spain.
but he did it ruthlessly, as his men were better armed than the natives whom he encountered. there was supposed to be gold in new mexico, but instead of gold, the spanish traveled from village to village for years, and only found one where they did metalsmithing, and rather than the riches in gold that they'd found in aztec mexico, mostly they found little rings and jewelry. or it could be that the native villages knew they were coming and simply hid the good stuff while they were up here.
but onate, constantly angry and frustrated, took to cutting off the feet and hands of natives that disobeyed him, and became more ruthless and despotic as time went on.
new mexico really has three substantial racial communities, because a large community of navajo and pueblo peoples never really mixed in with the hispanics, and never appreciated onate or the way they were treated in those early days. new mexico was part of spain for a while, then of mexico, and then the spanish settlers, some of whom had come with onate, agreed to become part of the usa. but the native people had never really agreed to anything; they'd simply been conquered and / or killed, and forced to agree to a couple of different sets of armed rulers.
in the war on statues onate's statues have been targeted before. one statue had its foot cut off one time; it was as if the local native people had simply never forgotten who he was and what he had done.
there was an interesting aside to onate's mission that should not be forgotten. at that time jews were forced to convert in spain, or else had to find someplace way remote and out of reach of the spanish empire, where they could practice their faith. onate had a few of these jews with him, who figured that by accompanying onate north as far as he could go, they would find some remote mountains where they could get away, and not be found, and be able to practice their faith for many future generations.
and that's what they did. having arrived in santa fe, and among the pueblos north of albuquerque, at some point they escaped into the mountains, most notably the san juan mountains north of santa fe. now i don't think those few that were with onate were the only ones, and i also don't think that the san juan mountains was the only place where they settled. and i have no idea how they got women out this way to convert or to start the kind of community that can sustain itself for generations. in fact, they were unable to sustain themselves for more than a few generations, though such things as candles and menorahs have been found, both in the san juans and down here in the sacramentos. dna tests have confirmed that the mountain communities were settled, at some point, by "marranos," or crypto-jews, secret jews. for some reason the term "marrano" has become offensive, but at the time, their goal was to find a place remote enough that they could practice judaism freely - and that's what they did. new mexico has that in common with the amazon, and the remote areas of mexico and central america. it was a big issue in onate's time.
new mexico has a history of settlement by a widely diverse group of people of all kinds. for the most part, they have gotten along, over the years. we cannot say that onate got along - he was ruthless, violent, vicious. i think that mexican-americans, who have been here for many generations in most cases but who trace their origin at some point to mexico, will have to find a better champion than onate, and will need to get statue-makers busy working on someone else.
why the anglo militia folks would rush to the defense of an onate statue, is beyond me. there are people out there who don't know onate from ulysses grant, and also don't know from wearing a mask. it's a crazy world. when we are in the news, it's a sign that maybe another great change is coming over the land. but those of us in the mountains will hope that we can just stay back up here, pass along our own culture, and live to see another new mexico sunrise.
but he did it ruthlessly, as his men were better armed than the natives whom he encountered. there was supposed to be gold in new mexico, but instead of gold, the spanish traveled from village to village for years, and only found one where they did metalsmithing, and rather than the riches in gold that they'd found in aztec mexico, mostly they found little rings and jewelry. or it could be that the native villages knew they were coming and simply hid the good stuff while they were up here.
but onate, constantly angry and frustrated, took to cutting off the feet and hands of natives that disobeyed him, and became more ruthless and despotic as time went on.
new mexico really has three substantial racial communities, because a large community of navajo and pueblo peoples never really mixed in with the hispanics, and never appreciated onate or the way they were treated in those early days. new mexico was part of spain for a while, then of mexico, and then the spanish settlers, some of whom had come with onate, agreed to become part of the usa. but the native people had never really agreed to anything; they'd simply been conquered and / or killed, and forced to agree to a couple of different sets of armed rulers.
in the war on statues onate's statues have been targeted before. one statue had its foot cut off one time; it was as if the local native people had simply never forgotten who he was and what he had done.
there was an interesting aside to onate's mission that should not be forgotten. at that time jews were forced to convert in spain, or else had to find someplace way remote and out of reach of the spanish empire, where they could practice their faith. onate had a few of these jews with him, who figured that by accompanying onate north as far as he could go, they would find some remote mountains where they could get away, and not be found, and be able to practice their faith for many future generations.
and that's what they did. having arrived in santa fe, and among the pueblos north of albuquerque, at some point they escaped into the mountains, most notably the san juan mountains north of santa fe. now i don't think those few that were with onate were the only ones, and i also don't think that the san juan mountains was the only place where they settled. and i have no idea how they got women out this way to convert or to start the kind of community that can sustain itself for generations. in fact, they were unable to sustain themselves for more than a few generations, though such things as candles and menorahs have been found, both in the san juans and down here in the sacramentos. dna tests have confirmed that the mountain communities were settled, at some point, by "marranos," or crypto-jews, secret jews. for some reason the term "marrano" has become offensive, but at the time, their goal was to find a place remote enough that they could practice judaism freely - and that's what they did. new mexico has that in common with the amazon, and the remote areas of mexico and central america. it was a big issue in onate's time.
new mexico has a history of settlement by a widely diverse group of people of all kinds. for the most part, they have gotten along, over the years. we cannot say that onate got along - he was ruthless, violent, vicious. i think that mexican-americans, who have been here for many generations in most cases but who trace their origin at some point to mexico, will have to find a better champion than onate, and will need to get statue-makers busy working on someone else.
why the anglo militia folks would rush to the defense of an onate statue, is beyond me. there are people out there who don't know onate from ulysses grant, and also don't know from wearing a mask. it's a crazy world. when we are in the news, it's a sign that maybe another great change is coming over the land. but those of us in the mountains will hope that we can just stay back up here, pass along our own culture, and live to see another new mexico sunrise.
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