“What is it like to be discovered?”

“The Europeans did not ‘discover’ a utopian paradise of socially harmonious organizations”. 40,000 years ????? Original routes to Americas is debated (last 50 years) Asia: Bering Strait Polynesia: trade with Southern American groups Diverse societies with diverse characteristics, languages, cultures, specializations, degrees of organization 5000 distinct Indian groups in South America

Population at time of Conquest is contested: Tens of thousands of years before Columbus, the Americas had been settled. Called “native Americans” but predate “America” Population at time of Conquest is contested: Range: 12 million - >100 million implications of population extremes Amount/extent of genocide Extent of resource use Food production systems The name America was coined by Martin Waldseemüller from Americus Vespucius, the Latinized version of the name of Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512), the Italian explorer who mapped South America's east coast and the Caribbean Sea in the early 16th century. Later, Vespucci's published letters were the basis of Waldseemüller's 1507 map, which is the first usage of America. The adjective American subsequently denoted the New World.

Very few primary sources remain; we will look at a few: Pinturas Codices Writings of Bartolomé de las Casas

Pinturas: illustrate tension between domination and resistance López de Velazco was the Spanish geographer in the Americas , assigned to describe and map the Spanish territories in the Americas. Worked for the Council of the Indies Resulting products: Description and Demarcation of the West Indies and Geographical Accounts of the Indies (mid 16th Century) Gave a questionnaire of 50 questions in Instruction and Memorandum Given to all villages and centers Question #10 asked for a pintura (map) of the place (Of the 191 responses, 43 pinturas are housed at University of Texas at Austin)

Indian texts (codices) read from bottom right upward According to Mignolo, the pinturas allowed for the movement of the center. Pintura for the town of Chimalhuacán The hil Labeled “the old house of idolatrous practices” The monastery Footpaths Indian texts (codices) read from bottom right upward 2 delineatd spaces facing each other; hill prominent; map is a cultural hybrid: 2 religious centers; altepeme: land was a place as well as a lving force

Atepetls (ethnic-based political entities) River Amoltepec church Platform with 2 rulers Atepetls (ethnic-based political entities) River How do you translate this into European cartographic standards/ An indigenous visual vocabulary; Amoltepec Is a community embedded in historical, Kinship, environmental networks.

Huejotzingo puebla 1591 Stone fence Road to the city of Pueblo, footprints and hoof prints Surrounded by milpas Ravine Water source Property lines

Pintura of Huaxtepeque Aztec glyph of hill

Present day Hidalgo, MX Notice: perspectives plants and animals no Spanish text

Guamán Poma de Ayala 1200 pages; 398 illustrations Written for the Spanish Crown to chronicle the Incan History and the colonial experience

Guamán Poma’s map of the world Looks east toward Paradise. Cuzco at center Divides world into 4 quadrants: 4 suyos of Incan empire; each with Coat of Arms and 2 rulers Divisions of High and Low Right: nobility, dominance Left: barbarians, hostile Lower: amoral, lazy, corrupt, rich (Spanish are placed here) Other quarter is extremely poor Connects spatial distribution and social organization

Bartolomé de las Casas A wealthy Spaniard Went to Cuba in 1502 and 1506 as soldier with slaves; participated in overthrow of Cuban native peoples Changed his stance Was ordained in New World in 1512 and preached against the genocide in the Americas Many writings about Columbus and his voyages and behavior of Spanish and Indians Eye-witness accounts of Spanish cruelty toward Indians

Codices Recorded on long strips of bark or plant fiber Written in text by pre-Columbian professional scribes working for various deities Maya codices (Named for cities where they ended up) Dresden codex Madrid codex Paris codex Michael Coe: “Our knowledge of ancient Maya thought must represent only a tiny fraction of the whole picture, for of the thousands of books in which the full extent of their learning and ritual was recorded, only four have survived to modern times (as though all that posterity knew of ourselves were to be based upon three prayer books and Pilgrim's Progress). Aztec codices

Dresden codex Most preserved of the Maya codices On bark of fig trees 78 pages Maya had hieroglyphic text, complicated calendar, sophisticated observations of astronomy, detailed cosmology

Maya region 1800 B.C. – 1500 AD Written language Art Architecture Calendar Astronomy One of the most densely populated and culturally sophisticated societies of its time

Many, many of these books in Yucatan at time of Spanish conquest 16th Century Virtually all destroyed upon orders of Bishop Diego de Landa "We found a large number of books in these characters and, as they contained nothing in which were not to be seen as superstition and lies of the devil, we burned them all, which they regretted to an amazing degree, and which caused them much affliction."

Aztecs (12th Century until Spanish invasion) Allied but ethnically different city states Seven tribes Controlled valley of Mexico and much of central America Triple Alliance, dominated most of Mexico (1430 – 1521) : Mextica of Tenochtitlan Acolhua of Texcoco Tepaneca of Tlacopan

Many Aztec codices Some recorded before Spanish arrived; some during colonial times

Imperial Societies that dominated Triple Alliance (Aztecs) (12th Century – Spanish invasion) Maya (2000 BC – Spanish inv.; height 250-900AD) Incas (13th Century – Spanish) Olmec (1200 – 400 BC) Toltec (900? AD – 13th Century “The pre-Columbian period witnessed the passing of numerous ‘civilizations’ with complex systems of territorial-administrative functions founded upon the subordination and disintegration of other social groups within their extensive imperial territories”.

Pre-hispanic Economies Food production Immediate consumption Short-term storage Barter/exchange economies Shells, feathers, obsidian, metal, coca, cacao, cotton Sometimes elaborate (Incas) Taxes as tribute (labor) No capital accumulation

Ricci’s map