La Malinche was born between 1496 and 1505, the exact year is unknown in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. She was born to a father who was the chief of the village Paynala, and do to her position of birth, she was educated which was rare for a girl to obtain an education at the time. Unfortunately for her, her father passed away when she was very young and this tragic event changed her life forever. Later on her mother remarried to another chief and soon after gave birth to a son after the birth of her half-brother she was no longer welcome in the home. It is said that her mother and new step-father feared that Malinches presence would threaten their son's future as chief and inheritance. To take her out of the equation her mother and step-father faked …show more content…
While she was with the Tabascans indians conquistador Hernan Cortes had arrived in Mexico and got in a battle with the Tabascans indians and won. As a present the Tabascans indians gave Cortes twenty female slaves to do as he wished La Malinche was one of them later on christened as Dona Marina by Cortes. After that point Cortes learned about Malinches abilities to speak Mayan and Aztec and became his right hand women, consultant and mistress. She became an essential part of the Spanish conquest translating and teaching cortes about the people he had no idea about. She became Hernan Cortes bilingual leader in the conquest. In a letter to the king Cortes writes, “After God we owe this conquest of New Spain to Dona Marina.” Many argue that shes significant because without her skills the Mexican conquest would have had a different outcome. Others say she's the reason why thousands of lives were saved by her advising both Cortes and indigenous leaders to negotiate instead of bloodshed. It is important to know that even though many considered her to be a traitor, many Chicana women considered her to be an outstanding historical figure, one who used her linguistic skills to secure her
In Malintzin’s Choices, Townsend displays expertise while pulling together the information she has gotten from published and archived accounts. It highlights the significance of a woman’s life in possibly its most complete and sensible illustration yet. Townsend repositions Malintzin to allow her historic episodes to be better understood, despite the myths that have been around for too long. In the process, Townsend discloses very real, completely human stories behind the trans-Atlantic conflict and accommodation that was inherent in the Spanish invasion and occupation of Mexico.
In the reading “Mirrored Archetypes: The Contrasting Cultural Roles of La Malinche and Pocahontas”, Kristina Downs explains how La Malinche and Pocahontas, two Native North American women have been differently perceived in the eyes of history. Although La Malinche and Pocahontas were in nearly parallel positions and acted quite similarly, they are view in very different ways. While Pocahontas is seen as a heroine for aiding the European colonizers, La Malinche holds the reputation of being the ultimate traitor to her people. The main reason why La Malinche holds such a poor reputation is because she is responsible for aiding in a violent military conquest against her own people. Pocahontas, contrastingly aided in the colonization of her homeland. Furthermore, throughout history, Pocahontas’ story continued to be told in the perspective of Englishmen, with her as the protagonist. In the case of La Malinche, her story was primarily told from the perspective of the indigenous peoples of Mexico, who felt the consequences of her actions. It is true that La Malinche aided the Spanish in their conquest, and also gave birth to the son of Hernán Cortés, a Spanish conquistador. However, it is important to remember that she was a slave and likely had no control over her actions. For this reason, she may receive more criticism than she deserves.
Indian women had played roles in the beginning of American history. The two famous women were La Malinche and Pocahontas. Both of them were not educated, that’s why their stories were written by others. Bernal Diaz, Spanish conquistador and Cortez’s companion, wrote about Malinche. Whereas, John Smith, English soldier wrote about Pocahontas. Malinche played the role of translator, advisor and lover of Cortez, while, Pocahontas played the role of peacemaker. There are also some contradictions in Smith writings about Pocahontas saving his life. Malinche and Pocahontas made the link between colonist and native population, they married to Europeans; but Malinche was from South America (Mexico) and she had contacted with the Spanish, whereas, Pocahontas lived in North America (Virginia) and related to English. Both of them very intelligent women, Malinche had the skill of speaking multicultural languages and Pocahontas was the peace creator between Indians and English.
Juliana Barr’s book, Peace Came in the Form of a Women: Indians and Spaniards in the Texas Borderlands. Dr. Barr, professor of history at Duke University-specializes in women’s role in American history. Peace Came in the Form of A Women, is an examination on the role of gender and kinship in the Texas territory during the colonial period. An important part of her book is Spanish settlers and slavery in their relationship with Natives in the region. Even though her book clearly places political, economic, and military power in the hands of Natives in the Texas borderland, her book details Spanish attempts to wrestle that power away from indigenous people through forced captivity of native women. For example, Dr, Barr wrote, “In varying diplomatic strategies, women were sometimes pawns, sometimes agents.” To put it another way, women were an important part of Apache, Wichita, and Comanche culture and Spanish settlers attempted to exploit
The novel, The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela is a great perception of the Mexican Revolution. The stories of exploits and wartime experiences during the Mexican Revolution was fundamentally driven by the men. The war was between the people and the government. Throughout the novel, these men had to isolate themselves from their families and battle for a cause they greatly believed in. Even with not enough resources, the people were able to fight aggressively in order to overthrow the government. Regardless of the men who were at war, there were two females who played a significant role in the Mexican Revolution, Camila and War Paint. While the representation Mariano Azuela captures these ladies and their role in society are accurate, he neglects
Demetria Martínez’s Mother Tongue is divided into five sections and an epilogue. The first three parts of the text present Mary/ María’s, the narrator, recollection of the time when she was nineteen and met José Luis, a refuge from El Salvador, for the first time. The forth and fifth parts, chronologically, go back to her tragic experience when she was seven years old and then her trip to El Salvador with her son, the fruit of her romance with José Luis, twenty years after she met José Luis. And finally the epilogue consists a letter from José Luis to Mary/ María after her trip to El Salvador. The essay traces the development of Mother Tongue’s principal protagonists, María/ Mary. With a close reading of the text, I argue how the forth chapter, namely the domestic abuse scene, functions as a pivotal point in the Mother Tongue as it helps her to define herself.
From the foothills of Barcelona in Spain, a man came to be. Full of strength, honor, wisdom, and courage, this man was named Hernan Cortes. He, as the Spaniards would say, was a god among men. Legend says he had cat-like reflexes, and also had the mind filled with strategies. He may not have been the tallest person in the crowd, but he had the most will to achieve greatness. He is one of Spain's most influential, if not the most, conquistadors.
The myth talks of a woman living in the time of the Aztecs who is caught between her culture and that of Cortez cultures in the time of Hernando Cortes. The woman served as a mediator between Cortes and her people. She was his lover and stood aside as Cortes conquered her people making her seem as a traitor (Fitts).The woman and Cortes had a child; then Cortez abandoned the both of them, and the woman stayed alone the rest of her life. La Malinche means “bad woman” the woman got this name by turning on her people for Cortes by selling them out for revenge from how badly they treated, and ultimately destroys the civilization
Figueredo, Maria L. "The Legend of La Llorona: Excavating and (Re) Interpreting the Archetype of the Creative/Fertile Feminine Force", Latin American Narratives and Cultural Identity, 2004 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York. pp232-243.
Malintzin, also known as La Malinche, played an important and vital role in the European conquest of the Aztec Empire. During her participation in the conquest, Indians and Spaniards alike respected her. Yet in the 19th and 20th century, historians and critics labeled her as a traitor or a victim of Spanish cruelty. In this essay, I will discuss the historical legacy of La Malintzin. I argue that she was not a traitor or a victim, but one of the great “deciders” of history. Without the help of Malintzin, the conquistadors would have never gotten as far as they did. They were in awe of her as evidenced by their annals and even the survivors portrayed her as a powerful figure. In the end, we have made her what we want her to be even though the historical evidence is strong in supporting the idea of her importance in Latin American history.
Aztec women embarked on several defining moments of labor, gender, class, symbolism, and political power in the Aztec Mexico history and culture. The roles of the Aztec women were unjustly marginalized. Their contributions to the work activities, economy, government and the influence of growth and development were grossly deceptive in the Ethnohistoric documents. Moreover, the variations of Aztec women cooking and weaving revolutionized gender. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is the saint that brought a community together through connection. She teaches her followers, and all who know her that the most important thing we can do for others is to try to connect with them, and to always be accepting of other things. This includes things we are not comfortable with and things that are different from us and from our own culture.
tried to return to her country. Rigoberta had a passion for the mayan culture and people
...in slavery by the Maya merchants. La Malinche was giving to a Spanish Conquistador after conquering a city called Tabasco. While in his possession, she learned Spanish and become Hernan Cortes personal interpreter. Eventually falling in love with Cortes and become his mistress. In this adultery relationship she bore him two sons. Eventualy She learn that Cortes was heading back to Spain with out her. Those Cusing her to comit a hanes crime of killing her two sons by the bank of a lake that “would be ome the foundation for Mexico City”. http://thehauntedinternet.com/lallorona.html..
Pocahontas is considered one of the most important and influential Native American women in early European exploration into America. Her work with the colonists as a peacemaker between the two peoples, her marriage and alliance with the English through her husband John Rolfe and her voyage to England to promote the Virginia Company have all earned her an important place in history. Above all that she did, most importantly her many roles helped the interactions between the settlers and her Native people.