12 - Excerpts from Juan Dominguez de Mendoza

Juan Domínguez de Mendoza (born in 1631) was a Spanish soldier who played an important role in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. He led major expeditions from New Mexico into Texas. He was a Spanish colonist and a member of the wealthiest family in New Mexico at the time. His brother, Tomé Dominguez de Mendoza, even served as the governor of New Mexico. On a more personal note, I am interested in Juan Domínguez de Mendoza because he is my 12th great uncle.

In the last episode of The Bridge Between, I took the perspective of a person who, for the first time, had no choice but to tell Moctezuma II about the arrival of Hernán Cortés and his crew. I did that because so much of our collective understanding of indigenous populations is incorrect. Even the terms “Indian” and “indigenous” do not come without their baggage.

While last week’s story was my creation. This week’s episode comes from the translated 1684 itinerary of Juan Domínguez de Mendoza.

By juxtaposing last week’s episode with this week’s episode, I am trying to deliberately bring contrasting views and perspectives into dialogue. Since this is a long document, I am only going to read what I believe are the most interesting parts.

As I am reading, it is important to remember that Juan Domínguez de Mendoza is writing for a specific audience with hopes of achieving a certain aim. The truthfulness of the document, in my mind, is questionable. I’ve placed the document in the show notes. The passage I’m reading begins on page 330.

The document can be found here: http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/aj/id/1776

Without further due, I present this week’s episode of The Bridge Between, Excerpts from Juan Domínguez de Mendoza. #BridgeBetweenPodcast