During the sixteenth century, the Spanish invasion of North America involved exploration seeking new riches (gold and slaves), the establishment of a few colonies to govern Indian nations, and missions to convert the Indians to Catholicism.In 1595, Juan de Oñate (1550-1626) was selected to organize the territory which would later become New Mexico. Oñate was to explore and colonize the new lands for the Spanish.
Juan de Oñate was born in the Americas: Zacatecas, New Spain (now Mexico). His father was a Spanish Basque, and his mother was descended from converos (Jews who had converted to Christianity).
After some delays, in 1598 Juan de Oñate led a large colonizing party—129 soldiers and their families, 15 Franciscan missionaries, 83 wagons, 7,000 cattle, sheep, and goats—into New Mexico and established a colony at San Juan in the upper Rio Grande valley. The Spanish brought with them about 1,500 head of horses and mules: 1007 horses, 237 mares, 137 colts, and 91 mules.
Meeting with leaders from 30 pueblos, Oñate took formal possession of New Mexico for the Spanish Crown and ignored any possible Indian ownership of the land. In his book Pages from Hopi History, Harry James writes:
“Without any consideration of the Indians living in the area, he took possession of their lands in the name of the King of Spain and for the benefit of any of the Spanish colonists with him who might want to exploit them.”
Religion professor Henry Bowden, in his book American Indians and Christian Missions: Studies in Cultural Conflict, puts it this way:
“The intruders had no misgivings about their right to dominate local affairs or to enforce a new life-style on the natives. As conquerors, they justified themselves by claiming the right of discovery and by offering the benefits that accrued to Christian belief and political vassalage.”
In his book Southwestern Indian Tribes, Tom Bahti writes:
“Whether they fully understood that the Spaniards were claiming their land is not known, but Oñate accepted the idea that he had received pledges of allegiance to both the Crown and the Church from all those assembled.”
In his 1910 book Documentary History of the Rio Grande Pueblos of New Mexico, archaeologist Adolph Bandelier writes:
“Oñate already enjoyed the advantage of interpreters in at least one New Mexican Indian tongue, but the meetings or councils during which the ‘acts of obedience’ were written were not always at places where his interpreters understood the language of the people they were among. These scribes faithfully recorded the names of pueblos as they heard them, and sometimes in several names, each in a different language for the same village, hence the number of pueblos recorded is considerably larger than it actually was.”
The Spanish warned the Pueblo leaders that they must accept baptism and instruction in Christian doctrine. If they failed to do this, then the Spanish would inflict physical punishment upon them, and they would suffer the eternal torment of hell afterwards.
The Spanish colonists were granted land and were empowered to demand tribute from the Indians.
The first Spanish capital was established at San Juan Pueblo. In his book Intruders Within: Pueblo Resistance to Spanish Rule and the Revolt of 1680, Louis Baldwin reports:
“He told them that because the villagers were now subjects of His Most Christian Majesty, they must obey his commands or be severely punished. His first command was that they must immediately evacuate their homes in favor of the colonial horde that was soon to arrive and establish a colony.”
Oñate also told the villagers that they must leave their personal belongings behind so that the colonists could use them. The Indians responded by abandoning their houses and resettling on the east bank of the Rio Grande. This began nearly a century of oppressive Spanish rule.
As the Spanish colonial governor, Juan de Oñate, divided the territory—nearly 90,000 square miles—into 7 ecclesiastical districts based on language groupings. Each district included several villages and a friar was assigned to each.
The Spanish had each village appoint a Native governor who was to act as a liaison and to enforce the official Spanish regulations. Louis Baldwin reports:
“The villagers would be permitted to govern themselves except when overruled by their overseers’ demands, needs, desires, impulses, and whims.”
The fifteen Franciscan missionaries who had accompanied Oñate began to convert the Indians. In an article in American Antiquity, Katherine Spielmann, Jeannette Mobley-Tanaka, and James Potter report:
“Regardless of where they were stationed, Franciscan missionaries sought to replace Pueblo religious beliefs with Catholicism, and to undermine the influence of Pueblo religious leaders. Indians were punished for failing to attend services and for participation in native ceremonies.”
When the Spanish began to build their new town of San Gabriel, they conscripted 1,500 Pueblo laborers to build a ditch from the river to the town. The Indians were also required to build a church.
At Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, Oñate officiated over the Act of Obedience and Vassalage that was the Spanish instrument of authority over the Zunis. The Indians were told that the Spanish had come to bring them knowledge of God and the Spanish King, on which depended the salvation of their souls and the continuation of the security of their homes. According to the official proceedings:
“Wherefore they should know that there is only one God, creator of heaven and earth, rewarder of the good, whom He takes to heaven, and punisher of the wicked, whom He sends to hell. This God and lord of all had two servants here on earth through whom He governed.”
The Zunis were told that the world was ruled by the Pope and by the Spanish King, who was described as:
“…sole defender of the church, king of Spain and the Indies.”
At Acoma Pueblos, the Spanish attempted to obtain food, but the Acomas, who needed their stored food to survive the winter, refused. Subsequently, 11 Spanish were killed and Juan de Oñate ordered the Pueblo to be destroyed.
In Arizona, a part of New Mexico at the time, Oñate demanded that the Hopis give formal submission to the King of Spain. The Hopis superficially obeyed, hoping for a hasty departure of the Spanish troops.
More Spanish colonial histories
History 101: The Coronado Expedition to the Southwest
Indians 101: Acoma Pueblo and the Spanish, 1539-1599
Indians 101: The Zuni and the Spanish in the 16th Century
Indians 201: Southwestern Indians and Fray Marcos de Niza
Indians 101: The Spanish and the Southeastern Indian nations 500 years ago, 1521
Indians 101: American Indians and Spanish explorers 500 years ago, 1525
Indians 101: The Calusa Indians and Spanish missionaries in 1549
Indians 201: Florida Indians and the Spanish, 1513 to 1527
