to avenge the death of my brother
who was killed by villagers
while trying to conquer them.
The Acoma leader Zutacapán
knows our weakness, this need
for food, as we demand corn, beans,
squash, and then more corn—the true gold
of hungry soldiers.
Fire.
Blood.
I seize Acoma and chop off the feet
of twenty-four men, in order to set a horrifying
example for the others. Yes, Oñate’s violence
is like a fever, contagious, destroying
everything in its path, including
my conscience.
WOMEN WHO WISH FOR PEACE
MARTA
New Mexico, 1598
Such cruelty!
Just like Juan de Oñate’s wife, yo soy una mestiza, with mixed blood,
from a town near Mexico City. Yes, I’m part india,
but my sons are now expected to kill other indios,
these tribes of the north, here in quiet pueblos
that remind me so much of my own serene village
far to the south.
We call this journey our Dead Man’s March,
because the desert’s raging hunger
and endless thirst
almost
destroy us.
STORMING NORTHWARD
JUSEPE GUTIÉRREZ
Kansas, 1601
Oñate is never satisfied.
He already conquered the pueblos, but now
he craves these grasslands, wild prairies
with vast herds of massive creatures,
huge bison that assure us we are no longer
just seekers of treasure.
We need meat,
but while we hunt,
hidden hunters watch us and learn
how to master our powerful
horsemanship skills.
All it takes is a few runaway mares
to change everything forever, making Osage men
swifter than us and more skilled at riding
bareback.
CHOOSING SIDES
DOMINGO
New Mexico, 1680
Some of us—mestizos from villages
far to the south—join a rebellion,
fighting on the side of the brave people
of los pueblos, instead of supporting
wealthy noblemen who treat us
like beasts of burden.
With new hope for life as free men
instead of servants, we help send Spain’s army
fleeing back across the same desert
they thought they’d conquered
so completely
long ago.
Choosing sides is not too difficult
when my only possibilities are misery
or hope.
RECONQUEST
DIEGO DE VARGAS
New Mexico, 1692
Drought begins to defeat the victorious rebels
of the pueblos, but only after they’ve been free
for a dozen years.
Crops need water.
People need food.
By the time my heavily armed troops
surround Santa Fe, I’m able to use bloodshed to force
acceptance of a treaty, but everything else
lingers beyond my control.
I can make the people of Acoma agree to pretend
that they are loyal subjects of Spain’s king
and church, but there’s no way to really know
secret feelings
hidden traditions
private beliefs.
HOMESICK
PEDRITO
Florida, 1702
Invasions, conquests, settlements,
then attacks by Englishmen and the French,
now rebellions by the Seminole, who try to reclaim
their ancestral land.
All I want is a chance to go home to my own isla,
my birthplace, the beautiful island called Cuba—but
if I had stayed there, I would still be a slave, merely
because of my Yoruba ancestry.
Volunteering as a soldier is the only
path to freedom
for a Cuban of African ancestry.
So I try to forget my family, and I struggle to dream
only of survival, here in the ragged town of San Agustín,
where Spain has already spent seven million pesos
trying to keep this troubled colony obedient.
TRADED
Florida, 1763
England seized Cuba,
then traded it for Florida.
Now I’m suddenly expected
to be British.
Trading territories
means exchanging
one language
for another.
Will it be possible
for me to dream
without my own
familiar words?
FARM DREAMS
FRANCISCO
Louisiana, 1763
Fields
of
our
own
someday.
Cotton and sugarcane.
Fertile soil.
Spain received this region as the result of a peace treaty
with France and England. Now my parents endure hunger, disease, steamy heat,
saying it will all be worthwhile, if only I can become
a landowner—eventually,
instead of a blacksmith’s
young apprentice, always wearing myself out,
bending my aching back
to shape glowing iron
into horseshoes and swords
for future battles.
IMAGINING LIBERTY
PABLO
Virginia, 1779
George Washington cannot win his war
for independence from England
without the help of Germans, Frenchmen,
and soldiers like me, young volunteers from all
the colonies of Spain.
Here on the cold snow of Yorktown,
I remember how it felt to be home in Venezuela’s heat
when recruiters came, urging me to join a struggle
for the freedom
of northerners.
Now I secretly know that if I survive this battle,
someday I will be a rebel, too, ready to free
my own nation
from Spanish rule.
MISSION LANDS
CANDELARIA
California, 1779
We’re expected to send money
to help George Washington, even though we
barely have enough to feed ourselves.
* * *
We came to this remote colony from Sonora,
leaving our Yaqui grandparents, pretending
we’re not part indio—certain priests are willing
to help us change our origins on paper,
so that we will appear to be nearly pure Spanish,
the only settlers entitled
to own land.
Sheep, horses, cows—we have our reward,
but orchards and fields belong to la Misión de San Diego,
where the laborers are captured Kumeyaay, enslaved
without any choice.
HYPOCRISY
PADRE JUNÍPERO SERRA
California, 1784
I journeyed to las Américas after reading
the testimony of María de Jesús de Agreda,
a nun who described visiting los indios
by flying back and forth on the wings of angels.
I never imagined the military force I would need
to keep dozens of tribes obediently working
our mission fields, under the watchful eyes
of marching soldiers.
Sometimes I whip the captives myself.
Pr
iests are expected to be gentle,
but without violence, Spain’s misiones
in Alta California would be abandoned
by enslaved people who call me a monster
demonic.
THE ORPHAN PROJECT
APOLINARIA LORENZANA
California, 1800
I am the youngest
of twenty-one orphans
sent to Alta California
from Mexico City
to be given away
like puppies.
All our lives, we’ve lived
as sisters and brothers,
but now we’re suddenly separated,
older girls handed out as wives,
and young ones like me given
as housemaids, while boys
go to mission soldiers
to serve as ranch hands
in exchange for enslaving
los indios
of many tribes.
•
Fearfully, quietly, I learn
how to sew and cook the way priests demand,
and nurse the sick,
read a little bit,
and fashion pretty flowers
from scraps of smooth cloth.
There should always be
at least one beautiful
silk blossom
in each
lonely
orphan’s
tragic
life.
HEALER
JUANA BRIONES
California, 1812
How can liberty mean so many
different things to various people?
My father is part africano, with ancestors
who were enslaved far to the south, in New Spain,
and my mother is part Yaqui, just like most
of the other settlers who came north from Sonora.
I’m only ten, but already I understand the shouts
of horsemen who gallop past our home at la Misión
de Santa Cruz—cries of ¡California libre!
Free California!
But I can’t worry about the independence hopes
of men. I have my chores—milking cows and learning
from Mamá and the captive Ohlone women
who show me how to cure wounds and fevers
with medicinal plants, nature’s magic.
PART THREE
INDEPENDENCE FOR SOME
NEWLY INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES
The people of Mexico and South America rose up against Spain’s colonial empire, gaining independence. By now, most of the people of the region we refer to as Latin America were mestizos, a mixture of Indigenous, African, and Spanish ancestry.
In these new republics, enslaved Africans were freed. Only Puerto Rico and other Spanish colonies in the Caribbean had not yet gained independence and the abolition of slavery.
Despite the oppression and suffering brought by colonization, ordinary people struggled to remain strong and hopeful.
WONDERING ABOUT THE FUTURE
APOLINARIA LORENZANA
California, 1822
We suddenly belong to a newly
independent country
called Mexico.
There’s already talk of closing the missions
and sending Spanish priests
back to their homeland,
leaving those of us
who depend
on these farmlands
abandoned.
* * *
So, while I worry and try to be hopeful,
I also continue folding cloth to make blossoms
of rippled petals with fancy edges
that are just as lovely
as wishes.
RIVERS ARE BORDERS
TERESITA
Wyoming, 1822
Quilts.
Beautiful patches.
Warmth.
The strength
of stitches.
Threads.
My skillful
hands.
Here on the northern border
of Mexico, my daughters and I
keep ourselves comforted by telling stories
about summer, while hoping my husband and sons
stay safe, never crossing the Yellowstone River
north into dangerous territory
ruled by foreigners.
INTRUDERS
MARTÍN DE LEÓN
Texas, 1824
I file my application for permission
to bring colonists to the Guadalupe Valley.
Relatives, friends, I wish we were enough—
but I need more settlers, so we decide to accept
Irishmen, and before I can stop them, more and more
foreigners from the United States
keep arriving
uninvited.
They have no papers,
no proper documents!
They behave as if they belong in Mexico,
even though we clearly know
they don’t.
LAWBREAKERS
JOSÉ SÁNCHEZ
Texas, 1829
While surveying land, I notice
all the foreign squatters, who bring
their own ways with them,
including
slavery.
Men, women, children, all are forced to work
in fiercely hot, dusty, miserable
cotton fields.
Don’t those lawbreakers from the US know
that enslaving people is now illegal in Mexico?
It’s one of the reasons we overthrew
colonial Spain, to create a nation
of free men.
RANCH LANDS
TEODORO
Arizona, 1831
With Mexico City’s government
so far away, missions close,
gardens and orchards wither,
tame cattle and horses
run wild.
Every ranch hand
claims what he can,
roping cows
and branding mustangs,
then hoping for rain
to keep the grass growing
so that animals and people
can survive.
PART FOUR
HEROES
FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM
The United States invaded Mexico, seizing land and persecuting millions of people who had gained, and soon lost, their independence. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean island colonies of Spain were still fighting for freedom.
Throughout all these struggles, courageous individuals achieved amazing accomplishments in every aspect of life. Even when the obstacles seemed overwhelming, perseverance helped people face an uncertain future.
TRANSFORMED
JUANA BRIONES
California, 1851
Once again, my citizenship changes.
Española, mexicana, and now norteamericana.
A few years ago, the sudden invasion of gold miners
was quickly followed by the United States army,
and now I’ve been forced to flee my dairy farm
in San Francisco, just to keep my family safe
from roaming gangs that attack anyone
who speaks
Spanish.
I feel as if my tongue has been amputated,
but I won’t let them change me too much.
When they seize my land, I make up my mind
to learn how to fight for my rights in court,
claiming English words
as my own.
BETRAYED
JUAN SEGUÍN
Texas, 1856
Born Texan, I fight for independence
from Mexico, hoping to create a free nation.
I fight at the Alamo, side by side with Americans,
and after we win, I’m elected senator, but then
I’m accused of treason, merely because my dark skin
makes pale men
think of me
as an outsider.
Driven across the southern border,
I’m forced to choose between prison
and the Mexican army. How unfair it feels
to be compelled to fight this way, raiding
my beloved Texas
and living in a no-man’s-land
between nations.
HIRED AND FIRED
SATURNINO
Kansas, 1860
We’re valued as cowboys
all over the Great Plains.
My experience working cattle
at home on the Gran Chaco of Paraguay
helps these American ranchers forget
how proud I am of my own Guaraní
indio ancestry.
All this swift slaughter up here in the north
disturbs me so much that I argue with my boss
about killing wild bison, just to starve the Arapaho,
and then I have to ride away and search
for a city job
at a horse-racing stable.
Maybe I’ll gradually adapt to sleeping
indoors.
EXILES
EMILIA CASANOVA
New York, 1863
Cubans and Puerto Ricans, all of us gather
in Brooklyn, or on West 29th Street, to speak
of rising up against Spain and uniting
in the struggle
for women’s
suffrage—our right
to vote!
Meanwhile, our young men go willingly
into the United States army, fighting
on the side of the Union,
uniting
against slavery.
SONGBIRD
TERESA CARREÑO
Washington, DC, 1863
We came to this country from Venezuela