Page:Historia Verdadera del Mexico profundo.djvu/227

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

various forms, maintained different resistance tactics, because despite the same cultural matrix of the defeated, they did not operate with hegemony.

"Just as not all ethnic groups reacted uniformly before subjugation, inside each there were different answers... such as fleeing to refuge areas, temporary or permanent migration, re-fold in the communal space, the use of the relative advantages provided by the spanish legal system, banditry and tumult... All were variants of a common purpose: recovering from the brutal conquest shock, survive, maintaining some autonomy, rebuild their identity... The spaniards showed a hegemony that went beyond purely material ambition; for them, indians subjugation was an objective in itself... At the same time, the indigenous renounced to the more visible external aspects and therefore more exposure of their culture. They folded within each community, trying to minimize spaniard contact, they tried to hide their internal life from their inquisitive eyes, delegated the collective representation of their interests and the thorny problem of dealing with the menacing external powers to the reduced group of officers of the republic... Altogether, people developed their own version of "I obey but do not comply": submission and respect to civil or ecclesiastical authorities was almost as large as the lack of actual enforcement of their orders. Marcello Carmagnani notes with relevance that to speak of "passive resistance" unclearly summarizes this daily struggle, which focused on seemingly minor issues but which pointed towards the reconstruction of their ethnic identity, and within this process rework and project the future to a common heritage, a new culture, different from the prehispanic but by no means less Indian than the preceding."

"The Spaniards showed a hegemonic will that went beyond the purely material ambition; for them, subjugation of the Indians was an objective in itself."

"All (revolts) were variants of a same purpose: overcome the brutal commotion provoked by the conquest, survive, maintaining some autonomy, rebuild their identity." (Felipe Castro. 1996)

227