Song Of The Hummingbird By Graciela Limo

Imagine living in a civilization that practiced beautiful ritual dances and ceremonies. Then one day, that civilization does not exist anymore because another civilization decided to conquer them. In the novel “Song of the Hummingbird,” written by Graciela Limo, an Aztec women named Huitzitzilin, which means Hummingbird, tells her life story to a Father Benito Lara, along with confessing her sins from her lifetime. I find this novel to be very informative because it tells the reader the truth on what actually happened between the Spaniards and the Aztecs. As I read this novel, I could picture the events in my head as Huitzitzilin described them. The lesson I appreciated the most is that one should not give up on something they believe in, just

In schools, students are being taught wrong information. “Our gods were vanquished after the fall of Tenochtitlan as were our traditions. Our warriors and nobles were eradicated, our children starved and our women ravished by the white conquerors and their allies.” (157). In books across America, the Spaniards were said to be good people, but the way that Huitzitzilin described what happened, shows the complete opposite of how the Spaniards actually were. The way that I can relate this to my life is when I was taught about Christopher Columbus. In school, I was told that Christopher Columbus was a hero, but really, he definitely was not. After learning in my Chicano class that he was actually a horrible person because of the way that he treated the natives, I was

Racial discrimination is the one thing that is in the novel the most. For example, when the Spaniards first came to Tenochtitlan, the first thing that was taken from the Aztecs was their religion. This would include their customs, traditions, sacrifices, ceremonies, and belief of their gods. Every Aztec was then baptized as a Christian and were then given a Christian name. “Have I upset you?” “Yes!” “It’s my obligation to know these things about you.” “What things?” “That you have a Christian name.” “You mean you have to make sure that I have been robbed of everything, even my name” (62). Here Huitzitzilin tells Father Benito that since everything was take away from her, there is nothing left from her past she shows her Aztec roots. This shows how the Spanish thought that they had more power over others because of their race. In my opinion, everyone is the same, everyone deserves equality. No one should be given a title because of his or her race, ethnicity, culture, or religion. The lesson that I really liked in ”Song of the Hummingbird” is how one should stay true to one’s beliefs. I really liked this because Huitzitzilin kept her beliefs even though the Spaniards tried to convert her to Christianity. After the Spaniards baptized her and gave her a new Christian name, she was not happy. In fact she hated the Spaniards for that. She did not want to give