1,133 Matching Annotations
  1. Sep 2015
    1. e told the natives that we were going in search of that people, to order them not to kill nor make slaves of them, nor take them from their lands, nor do other injustice. Of this the Indians were very glad.

      Hmmm...is that really why they are looking for the other Spaniards?

    2. certain men who wore beards like us, had come from heaven and arrived at that river; bringing horses, lances, and swords, and that they had lanced two Indians

      Interesting characterization of the "heavenly."

    1. we knew not how to construct, nor were there tools, nor iron, nor forge, nor tow, nor resin, nor rigging; finally, no one thing of so many that are necessary, nor any man who had a knowledge of their manufacture;

      Basically, there is no infrastructure to build what they need, and these gentlemen have no survival skills...or skills at all...

    1. for whom the good armor they wore did not avail. There were those this day who swore that they had seen two red oaks, each the thickness of the lower part of the leg, pierced through from side to side by arrows

      Interesting characterization of the Indians' weaponry as advanced/effective.

    1. I have written this with much exactness ; and although in it may be read things very novel and for some persons difficult to believe, nevertheless they may without hesitation credit me as strictly faithful. Better than to exaggerate, I have lessened in all things,

      Appeal to truth, but also an acknowledgment of the drama of the story....

    2. that if at any time God our Lord should will to bring me where I now am, it might testify to my exertion in the royal behalf.

      Recasts his journey's value as inhering in the information he can supply back to the crown.

    1. I saw some with scars of wounds upon their bodies, and demanded by signs the of them; they answered me in the same way, that there came people from the other islands in the neighborhood who endeavored to make prisoners of them, and they defended themselves. I thought then,

      "... marvelous! They'll be my prisoners instead."

    2. but the true one which he kept to himself was seven hundred and seven leagues.

      So what happens when everyone finds out? Why not just be honest, considering that they're going 20ish leagues a day?

    3. the inhabitants on discovering us abandoned their houses, and took to flight, carrying of their goods to the mountain.

      smart people!

    4. penetrate

      not a good enough reason to use the word "penetrate"

    5. This is so beautiful a place

      he repeatedly mentions the beauty of the place, but refuses to just appreciate the beauty of the land and its people for what they are. he has to take it, own it, and change it.

    6. The Indians on board the ships called this island Saomete. I named it Isabela.

      completely disrespects the name that the Natives have given the island

    7. .

      How are you so sure?

    8. seemed to take great pleasure in serving us.

      because they don't know how evil they are yet

    9. It appeared to them that we were honest people

      appearances can be deceiving!

    10. where I gave it the name of Santa Maria de la Concepcion

      okay, so he's just making up his own names for places

    11. San Salvador

      from where? did he just make up a Spanish name for the places he is "discovering"?

    12. I could conquer the whole of them with fifty men, and govern them as I pleased.

      Wow...bold statement.

    13. this is a cool sight

    14. if they had any gold

      greedy

    15. wrought in a wonderful manner considering the country

      already speaking as if he is above/better than the native people

    16. Can you blame them?

    17. This is such a cool image/flashback

    18. Good signs

    19. The Admiral is never satisfied

    20. .

      Finally!!

    21. More voyage? I would be sad

    22. that's straight misery

    23. .

      Why didn't he make it?

    24. Seems rare that it was sabotage while they were also on board

    25. Subtle way to say forcing them into your religion?

    26. I feel like the narrator thinks their religion is the only way. I feel like they are preaching

    27. and would be good servants and I am of opinion that they would very readily become Christians, as they appear to have no religion

      how does he gather all this information? just by looking at them?

    28. Weapons they have none

      none that you know of. no European weapons.

    29. coarse like that of a horse’s tail

      already comparing them to animals

    30. that he before all others took possession (as in fact he did) of that island for the King and Queen his sovereigns, making the requisite declarations, which are more at large set down here in writing.

      he claims the piece of land before even stepping foot on said land? hmm...

    31. At two o’clock in the morning the land was discovered, at two leagues’ distance;

      finally!

    32. a piece of cane

      sugar cane?

    33. for the Admiral had given orders to that effect.

      so much lying about seeing land! or are they hallucinating?

    34. the needles

      by needles he means compass, right?

    35. Those on board the Nina ascended the rigging, and all declared they saw land. The Admiral also thought it was land,

      the power of suggestion!

    36. demanded of the Admiral a reward for his intelligence.

      seems a bit greedy...

    37. Part of the day saw no weeds, afterwards great plenty of it.

      exciting!

    38. Saw a whale, an indication of land, as they always keep near the coast.

      Do whales keep to the coast?

    39. Here the pilots found their places upon the chart: the reckoning of the Nina made her four hundred and forty leagues distant from the Canaries, that of the Pinta four hundred and twenty, that of the Admiral four hundred.

      how are the three ships communicating with each other if they are this far apart?

    40. the seamen were terrified

      why?

    41. saw a large fragment of the mast of a vessel

      that can't be a good sign

    42. that the crew might not be dismayed if the voyage should prove long.

      did they not know that the plan was to sail around the world before departing?

    43. which he affirmed he saw every year, and always of the same appearance

      well yeah...land doesn't move(at least not very quickly)

    44. perpetual Viceroy and Governor in all the islands and continents which I might discover and acquire, or which may hereafter he discovered and acquired in the ocean; and that this dignity should be inherited by my eldest son, and thus descend from degree to degree forever

      that's a lot of power...could go to someone's head...

    45. countries of India

      that's what you think!

    46. the holy Father had never granted his request, whereby great numbers of people were lost, believing in idolatry and doctrines of perdition

      conflicts over religion led to many deaths of those who weren't followers of the "right" religion

    47. Reckoned only forty-eight leagues, that the men might not be terrified if they should be long upon the voyage.

      Interesting, to lead in a way that tells the men it won't be scared of a longer voyage. But how long did they really think it would be? How much supplies did they bring? For how long?

    48. iceroy and Governor in all the islands and continents which I might discover and acquire, or which may hereafter he discovered and acquired in the ocean; and that this dignity should be inherited by my eldest son, and thus descend from degree to degree forever.

      sounds like he is pretty excited to be in such a position of power

    49. disposition and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith;

      Columbus was playing missionary?

    1. extreme of blackness

      what is "extreme blackness" to him? he's lived his whole life with pretty much whit europeans

    2. that I have come to another conclusion respecting the Earth

      what authority does he have to say this? I mean, come on.

    3. form of a pear

      wow, this is a stretch of the imagination, at least so it would seem. I'm sure he had his reasons for this hypothesis, but it's hard to imagine

    1. came to this country to have my mother baptized as a Catholic.

      how did he know about baptisms? sheer coincidence that both races had come up with this ritual?

    2. he people had never seen a canoe before. They came flocking down to look at it.

      it would seem they were more technically advanced!

    3. Interesting dynamic of animals in these stories

    4. Random boy?

    5. Since that time white men have come to America.

      How does it change the story of European colonization and genocide if it is recast this way?

    6. He wished to have his mother christened. It was done. They called her Molly. 

      Hmm. Ok, so why does he want his mother Christened? To understand this, I think we need to understand the history of the tribe, paticularly at the time that this story is being written down.

    7. They put him into a great cannon and fired it off. They looked into the cannon, and there he sat smoking his stone pipe, knocking the ashes out.

      I love this.

    1. would

      wish? I wish I had a husband?

    2. harsh

    3. Virgin Mary story?

    4. .

      God?

    5. Fall of Man

      Ok, but also skeptical about using Christian tropes to define the story...

    6. And since that day the Indians, who should have been great, have become a little people. Truly it would have been wise and well for those of early times if they could have held their tongues.

      So somehow the inability to hold their tongues is involved with them being a "little people?" Confused about how colonialism and genocide figure in...

    7. do ye not know Katahdin by them?

      Ok, so she spills the beans. Is this a grave sin of some kind?

    8. Declare unto these people that they are not to inquire of thee who is the father of thy child;

      Why do you think Katahdin doesn't want anyone to ask, and doesn't want his wife to tell, about the fact that he is the boy's father and her husband?

    1. their religion.

      their religion is a cult by whose definition?

    2. Then I ate this medicine and everything changed.

      holy magic medicine!

    3. one leading to a hole in the earth and the other extending up above.

      heaven & hell?

    4. The coffin will be set before you and then you will see your body.

      a near-death experience that gives you a new perspective on life

    5. Bring whatever desires you possess along with you and then come and eat or drink this medicine. This is life, the only life. Then you will learn something about yourself, so come.

      he's preaching

    6. It is a cure for all evil.

      do they basically worship this "medicine"?

    7. ill

      he is using "ill" for being physically, mentally, and spiritually unwell

    8. now for the first time one was cured.

      he's becoming a kind of religious healer

    9. Indian doctors and then I tried all of the white man’s medicines,

      if he isn't white, why is he referring to Nat. Am. as Indians? Does he mean actual Indians from India?

    10. Winnebagoes

      his people

    11. “If I take this road I am likely to meet some people, but if I take the other road, I am not likely to meet anyone.”

      for some reason this line reminds me of "The Road Not Taken"

    12. “If I take this road I am likely to meet some people, but if I take the other road, I am not likely to meet anyone.”

      for some reason this line reminds me of "The Road Not Taken"

    13. “Let us eat peyote again to-night.”

      he's hooked!

    14. I saw a man with horns and long claws and with a spear in his hand.

      the devil?

    15. “All right, I’ll do it.”

      didn't take much convincing

    16. If only some of my own people were here!

      own people? His name is John, so is he white?

    17. the younger members who have been strongly permeated with Christian teachings translate the prayer into, “God, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”

      interesting that Christian influences literally changed the meaning of the words of the Peyote baptism to its younger members

    18. by John Rave

      the leader

    19. parts of the Bible

      Does the Peyote religion have ties to Christianity?

    20. asking forgiveness

      forgiveness for what? their "sins"?

    21. member of the cult

      why is it considered a cult?

    22. Christmas

      was Christmas a significant holiday/day for the Peyote?

    23. The medicine had accomplished this.

      odd. it seems that the medicine did not cure him. I think the medicine is covering the issue, pushing secretly into a dark corner. So long as he has the medicine, he is okay. What would happen if he were to stop taking it?

    24. She knew that I used it, but nevertheless she was afraid of it

      she must know that there is something questionable about it. If her own husband not only recommended it, but also had experience with it healing him, and she was still afraid, she must know its bad stuff.

    25. Let us eat peyote again to-night.” That evening I ate eight peyote.

      Strange, he just did a complete 180. why isn't he using his head?

    26. I'm not sure how to feel after reading this. Try peyote?

    27. I have harmed myself

      does the leader have mixed feelings about what he leads?

    28. regalia

      the emblems or insignia of royalty, especially the crown, scepter, and other ornaments used at a coronation.

    29. Mount Sinai

      interesting, this is where the ten commandments were given to Moses

    30. This seems like a miracle drug? why is it illegal?

    31. Why is he complaining? He's clearly already out of his element. Nobody put a gun to his head to take the peyote either. That calling out for his "people" line irritated me

    32. Are they asking "spirits" for forgiveness? Or their peers?

    33. rule

      Why were the meetings only held in December and July?

    34. peyote

      is a small, spineless cactus with psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline.

    35. peyote

      So it is a hallucinogenic drug prepared by the Native Americans.

    36. The four other principal participants changed from meeting to meeting

      Hmm, so to keep everyone involved while also measuring devotion?

    37. ceremonies

      So every six months or so they had more meetings than once a week, but in some years the meetings around Christmas lost popularity? Why is this? The introduction of other religions?

    38. This is life, the only life.
    1. the dreams seem a little more subtle as opposed to disease

    2. this reminds me of the peyote story

    3. tribe

      this is all comical to me

    4. colonization?

    5. rheumatism

      any disease marked by inflammation and pain in the joints, muscles, or fibrous tissue, especially rheumatoid arthritis.

    6. proper remedy.

      Always intrigued by how these stories don't work out in the way that we are accustomed, with no final moral, no full explanation of the metaphor, no tying up of threads...

    7. beginning to be cramped for room.

      A metaphor for colonization by the Europeans?

    1. AN ONONDAGA VERSION

      I wasn't able to get through the entire thing but I chose this because it shows us how five of the smartest Native American tribes viewed the world through a narrative. It is important to understand both where traditions come from and how they are explained. It is also used as a way to explain things we do not understand such as heaven, god, and the thoughts of animals. It shows us how they believe everything is alive and why.

    2. Tooth as to kind, pulled up, in order that the earth be torn open,

      So it seems she removed tooth and the animals poured out of it onto Earth?

    3. let man-beings go here on the earth

      So a marriage between gods daughter and the guardian of Earth is what caused humans to go from heaven to Earth. Something like that.

    4. And at that time she at once went to the place where lay the burial-case of her dead father, and now, moreover, she again climbed up there.

      I finally figured it out. There is Earth, "Heaven", and the high place is even above Heaven. This place above heaven is god and where he resides.

    5. Now again, as she traveled, she heard a man-being talking, saying: "Come, do thou stand." She did not stand. It was Aurora Borealis who was talking to her.

      Why do external forces keep trying to stop her? How does she keep going and why?

    6. Thou wilt see there, moreover, a lodge standing not far away. And there beside the lodge stands the tree that is called Tooth. a Moreover, the blossoms this standing tree bears cause that world to be light, making it light for the man-beings dwelling there.

      The tree bears that cause the world to be light shows how these five tribes viewed everything to be powerful and alive. Is another lodge almost like another universe or place. Did she leave "heaven" and go to Earth?

    7. Aurora Borealis i

      Another example of how they believed that everything was essential a human like being. At least they could posses human like qualities.

    8. Customarily one who lives in the lodge of her spouse works.'

      This could explain some of the ways that the roles of women came from, or at least a way they were justified.

    9. THE MANNER IN WHICH IT ESTABLISHED ITSELF, IN WHICH IT FORMED ITSELF, IN WHICH, IN ANCIENT TIME, IT CAME ABOUT THAT THE EARTH BECAME EXTANT

      I chose this reading because it was written by a chief of one of the five or six Iroquois tribes that were more sophisticated and spiritual than the surrounding tribes. It talks about the formation of Earth, man, and important traditions.

    10. Man-beings dwell in the sky, on the farther side of the visible sky [the ground separating this from the world above it].

      So it was an early belief passed down generation to generation that a place existed in the sky where man like beings lived. Gods? Heaven?

    11. In the end of the lodge there was a doorway. On the one side of it the woman-being abode, and on the other side of it the man-being abode.

      In this "perfect" world man and woman lived together yet apart?

    12. Ye must make a burial-case. When ye finish the task of making it, then, moreover, ye must place my body therein, and, moreover, ye must lay it up in a high place."

      This and the rest of the paragraph seems to explain how humans adopted burial traditions. It also most likely marks an upcoming change.

    13. armle

      bracelet of sorts.

    1. Fort Wingate, the largest military post in the Southwest, is situated some three miles south of the line of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, and not many miles from the Arizona border. Department head-quarters are situated here, and a garrison of nine companies, mostly of the Sixth United States Cavalry, and one company of Indian scouts is constantly maintained. This large force is considered necessary to guard against any possible outbreak of the Navajo Indians, who roam over an extensive reservation, embracing nearly twenty thousand square miles of territory in northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona.

      I'm already starting to side with the Navajo because who claimed that American people owned any land.