Latin America: A Survey of History and Culture – Fall 2021

41 thoughts on “The Broken Spears”

  1. By Alvin Liu:
    Notes on The Broken Spear video:
    -We had no records on what happened to the indigenious people written by indigenious people since the arrival of Columbus and the mid 20th Century.
    -Histories written by the victors.
    -Miguel spent several years going through documents left by the Nahua people and found out that there is more information about the conquest of the Americas than what was originally thought of.
    -Indigenous people are portrayed as cultureness and bland.
    -Miguel’s book was an instant best seller in the hispanic world.
    -Created discussions and debates on the accounts of colonialism and who told these stories.
    -WWII left many European powers weakened and helped start the decolonization process.
    -Revolutionary movements started to happen in British and French colonies in Africa and Middle East.
    -Nationalism was a way for the colonized to fight back against their colonizers.
    -The colonized challenged that the European views were super ripe to their own native beliefs.
    -Some people challenged Miguel’s writing as inaccurate because suddenly after 500 years these texts just happened to appear. However, even from Spanish sources there were accounts that the indigenous people did have a written language.
    -These texts might’ve appeared out of nowhere because there was a person who was actively searching for them.

    After watching the lecture, I have some newfound respect for Miguel because I couldn’t imagine wasting 3 hours looking and reading historical texts. However, Miguel spent years doing that but I guess it was for a good cause because his book gave us one of the few perspectives of the indigenous people. His book must’ve resonated with a lot of people around the world who were sick of being under the thumb of the British and French. They were constantly talked down by the British and French about how they were uncivilized and that they should be grateful that the British and French introduced their culture to them. I also think that during this time, the two major superpowers, the Soviet Union and United States also went anti colonial too which added pressure on the British and French to give up their colonies.

  2. RANDY HUYNH

    The Broken Spears Notes 9/19/21

    -Broken Spears, published 1959. Seen as controversial text that stimulated debate all over the world
    -From 1492 to the mid 20th Century we were reliant on Spanish sources which skewed history to the Spanish perspective rather than the indigenous views.
    -Again, recurring theme of conquerors obliterating accounts of indigenous culture which led to the lack of knowledge surrounding those cultures.
    -The author of Broken Spears, Miguel León-Portilla was a professor of Nahua studies at the University of Mexico. He spent time browsing through historical documents left by the Nahua people.
    -Spanish history portrayed the conquest as not only a military defeat but a cultural defeat as well. silent, cultureless, religionless, illiterate were ways to describe indigenous culture from the Spanish point of view.
    -When Spaniards came to the Americas, they won that battle because of cultural and spiritual superiority. That was the general idea of the conquest from Spanish narrative
    -Miguel’s book, Broken Spears became a point of reference for many discussions revolving around the Conquest and the book was a bestseller.
    -Cuba was the first island that the Spaniards took over and built settlements
    -Nationalism: seen as a progressive idea back then during the period after WWII. It was how people living in colonies rebelled against their colonizers and strove for independence. It was the ideology that gave natives the confidence required.
    -Enlightenment Movement

    -There were also arguments against León Portilla’s book. Some people questioned the authenticity of the written accounts used in his book.

    Reading an excerpt from Broken Spears I can already see a little bit of where the controversy comes into play. Already from the first few pages we see references to Aztec religion and culture. Their gods are mentioned, their foods, dresses and even titles are given right off the bat. Religion also happens to play a big role in Montecuhzoma’s actions, with his belief of Cortés being Quetzacoatl and meeting the conquerors with a sense of worshipping. With the Spaniard’s narrative of the conquest so deeply embedded into western perspective, the book can be seen as contradictory towards the cultural defeat narrative that was brought into the world by the Spaniards. Portilla portrays the Aztecs as people with rich culture and religion, and that itself is an argument against this cultural defeat. They had rites and rituals as well as priests. Portilla seems to note that the Aztecs were at a technological disadvantage, leading to the military defeat but as a religious defeat? Not so sure now.

    1. By Alvin Liu:
      Completely agree with you Randy! It is easy to say that your culture and civilization is superior when you have horses, cannons, and muskets when the Aztecs didn’t. Portilla’s book basically meant that even though the Aztec and Inca empires are all gone, their history was still preserved to this day. The European conquerors seems to not be able to completely eradicate the cultures of the indigenous people.

  3. Omar Malik

    Notes:

    -Spaniards had cultural and spiritual superiority as well as better experience with more advanced weapons that helped them conquer the Aztec Empire
    -Conquerors destroyed all accounts of the conquered people
    -The author of “The Broken Spears” actually took time and effort to find all the information he could to write this work and it’s safe to say he was extremely diligent for doing so, due to accounts having been destroyed
    -However, written accounts were found about the conquest by the indigenous people of what is modern day Mexico
    -“The Broken Spears” became a popular book
    -World War || ended the history colonialism after having severely impacted all the participants in the war which had extreme economic effects with many casualties
    -Nationalism helped with countries’ defense, due to self pride and more motivation to protect their land
    -European supremacy played a role in fights involving them
    -Despite being a popular book, many people questioned the factual accuracy of “The Broken Spears”
    -Spaniards themselves found out the ones they conquered had their own type of written culture, which was shown in the accounts, and this fact opposed those who thought of “The Broken Spears” as a book that lacked factual accuracy
    -Africa and The Middle East soon were impacted by European influence

    Comments:

    I really liked the fact the author of “The Broken Spears” decided to spend a lot of time just to make a public work to inform us about the Spaniards conquering the Aztec Empire. It must’ve taken a lot of time, considering accounts by the indigenous people were seriously hard to find. I respect the fact the author immediately challenged the views of those who opposed his book when it came to being accurate because that shows confidence and in this case, confidence regarding a work that talks about an extremely significant historical mindset.

    I liked how this video connected World War || to “The Broken Spears” because both are about the mindset regarding European supremacy. “The Broken Spears” shows us the indigenous perspective and, if the reader is really into it, gives us a feeling of trepidation as if we were in their shoes. Despite being about a pretty intimidating situation, it’s important to know these types of events were common back then and how these events have shaped the future after they occurred.

    1. Hi Omar, I have to say I strongly agree with your comments. Being a historian is just one of those jobs that people don’t appreciate you for. The author of “The Broken Spears” probably spent years connecting all of the broken pieces together because he wants to set history straight instead of doing it for money or personal gain. Learning how much effort the author had to create the book really made me appreciate history and historians as a whole even more.

  4. – Native perspectives on the Spanish conquest of the New World have been obliterated. Many accounts were through the Spanish perspective
    – The text that we read was pieced together through many scattered documents
    – The Spanish portrayed the Natives as godless, cultural less, and overall dumb
    – The book became very popular around the world, especially in countries that have been colonized in the past
    – WW2 ended the colonial empires
    – Nationalism, an idea brought out by the enlightenment, spread everywhere and people started to demand independence
    – The world back then was extremely euro-centric. Everyone viewed European beliefs as the standard
    – This book, however, helped change that.

    Comments: Due to some bad reasoning, many people believed that the lack of “documents” made by the natives (which, in reality, were destroyed by the invasion) led people to believe that the natives didn’t have robust culture at all. This, and the combined belief of European supremacy, really made the world Eurocentric back then and even today to some extent. Nowadays, many things are viewed from a European point of view, whether we know it or not. This, along with many other reasons is why I believe preserving culture is important.

  6. Notes on video:

    It has been a controversial text since 1959. It is an “earthquake” in studies involving native America and the conquest.
    There was no account of what happened to the indigenous people Columbus took over that was written BY the indigenous people. Until the mid 20th century we relied almost fully on Spanish sources. They tell you one side of the story, history is written by the winners. How history is written correlates to how it is perceived.
    The Native Americans on the receiving end of the conquest did not speak in a language that the Europeans could understand.
    Until the mid-50s when Miguel de Portilla went through the archives that were left by the Nahua people (circa 16th century), he discovered there was much more than what we thought. There were written accounts written by indigenous people from Mexico seven years after it was taken over by Spaniards.
    Everyone assumed that they knew the truth of the conquest, but they only knew it from the Spaniards. The accounts from the natives describe a cultural and spiritual defeat. Before they were portrayed as silent and cultureless, with no religion and no worldview. The Europeans made it seem like they were a god-sent for the indigenous people.
    The Europeans were viewed that they had a cultural and spiritual superiority, so the native people accepted it.
    They sold hundreds of thousands of copies of this text. For Portilla, his main focus was the conquest in Mexico, but the book took on a life of its own and became a document for all the invaded people of the world that had their lands colonized. The narratives about colonialism are formed by those who win.
    It came out the same year as the Cuban revolution. Cuba was the first island that they took over and built settlements. This makes the publication symbolic.
    As a result of WWII, Europe was left devastated. This conflict ended colonialism since these countries were hurt and couldn’t maintain their colonies.
    Intellectuals from the 50s wrote about nationalism, which can be seen today as a regressive term, but back then it was very progressive. It gave people the driving force to push colonizers out of their land.
    The ideas the Europeans sought to engrain in other cultures, which came from the enlightenment, were seen as superior. Europeans took it upon themselves to convert people to their religion, Christianity, and ideologies.
    Empowerment meant returning to a culture’s roots. This is the context the book emerged in.
    This book totally reversed the course of history and told a whole different story about what happened when the Americas were colonized.
    The people who questioned the veracity of this text: said there was no written document found by Native Americans up to that point, hence why it was assumed there was no written culture. It didn’t make sense that after hundreds of years written documents appeared. If you go back to the letters that the Spainards wrote, they talked about the written cultures of the people they conquered. This is proven in a letter from a man named Pedro, who wrote about how good of writers the indigenous people were. Another Spaniard talked about how the Native Americans had grammar books.

    Personal Comments:

    I find it both interesting and comforting that even after hundreds of years, we were able to find out different perspectives of a huge part of history. There is always more to be studied and always more than one perspective. I give Portilla a lot of credit for wanting to showcase the other side of the Spaniard’s conquest and overcoming the doubts he faced. It plays towards the emotions of the reader since the indigenous people are no longer to be viewed as an uneducated culture, with no religion or valuable traditions. They lost they faced cultural and spiritual defeat, which makes the Spainards more villainous than victorious. I also found it interesting how World War II fit into the equation of this lecture since it put an end to Europe’s colonialism. All history is connected. In conclusion, we can not take back the damage done to Native American culture, but we can venerate it now and allow it to not be forgotten moving forward. Studying all versions of history allows it to not be repeated.

  7. Anabel Fernandez

    -Since Columbus arrived in America in 1492 all the way to the middle of the 20th century, we didn’t really have an account of what happened to the indigenous people of the Americas.
    -Another side of the conflict (native Americans who were on receiving end of the invasion didn’t speak European languages nor spoke or recognized other languages in the world at the time
    – Their accounts were thoroughly obliterated and therefore we assumed we didn’t know much about them.
    – Until the mid-50s when Miguel León-Portilla (professor of Nahua studies at National University of Mexico) went through the archive of Nahua people and found an account written in 1528 by indigenous people of Mexico.
    – His published document changed the outlook of The Conquest.
    – The document became a reference for all colonized people.
    -Coincidence that Portilla published this book in 1959: the year the Cuban revolution was carried out and Fidel Castro came to power.

    I believe that historians attempting to preserve history should not have been exclusively reliant on Spanish sources. They should not have accepted the European tales to be facts and should have tried to prove this on their own. When a country is invaded, the victors write the story and shape how the period is perceived by the people who come after them. The colonizers will tell the story in a way that makes them sound like heroes instead of the invaders they are. This was exactly the case in the conquest. Spaniards unsurprisingly not only wrote of their military conquest and defeat but of cultural and spiritual defeat. They portrayed the indigenous people as silent and cultureless; with no religion or literary culture or even an understanding of it. Native Americans allegedly received the Spaniard’s Christianity as a godsend. This implies that Native Americans needed the Spaniards and that the conquest was not hurting the Native Americans but benefiting them. The Natives were in desperate need of guidance and direction from the Spaniards. In contrast, we have seen that this is untrue because they had a religion, literary cultures, and even grammatical books for their language. The indigenous people were not the passive savages they were made out to be by the Spaniards. They would have lived happier lives if not for the Spaniard’s belief that their culture ought to be forced upon others who do not hold their same ideal.

  8. By Alan Tupac

    Notes:

    -Before we had the text, we did not have any account of what happened to the indigenous people of the Americas written by the natives.
    -From 1492 to the mid 20th century we were almost exclusively reliant on Spanish sources about what happened to the natives.
    -The Spanish sources were one-sided and didn’t explain the full grasp of what happened to the natives because the victors wrote it and due to the victors shaping their account of history to whatever pleases them, we couldn’t get an accurate description of what truly happened to the natives during Spanish colonization.
    -Indigenous accounts of the Spanish invasion were so thoroughly obliterated by the Spanish that we thought for a very long time that we did not know of them or their culture, until the mid-50s.
    -Miguel Leon Portilla went through the archives of the University of Mexico City and spent several years going through every piece of document that remained from the Nahuatl peoples and he found out that’s there’s much more than what was assumed, including written accounts of what happened during the conquest of Mexico written in 1528 by the indigenous people.
    -The book that Miguel wrote was a combination of documents stretching from 1528 to the 1550s.
    -When he published his book in 1959 there was a sudden historical story that everyone had assumed they knew about the true story of the conquest.
    -The Spanish describe the natives as silent, illiterate, weak, cultureless, and nonreligious.
    -The book provoked all kinds of discussions about the history of colonialism and how the narratives of colonialism are formed.
    -Due to WWII much of the European superpowers that dominated the world with their colonies were weakened and left economically broke and this ended the history of colonialism and allowed countries in Africa and the Middle East to gain their independence.
    -The Europeans made it their mission to spread their ideology to the rest of the world because they believed that their thoughts and ideas were superior to those of other nationalities.
    -The idea of returning to your roots is what brought back attention to indigenous languages, culture, practices, and religion.
    -Because there were no indigenous written texts found, people assumed that the indigenous natives of the Americas had no written culture.

    Comments:

    After watching the video I was surprised to hear that there were indigenous texts left behind because I thought that the Spanish destroyed them all but they didn’t mama he to destroy everything. I was also shocked to read that the Aztec people at that time were interviewed during the 1500s to talk about their experience and their perspective on the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In addition, I was also surprised to hear the book Broken Spears left such a big impact on the world during the late 1950s and helped push nationalism and independence in places that were still colonies of European powers. Lastly, I was glad to hear that there was a resurgence of interest in ancient civilizations of the Americas during the 1950s because it’s important to know about the history that occurred in our world before we existed so we could stop repeating mistakes that occurred before.

  9. Hymie Israel

    Notes:
    -Before Broken Spears we never had an account of what had happened to the indigenous people by the indigenous people
    -Most of history is written by the victors and they get to write the story how they want it to be perceived
    -Miguel Leon Portilla had to gather up any scraps he could find to piece together the story of the Nahuwa people. He had found an account written seven years after the fall of their capital
    -The story that the Spaniards had told was that the natives were cultureless, illiterate, and without worldview. They portrayed it like they were their saviors giving them meaning and purpose by introducing them to Christianity
    -When Miguel’s book was published it spread like wildfire
    -The ideology of nationalism gave the colonized the confidence to drive the colonizers out of their land during World War II
    -People questioned the reliability of the documents that Portilla used because suddenly 500 years later something popped up and it was assumed that they must have had a oral culture which is why nothing was found. It was proven that they did in fact have a written culture, there was a letter that a Spaniard wrote that said he saw grammar being taught to so that they could learn how to write correctly.

    Comments:
    Why is it that people just assumed and left it to chance that they didn’t have a written culture? Why did no historian do their due diligence to try and search for anything to prove if they did or didn’t have a written culture?
    I wonder what influenced Portilla to work so hard just to find any slight source or text to show the indigenous’ peoples story? What motivated him to want to unearth anything he could about THIS story?
    The fact that this particular event went unopposed for this long makes me wonder how many other events are not how we were told they played out?

  10. Broken Spears (conquest of Mexico)
    -came out in 1959, with a completely different story compared to what they already knew.
    -Until this text we didn’t really know anything on the indigenous people. Everything was from the point of the spanish people, who of course were biased.
    -Their accounts were practically entirely destroyed by the conquerors.
    -In the mid 50’s Miguel Leon Portilla ( responsible for Broken Spears) went through all the documents of the Nahua people of what actually happened during the conquest.
    -Put together many documents to make up “Broken Spears.”
    -People assumed they knew almost everything about the conquest already from the Spaniards point of view.
    -In the Spaniards account the indigenous people were considered dumb and passive people who willingly, quickly accepted Christianity.
    -When the Spaniards came to America they won’t because they had a cultural and spiritual advantage. The indigenous people couldn’t deny anything about it.
    -This was a very popular book when it came out.
    -The book came out the year the Cuban Revolution.
    -Nationalism gave the people motivation to drive the colonizers out of their land.
    -It was assumed that the indigenous people didn’t have a written culture
    because they couldnt find any written documents.
    -However, they did have written culture, it just wasn’t discovered yet.

    The way how conquerors only write about themselves in a good light can be seen all across time. Especially with how you see some cultures completely blocking out a huge part of their history. It’s sad to think that there was a huge chance that people just didn’t try to look for any written accounts of the Nahua people. So i find it impressive that Miguel would take almost 10 years to research about these people. It’s nice that the book finally came out to bring light to the population about what may have actually happened back then.

  11. Stacy Keta
    Notes on The Broken Spears:
    – The text has been controversial since its publishing in 1959.
    – Prior to Portilla’s text, there was no account of what happened to indigenous people actually written by them; reliant on Spanish sources which are one sided. It is typically the victors who voice their side.
    – Portilla spent years reviewing the documents left by the Nahua people and found out a lot of information about what happened during the conquest directly from the Natives. The documents were put together from the mid 1500’s (1528-1550’s primarily).
    – People thought they knew what had happened but the reality was that it was only the Spaniard’s side that they knew.
    – The Natives were portrayed as silent and cultureless. The Europeans made it look like they were “Godsent” and that they not only defeated them military wise, but also cultural and spiritual. The Europeans were viewed as culturally and spiritually superior to the Natives.
    – Portilla initially searched for information on the Conquest in Mexico, but over time it became about more than just that. It became a reference for colonized people of the world and provoked all types of conversations.
    – The book was published at the same time Fidel Castro rose to power (Cuban Revolution). This was the first island that they took over and actually built settlements.
    – After WWII, the history of colonialism had ended due to the damage that was done. It then became more about progressive and nationalist movements by the 50’s. It gave natives confidence to drive colonizers out of their land.
    – Europeans thought it was up to them to convert people to their religion, Christianity, and to enforce their ideas onto them.
    – “Return to the roots” was the goal of the nationalist movements.
    – The book was eye opening for people across the world.
    – People questioned the reliability of the text since there was no written documents found by the natives.
    – They had assumed their culture was orally based and not written, until Portillo.
    – This did not make sense to people, hence the skepticism, but there were also letters from Spaniards that confirmed the existence of written cultures. A man named Pedro, for instance, had written a letter claiming there were good writers amongst the indigenous people.
    – No documents had been found until this time because there were no people actively searching. They had assumed there was nothing to be found.

    Comments:
    Upon reading the text, I was intrigued to know there were primary sources of indigenous people’s cultures to exist, even after hundreds of years. I have a lot of respect for Portilla considering he was able to compose accurate documentation of what had happened. This information had a great impact on many aspects of history so I think it is crucial for it to be studied thoroughly. I felt uneasy with the fact that for a long time, information came from mainly Spanish sources. This is not only inaccurate but it also gives an unfair representation of the Natives, so I am grateful for people like Portilla. There are always two sides of a story and it was about time that the truth came out, as this was a momentous time in history.

    1. Stacy,

      I also agree with you. Huge props to Portilla for not only taking his time to research the hidden voices of the other side of the story- Native Americans- but also spreading awareness and debunking stereotypes of them. It saddens me how people just assumed that indigenous people didn’t have any written accounts so no one tried to look for them and prove Spanish sources.

      -Jennifer

  12. Jennifer Lee’s Broken Spear’s Notes:
    -1959 publications of Broken Spear (controversial) Lack of indigenous people point of view.
    -1492- mid 20th centuries, we were reliant on Spanish sources.
    -Mid 50s- Miguel (person responsible of text) went through the archived documents of Spaniards arrived Mexico and took over. He found conquest written accounts (1528) by indigenous people.
    -Story of conquest was always told by Spaniards. Not only was it a military defeat of indigenous but cultural and spiritual defeats. Indigenous people were portrayed as religion-less, illiterate, dirty and in need of saving (one sided story) Crux of the story- Spanish won battle because of their culture and spiritual superiority so indigenous people embraced it.
    -The book blew up with different languages and finally unfold the other side of the story and colonialism
    -1959 also when Cuban revolution. Cuba was the first island Spaniards took over and built settlements
    -1939-45 was also war where conflict ended history of colonialism.
    -Nationalism currently has a conservative idea but it used to be progressive because it counter colonizers.
    -Issues around the book- people who question the text because people assume no written documents by Native Americans. But written letter accounts from Spaniards talk about the written culture of indigenous people. No one really bother to find out due to the deeply rooted assumptions that there aren’t any documents.
    COMMENTS:
    It amazes me how society sometimes tends to only listen to one side of the story. I understand why the book was controversial because it threatened that one-sided story of the conquest created by the Spaniard and how indigenous people finally have some sort of voice. At first I was skeptical of how reliable this source was because of how story-like the book felt but after the professor explained why it is reliable, I feel reassured that it can be trusted.

    1. Jennifer, I also agree that one-sided stories do not always offer the whole picture. Everyone should always hear both sides of the story before having an opinion about something which is what most history books do not have. Since the victors are always writing the stories, they are biased about what actually happened because the ones on the other side were silenced.

    2. Jennifer,

      When I initially read the text, I also had doubts about the accuracy of it because of the fact that there was little to no hard evidence, so I completely agree. There are always two sides of a story but in history, one side usually gets twisted, so it was interesting reading about the hidden version.

      – Stacy Keta

  13. Amanda Ng

    Notes:

    -Did not have any account of what happened to the indigenous people by the indigenous people (only relied on what the Spanish sources)
    -Victors usually write the accounts of history
    -Records were obliterated
    -An account was written by a Nahua person in 1528, published in 1959
    -The indigenous people were seen as silent, cultureless, illiterate, no world view, not religious, passive
    – Many people started reading the Broken Spears and discussions of it were spreading worldwide
    -World War II loosened the leverage that the colonizers had
    -Nationalism gave the natives confidence and self-righteousness to drive the colonizers out
    -The White Europeans wanted to “europeanize” the rest of the world
    -More people were interested in finding more indigenous records

    Comment: After the video, it is mind-blowing that so many ideas of the indigenous people were just assumed which all turned out to be false. It’s also astonishing that nobody cared enough until many years later to further investigate about them. I am glad that there was someone who spent so much time looking into the historical documents of the indigenous people because his text was the reason that more research was done. Without the publishing of his book, discussions would not have been made sooner, assumptions would still live on, and people would not know the story from the indigenous people’s side. I found it interesting how it related to WWII because both of them are due to eurocentrism. Thanks to Miguel, we now have a better picture of what happened during the conquest and we know more about indigenous culture than before.

  14. -Parneet Kaur
    -The broken spears document was published in 1959. It is a controversial text that has led to many debates and discussion all around the world.
    -Since the arrival of Columbus to the mid 20th century there was no account/records on what had occurred to the indigenous people.
    -When we look back at the history it is shown over again that the victors wrote histories.
    Miguel León Portilla(author of broken spears) was a professor of Nahua studies in the University of Mexico.
    -The conquest was not only a military defeat of the indigenous people but it was also a cultural defeat and a spiritual defeat. The Spanish point of view of the people was that they were silent, culture-less, had no religion, illiterate.
    -In the Spanish narrative they believed they won the battle because of cultural and spiritual superiority.Brought a culture that could not be questioned.
    -The broken spears account became an instant bestseller and it basically became like a reference for the invaded people of the world.
    -The book had led to many discussions and debates about the history of colonialism and who had told the stories.
    -Cuba was the first island that was taken over by Spaniards and built settlements.
    -World war 2 had made many of the European powers weak since they had no longer money or the resources which led to the end of colonialism.
    -It was shown throughout the world that British colonies in Africa and the Middle East had revolutionary movements.
    -Nationalism was the force to counter the colonizers. It gave the natives the confidence to drive the colonizers out of their land.
    -The enlightenment movement allowed for the people who were colonized to challenge the European views and wanted people to return to their roots.
    -There were some people who questioned the writing of the text because they thought his documents were not reliable. The argument was that there was nothing written about it up until the moment Miguel wrote something.
    -Some of the Spanish sources had written about the culture of nahua and other people they have conquered.

    This video was actually very interesting mainly because it gave me background information about Broken Spears and how there were some scepticals that believed the information was not reliable.There was a lot of significance behind the book because it showed a different perspective on how the invaders changed over history. It showed how much control they have over how history can be told. It only leads to respect for Miguel for trying so hard to put out this information that not many people knew and showed the effect it had on the people who were getting invaded. For example, the Spaniards called the indigenous people illiterate,culture-less and silent. Although when you read the account for Broken Spears we were able to tell that Religion was actually a big aspect that led to Motecuhzoma actions. Since many people were so used to listening to the invaders point of view that hearing from the people that were getting invaded actually led to justice.

  15. The Broken Spears: Akiva Tarnow-Fine
    Published in 1959, controversial
    There wasn’t any real account of what happened to the ingenious people of the Americas written by the ingenious people themselves, so when this text was published it was eye opening, from the 15th-20th century, we were almost exclusively reliant on Spanish accounts
    It’s common for the victor to write an account of what happened, they get to dictate the story
    Seven years after the conquest of Mexico City there was a written account of what happened written by an indigenious person
    The Spanish made it seem as if there defeat of the indigenous people wasn’t just a military defeat but also a cultural defeat
    The Spanish account made it seem as if the indigenious people were illiterate and dumb
    The book became an instant bestseller and became a reference for the colonized people of the world, history of colonialism
    Coincidence that 1959 was when the Cuban revolution happened, revolted against the Spanish
    World War 2 is believed to have ended the colonialism age
    Began a new age of nationalism, countered colonialism
    The back to the roots movement parallel nationalism
    The book led to its own movements in which people tried to figure out the stories of other conquests through the lens of the indigenous mainly in Africa and the Middle East
    People argued that there was no written document by the natives (mainly an oral culture), so ppl found it suspicious that he had documents written 500 years ago
    There is written documents from the Spanish that describe the written culture of the natives

    Comments: This lecture describes an interesting topic: how the victors decide the story. I found it interesting how there was no real account of the conquest from the natives themselves, and how most of the knowledge about such a historical event is dictated by the Spanish. I also found it surprising that we would not have known that the natives had a written culture if it weren’t for the Spanish conquistadors who wrote about the written culture of the natives. There is also a comforting idea where it has been hundreds of years yet we are still able to learn something new about a historical event. Who knows what the future holds and what technology will allow us to learn about our pasts.

  16. Alejandro Romero

    Notes:
    – In many historical cases history gets to be written by those who are victorious. If you are on the winning side you are able to write any version of that event to your liking as there is no one to question you.
    – Up until the 1950’s there were no know records or indications of the experience the indigenous people went through during the European conquest.
    – This unfortunate reality left the indigenous people to be portrayed as though they had no culture, language, or religion prior to the Europeans arrival which was incorrect.
    – A Mexican scholar, Miguel Leon, eventually challenged this widely accepted historical account by studying writings and documents left by the Nahua people. They wrote in great detail about the interactions they would come to have with the conquistadors.
    – The overall idea the Spanish had portrayed was that they could not lose this battle against the indigenous as they had religious and cultural superiority over them and in a way tried to portray these people as savages.
    – Miguel brought these issues to light for the first time in his book “Broken Spears” which instantly garnered global attention and became a best seller.
    – After the end of WW2 a strong idea of nationalism became rampant in many areas that were being occupied by foreigners. This helped to motivate the people of these countries to stage revolts against those who were oppressing them.
    – Some people questioned the authenticity of Miguel’s findings as so much time had passed from when the original accounts were written.
    – These doubts were eventually disregarded as letters written from Spanish conquistadors themselves corroborated ideas of these Latin American civilizations already having complex systems of language and culture.

    Comments:
    I believe the findings made by Miguel about the Spanish conquest were not only significant to correcting that specific history in order to give light to the truth, but it also in a way teaches us a lesson about what we might take for fact at face value. For hundreds of years many never questioned the story given by the Spaniards when the whole time the voices of the Natives were being silenced. This should teach us to always question what we might consider fact especially if it is only told by one point of view. Having multiple perspectives on an issue helps to better understand it and paint an entire complete picture.

    1. I completely agree with you on the fact that this teaches us a lesson about what were might take for fact at face value. There is always two sides to a conflict and just because one person or group won, that doesn’t make the other person or group’s perspective any less valuable or factual in most cases.

      – Norbert Kopec

  17. Norbert Kopec

    The Broken Spears Video Notes:

    – The Broken Spears was first published in 1959
    – Up until about the mid 19th century we were reliant on almost only Spanish sources for what happened to the indigenous people
    – Spanish accounts portrayed the indigenous people as passive people without any culture or religion or literate language
    – The victors in any war or conflict tend to be those who write the account of what happened and have greater power in what they say
    – Upon release the book had massive demand and sold hundreds of thousands of copies
    – The book acted as a voice for the conquered or invaded people of the world
    – WWII and the weakening of major powers helped to stop colonialization
    – Ideas of indecency and nationalism were a driving force for people in leading colonizers out of their land
    – Since written accounts weren’t found at first people assumed the indigenous people didn’t have a written language and had an oral culture

    Comments

    I find it interesting yet greatly disappointing how the victors in a war or conflict tend to be those whose side is listened to. I understand that they were the victorious side and tend to have greater support and power, but their perspective is generally deeply biased and with portray them as greatly superior no matter what the reality of the situation was. I also found it interesting to see how late in time the writing of the indigenous people was found and published. I can see how people could assume that the indigenous people had no written language and had an oral culture due to their being no written accounts found, but I am surprised that there was no individual prior to the publisher of The Broken Spears to go out and look in hopes of finding some evidence.

  18. Alice Gonzalez
    Notes:
    Context of broken spears
    -Controversial text
    -Stimulated conversations around the world
    -Before this text, there was a little account of indigenous text
    -Used to only have Spaniard sources
    -Natives didn’t speak any recognized language of the time
    -In Mid 50s Miguel de Portilla went through the archives for indigenous text
    – Found written accounts of the conquest
    -Conquest used to be told by the Spaniard perspective
    -Talked about their military conquest, military defeat, the cultural defeat, spiritual defeat of the natives
    -They thought the natives were not religious, cultural, literate
    -Spaniards saw converting the natives to Christianity and European culture as a godsend
    -Spaniards stated they won the battle due to their cultural and spiritual superiority
    -High demand for this book
    -Became a reference for colonized people
    -Provoked discussions of the history of colonization
    -Who forms the narrative of colonialism
    -Book came out in 1959 -year Cuban revolution was carried out
    -Fidel Castro came to power
    -Cuda first island Spaniards took over for settlements
    -50’s context
    -WW1 1939-1945
    -Europe was in devastation
    -Main empires of the time were gutted by one another
    -Ended history of colonization
    -England and France had no more power -money, resources, manpower to manage their colonies
    -The grip of colonizers loosen
    -Movement from the periphery of the empire
    -Africa, Middle East
    -Create discussions about independence and nationalism
    -Want to drive colonizers out
    -Return to the roots
    -Before European values were seen as superior to the rest of the world
    -Came from enlightenment
    -White Europeans exported their ideas and converted people to Christianity and their ideology
    -Reject European concepts and return back to their culture pre-colonization
    -Portilla
    -Some people saw his evidence/ documents as unreliable
    -Was assumed that natives had no written culture -oral tradition
    -Suspicious of written documents supply appearing
    -Spaniards admit of natives having writers

    Comments:
    The contents of the “Broken Spears” were revolutionary in providing Native viewpoints on their colonization by the Spaniards. Throughout this lesson, we are able to understand the significance of having an Indigenous record compared to only relying on Spaniard accounts. By relying purely on the colonizer perspective we can see how the Spaniards rewrote the Natives in a negative light. Stating how they viewed the Natives as uncultured and illiterate when that was far from the truth. Additionally, the period that these Native writings were published became a perfect fuel for other colonized victims to provide an account of their viewpoints and culture. As colonizers were weakened by WWI, the colonies were able to develop discussions of nationalism and independence. Thus, I found the “Broken Spears” to be an impactful piece of writing that supported the nature and spirit of Natives pre-colonization.

  19. Julie Guo
    Notes:
    – 1942-mid 20th century: exclusively reliant on Spanish sources
    – Victors can write the story, how certain periods are perceived by people after the event
    – Miguel de Portilla: professor at University of Mexico, spent several years going through every scrap of documents left by the Nahua people
    – Published in 1959: the true story of the Conquest is heard by others
    – The Broken Spears: provoked about the history of colonialism and narratives of colonialism
    – Back then Nationalism was a progressive force vs now its more regressive
    – Nationalist ideology was the force that countered the colonizers: gave them the confidence and sense of self-righteous to drive the colonizers out of their land
    – Some people believed Portilla was not reliable

    In the video, it was mentioned that victors write the story and how certain periods are perceived by the people years after the event. This makes me wonder if there are any/how many other historical events that we read in school or hear about are incorrect because the victors have altered the reality. When I heard that The Broken Spears was published in 1959 I was really surprised. The book is a lot younger than I had expected. I think it’s really cool that Miguel de Portilla was able to find those documents and put them together into a story. I wonder what caused and pushed him to spend several years of his life going through documents and creating the story?

  20. Notes:
    History is written by the victors
    Miguel (author of broken spears)spent years going through documents and found more information that was thought to exist about the conquest of the Americas.
    Spaniards had a cultural and spiritual superiority, better experience, and were overall just more advanced
    “The broken spears” became very popular (best seller)
    -High demand
    -Sold hundreds of thousands of copies
    -Became a reference for all invaded people of the world
    -Provoked discussion
    -Came out 1959–year that Cuban revolution was carried out
    Issues:
    People questioned the text and thought the documents might not be reliable
    Assumed that they didn’t have a written culture
    Didn’t make sense to people how written documents appeared

    Comment:
    After watching and learning about how Miguel dedicated years to going through documents and finding out more information about the conquest I am curious as to what led to him doing so. What inspired him or caused him to want to look more into what really happened? It is kind of inspiring that he didn’t just go with what everyone already knew, and just accept that what was known is the full truth but instead wanted to find more. I do wonder, however, how he knew what to look for and how he knew he would find more information than what was thought to exist. It makes me wonder what information still has yet to be discovered not just in the context of the conquests but history in general.

    1. Hymie Israel

      Hi Clarissa, I also have the question as to what inspired Portilla to look into what truly happened for years and years. Maybe he is a descendant of the Nahuwa and wants it to be known what really happened. I respect him for going above and beyond looking for the slightest pieces of evidence to prove that the events didn’t go the way that the Spaniards described it went down.
      I also wonder what other events or information have yet to be discovered throughout all of history and what else are the victors hiding from us?

  21. Sanduni Samarasinghe
    Notes
    – Very controversial text, stimulated a lot of debate
    – We didn’t have a lot of work written by Indigenous people at first to see what they were thinking
    – Mid 50’s Miguel de Portilla went through the archives and combed though the the documents trying to find something
    – The book provoked many discussions from not only about the conquest in the Americas but the colonialism as well
    – The book in a way gave a voice to the people that were conquered or invaded by other nations
    -Nationalism was what was needed to go against the colonizers, it gave the natives the confidence to do what they always wanted to do
    -Because we couldn’t find an written evidence of the Indigenous people we didn’t think they had a written language but we were mistaken because they had everything from even grammar books to help them

    Comments:
    I am honestly glad that Miguel found these documents and took the time to look for them because it really have the conquered people a voice. For the longest time we have been hearing one sided stories its nice to hear it from another side. Its so interesting that for a long time we didnt have a “voice” for the Indigenous people so we thought what ever the Spaniards said were accurate. The way in which the Spaniards told their story was almost opposite to what the Natives said they went through. This just goes to show that having two sides to the story paints a bigger picture than just having one side.

  22. Bridget Campanelli

    Notes:
    From 1492 to mid 20th century there was no account of what happened to indigineous people from their perspective
    We were reliant on spanish sources which were bias to their side of the story
    Story of history is always written by victors
    Miguel (author of text) spent years going through old documents from natives and found accounts of the conquest written by indigineous people
    Woke people up to the reality of the story of the conquest
    Not only a military defeat of indigenous people but cultural and spiritual defeat as well
    Indigenous people were displayed in spanish accounts as cultureless and didn’t have a religion; easily accepted christianity
    Miguel’s writing was an instant best seller; provoked many discussions about conquest in America and the history of colonialism and how narratives are formed
    Back then nationalism was seen as progressive because it countered colonialism and gave natives a sense of self righteousness
    Europeans thought that their ideas and religion was superior to everyone else’s and spreading it to other countries and forcing people to convert to christianity was “enlightenment”
    Rest of the world took this writing as a model to try to find new sources of indegenous people’s beliefs before their culture was erased by Europeans
    People questioned the text and thought it was not reliable because there had been no written documents from natives up to that point; it was assumed they didn’t have a written language

    Comment:
    I found it really interesting how much of an impact this text had on the rest of the world. The author took the time to gather a lot of information and documents so that the indigenous people could have a voice and could share their accounts on what happened. Learning about how much time and effort the author put into giving an accurate historical account made me appreciate the text even more, especially since there had been no written documents from the indigenous people found before this point. Many people believed there were no documents found because the natives didn’t have any form of written language, but it was really just because no one had bothered to look for it, since there was such a firm belief in the europeans’ account. This text also sparked many other countries around the world to look into finding new sources of indigenous people’s beliefs before their cultures were erased. This would lead to a more accurate depiction of history and give all sides to the stories so that we weren’t relying solely on the Europeans’ account anymore.

    1. I agree with you on the idea that this work sparked other countries to express their cultural background. It allowed many countries to take a stand and to open their eyes to the idea that they shouldn’t tolerate their voices being suppressed.

  23. Joseph Guedalia

    09/20 – The Broken Spears
    The winners write the story, we don’t the complete accuracy of this writing as a source
    We have no original records of what was going on with the indigenous people written by the indigenous people Basically since Columbus got there
    Miguel spent several years going through documents left by the Nahua people and found out that there is more information about the conquest of the Americas than what was originally thought of.
    Indigenous people are represented as having no culture and boring
    Miguel’s book was an instant bestseller in Mexico.
    Opened the floor to discussions on colonialism and who was the author of these stories
    After world war 2 many big powers were weakened and started the decolonization process
    There was revolution across the world in British and French colonies both in Africa and the middle east
    Nationalism was the main way that the minority could keep up their morale and fight back against the colonialism that was running wild
    People attacked the European stance that their opinions were strictly relevant to themselves
    People question How Miguel’s account could be accurate if it just all of a sudden became available 500 years later
    But, there are sources from the other side, the Spaniards, that the indigenous people in fact did not have a written language
    In reality, the account of Miguel very much could have been uncovered because someone was curious enough to go find it, not because it is made up
    After this lecture, I have a newfound respect for nationalism. Often people view nationalism as an evil thing, however keeping up the morale helped keep the colonized members with spirits and the ability to fight back after world war 2 when the powers were vulnerable. I also found it incredibly cool that Miguel’s writing unlocked so much in terms of the culture and truth as to what may have happened with these indigenous people.

    1. Comment: After this lecture, I have a newfound respect for nationalism. Often people view nationalism as an evil thing, however keeping up the morale helped keep the colonized members with spirits and the ability to fight back after world war 2 when the powers were vulnerable. I also found it incredibly cool that Miguel’s writing unlocked so much in terms of the culture and truth as to what may have happened with these indigenous people.

      1. I completely agree with you Joseph, the lecture really does open your eyes up to a new perspective on nationalism. Oftentimes, nationalism is viewed negatively and never positively. Personally, I do think nationalism paved a way for people to fight for acknowledgment of their roots, background, and culture as well.

  24. Nigya Thapa

    Notes on The Broken Spears:
    -The Broken Spears was published in 1959 (it is a very controversial text)
    -When this work was published, it was an “earthquake” because before this text, there was no text based on the indigenous people’s perspective… from 1492 – mid-20th century, everyone was reliant on Spanish sources… only one side was seen
    -The Conquerors obliterated indigenous works so much that it was believed nothing was ever written by the Indigenous people
    -Miguel de Portilla went through archives for several years… went through scraps and dug up the information in Mexico… he found out that there was more than what meets the eye
    -The Indigenous people wrote their perspective in 1528 which expressed the lifestyle after the Spanish…. It was written 7 years after being conquered by the Spanish
    -The Spanish portray the Indigenous people as silent, lack of religion, lack of society….. They are “dumb people.”
    -The Spanish won the battle through cultural superiority because the Indigenous people did not know the religion, culture, or language…. So the Indigenous people embraced what was new to them
    -In 1959, The Broken Spears was the best seller in Mexico
    -De Portilla started his research in the 1950s…. His book was published in 1959… the Cuban Revolution began in that same year…. Fidel Castro came to power… Cuba was the first island to be taken over by the Spanish…. This is the symbolic aspect of the publishing of the book
    -MUST BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE 50s
    -1939-1945, there was a war (WWII) that left Europe devastated
    -That conflict ended the problem of colonialism because they were economically unstable to manage colonies
    -Nationalism was introduced… it built confidence to drive the colonists out of the lands
    -“Return to the Roots” – The period in which indigenous cultures and indigenous languages and literature comes to the fore
    -The book emerged in those specific contexts
    -The main argument was that there was no written culture… it didn’t make sense that after 500 years, works were being discovered

    Comments:
    After reading an excerpt of The Broken Spears and watching the lecture video, it’s very clear that in some aspects the history of the Indigenous people was kept away from the public eye for a very long time. Indigenous culture seemed to be very misguided because many works are written only from the Imperialist perspective or European perspective. If we all look deeper into these types of works, it is very rare to find works written by the Indigenous people. It was very interesting to learn that the author spent many years trying to piece together these historical facts, data, and background to make sure that the public was informed about the Indigenous perspective. In fact, it is also very refreshing to read works written by the Indigenous people because we very rarely get to see works being portrayed by the other side. It was also interesting to learn that the effects of suppressing Indigenous people came about to light at the same time that the Cuban Revolution took place. It was kind of like history saying “this is how we relate to one another.”

  25. Chris Sullivan

    Broken Spears Notes
    -published in 1959, and changed the way everyone viewed the past
    -before this document, indigenous people were mostly a mystery
    -only information we had at the time was produced by Spaniards
    -50’s Miguel Leon Portilla, the author of this document, put together documents from the people known as the Nahua, and out came “Broken Spears”
    -at the time, everyone thought they knew everything there was to know about the indigenous people they had erased from existence
    -Spaniards told everyone that they had accepted Christianity into their lives without any resistance
    -this book caused quite the discussion between its readers, and was a caused indigenous groups to become a popular topic
    -the concept of nationalism was the driving force for the indigenous people to get the Spaniards out of their land
    -before this was published, no one thought the indigenous had a culture, because there was no trace of it
    -there was a long and detailed culture, they just hadn’t found it yet

    I found this video very interesting because provided me with new information about the Broken Spears that I hadn’t previously known. A lot of people at the time didn’t really believe the documents, but it did stir up a commotion within the discussion of indigenous’ culture. The fact that Portilla did this practically all by himself, against all the odds, is very impressive and makes me interested in what else he has done. At the time, Broken Spears was really the first documentation of culture from the natives, and changed the way people viewed the indigenous forever.

  26. Nur Rahman
    Notes:
    -Prior to The Broken Spears being published in 1959, we had no account of what happened w indigenous people, written by the indigenous people
    -History is written by victors, we are only told one side of the story, winning side always has the opportunity to tell stories
    -Author of The Broken Spears, Miguel Leon-Portilla was a prof. at University of Mexico City
    -He spent years going through every scrap of document that was left by the Nahua people and did a lot of research in the 16th century and found written accounts of them from 1528
    -The book is a combination of documents by the Nahua people put together with context and colonialism
    -The conquest was always told by the Spaniards who portrayed the ingenious people as silent, cultureless, illiterate, no religion. Community of dumb passive people
    -The Broken Spears became a popular book and came out the same year as the Cuban rev.
    -People began questioning the reliability of documents
    Comment:
    I am disappointed that victors writing our history is an enduring issue. It is 2021 and we constantly still find the textbooks we buy for history, the news, and so many things biased because they are written by victors. We need both sides of the story and listening to this lecture made me realize how quickly we believe biased information. I am also thankful for Portilla for taking so much time doing research for the ingenious people. In American history, we hardly have the perspective of indigenous people because they were never given the opportunity to do much because they were seen as inferior to others.

  27. Tercia Dobrzynski
    The Broken Spears Notes;
    – Mid 1500s, Miguel de Portilla went through the archives and spent several years going through every document by the Nahua people from the 16th century.
    – This research led to him finding actual written accounts about what happened in 1528 during the conquest of Mexico.
    – The book we read is a combination of documents stretching from 1528 to the middle of the 1550s
    – He published the book in 1959, and it shifted the people’s perspectives on how the conquest of Mexico happened
    – Natives are portrayed as culture-less and silent, with no worldview, because they don’t have the European religion
    – The book was an instant bestseller in Mexico, published by an academic press, the demand for this document was so massive they had to keep reprinting
    – Within a few years they sold over a hundred thousand copies throughout the Americas
    – It provoked conversation about the history of colonialism and the narratives of colonialism
    – The world war which ended in 1945, left Europe devastated, ended the history of colonialism
    – The nationalism ideology gave the natives the confidence to drive the colonists out of their land

    Comments;
    The shift in perspective that the publication of this book brought among the people throughout the Americas was significant and very much needed. European documentation made it out as though natives were silent creatures with no capability of thought or culture until they were introduced to Christianity and European ways of life. This point of view is not only disrespectful but destructive and belittling, it was necessary to uncover the actual written accounts of natives during the conquest of Mexico. It is very respectable of Miguel de Portilla to take the years of dedication to going through the archives. I wonder what kept him so motivated during his time if research. This book seemed to provide the gateway into the conversation of colonialism and the different perspective that was ultimately needed.

  28. Hei Lai Lam

    This video indicated the importance of The Broken Spears text. Published in the 1950’s by Miguel Leon Portilla who spent years looking for records left behind by Hispanic ancient civilizations that were colonized by European powers. His collected findings were a huge hit at first, though met with some controversies of how he obtained the documents. Because history is written by the stronger force and “mainstreamly” passed down, the supposedly less civilized had to have their cultures buried. Miguel’s efforts led to a series of events, because the popularity of his book created debates on the view of colonialism. It catalyzed decolonization, which weakened European powers around WW2, and Revolutionary Movements occurred in Africa and the Middle East.

    I’m glad of what Portilla did for the Hispanic world and other suppressed civilizations, because he spent lots of his own time and energy to dig out the preserved cultures and writings of the indigenous people that were denied by many White people. Even when he was met with criticisms after publishing his piece, he stood by what he found and wrote. It allowed more people as the text became widespread to evoke more views on colonialism. For those that connected with it, it gave them strength to power through their sufferings and gain their country back. For those that may not have resonated as much, it helped spread the word and knowledge of what’s going on and how the colonies feel. This portraying the colonies slowly gaining back their strength through Nationalism. This was insightful, as it brought out native cultures that we didn’t know about before.

  29. Noshin Ahmed

    Notes:
    -The Broken Spears was published in 1959.
    -Seen as a controversial text and simulated debate around the world.
    -Before publication, had no account of what happened to the indigenous people from their perspective.
    -In the mid-’50s, Miguel León-Portilla (author) went through the archives left by the Nahua people (from the 16th century) and discovered more information about the conquest. This information came from the perspective of the indigenous people.
    -Indigenous people were portrayed as passive and cultureless.
    -Believed that they have cultural and spiritual superiority.
    -This account was a best seller throughout the world (especially the Spanish-speaking world).
    -Provoked all kinds of discussion throughout the world, not just about the conquest but also the history of colonialism.
    – Released the same year as the Cuban revolution. Cuba was the first island that Spainards took over.
    -World war II left Europe devastated and ended the history of colonialism.
    -The intellectuals of the 50’s writing about nationalism.
    -Return to the roots- revied and allowed people to embrace the indigenous culture and language.
    -People were suspicious of the reliability of these texts because, at the time, they had no written documents from the indigenous people, and they assumed that the indigenous people had oral culture.
    -Spaniards wrote letters talking about the written culture of the indigenous people.

    Comments:
    I find it very interesting and surprising that after so many years these texts were able to come into the public eye. I am glad that it did because this text was able to provide important insight into how the indigenous people felt about the conquest. It opened a new perspective to historians, allowing them to assess these events better. Reading the perspective of the indigenous people stirred up the world because the reality of how they were treated came forward.

  30. Ricky Chen- The Broken Spears
    -It is hard to find notes and history of the indigenous people because usually the side that is victorious will destroy most of the works of the old civilization and replace them with their own
    -The Spaniards perceived the indigenous people as dumb who converted to Christianity to follow God
    -In 1959, the book, Broken Spears gives the account on behalf of the indigenous people and was an instant bestseller in Central and Latin America
    -Broken Spears created a discussion about the truth of colonialism and had people questioning the truth and coincidentally came out during the Cuban Revolution
    -World War occurred from 1939 to 1945 and Europe was devasted which ended colonialism because England and France no longer were able to manage colonies, which lead to many revolutions from colonies
    -The 50s about a lot of discussion around what nationalism and independence really meant which drove many colonies to stand for their own freedom
    -People began trying to find new works from the indigenous people to learn about the culture that the colonizers erased
    -There were arguments that claimed that many natives did not keep any written documents but there were actually Spaniards who had written about the culture and there was just no one searching for the cultures and documents of natives

    Comments
    This lesson about how the book changed the way people perceived history has been really eye-opening because it teaches us to challenge what we are told. For most people, we take in any information we get without questioning it but it may not always be true or it is written in one specific perspective. The fact that people have lived believing that these indigenous people were simply cultureless dumb people is disheartening considering they had their own cultures and language that were all destroyed by the colonizers. It is only thanks to Portilla’s novel that people have now started to realize the fact that the indigenous people are filled with rich history but were all lost due to the victors of history. It is also interesting to know that the book was published around the time of the time when the Colonizing countries were weak and people were starting to revolt for freedom with their ideas of nationalism and independence like the Cubans.

  31. Jhonathan Mizhquiri
    Notes :
    – Did not have any account of indigenous people before Spanish sources
    -Broken spears was published in 1959
    – Instant bestseller in Mexico
    – The demand was very massive, sold hundreds of thousands of copy’s in a couple of years.
    – The story of the conquest of Mexico
    – Changed the narrative of colonialism
    – World war from years 1939 to 1945 weakened colonialism because Europe was devastated
    – nationalism began to build in Africa and the Middle east as a result
    Comments :
    It is interesting to learn that information from the indigenous people was rare. Most of the story’s and facts we know today came from the Spanish therefore they were able to control the narrative. When the broken spear came out in 1959, it showed the perspective of the indigenous people which was almost unheard of. Because the information was so scarce, the book instantly became popular in latin America and the information spread rapidly. The book, along with other other new information coming out, began to change the narrative of colonialism, and began a conversation of who was in the right and who was in the wrong. It is interesting to me because I can not imagine having a story told, and for so many years have that be the “truth” without being able to tell your side.

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