[Northkeep] Period contact with Native Americans

Puck Curtis puck_curtis at hotmail.com
Fri Oct 26 11:16:16 PDT 2001


Heya,

Your best sources for actual period references about contact with Native
Americans will probably be Spanish.  Bernal Diaz wrote an excellent book
that is easily obtainable called "The True History of the Conquest of New
Spain."  It deals primarily with what is now Mexico and it reads a bit like
an adventure story, but you get a new respect for what the Spanish found
when they first came to South America.  Bernal was a soldier of Cortez
(Hernan Cortes) when they began their expedition into the interior in 1514.
He died many years later in about 1581.

Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca had some strange mystical experiences with Native
Americans deep in the interior of North America around 1542.  Eight years
after he came out of the wild, he was a mystic or healer for the Native
Americans.  That is documented and it's also weird.  Supposedly he brought
somebody back from the dead.  There is a translation of his narrative
available here:

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/one/cabeza.htm

You can also check out Coronado who led an expedition through the North
American Southwest including Oklahoma.  Coronado is perfectly period too.
He started his expidition on April 22, 1540.  Here is a link to a picture
from the national parks serve showing his eleged route:

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/national_parks/coronado_expedition.jpg

Here is a pretty decent website with links to information about several
different Spanish expiditions:

http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~delacova/colonization.htm

I'm not necessarily condoning the Conquistadors, or the way they treated the
Native Americans, but they did write alot of this stuff down and could be
used as a source.  So if you want to do period research about America,
looking at Spanish history is a good place to start.

Puck
(known in parts tropical as Don Paccho Unzappato)

>Message: 3
>Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2001 11:53:09 -0500
>From: Susan <catmafia at swbell.net>
>To: northkeep at ansteorra.org, Northern list <northern at ansteorra.org>
>Subject: [Northkeep] Conact question for personas
>Reply-To: northkeep at ansteorra.org
>
>I am trying to find something reguarding how the SCA looks at cultures.  I
>remember the first definition of what groups personas were chosen from
>being mostly Western European and then cultures who were in contact with
>them.  I am looking for info defining what degree of contact.  With the
>upcoming demo in Tahlequah I am sure I will get info on the Cherokee and
>want to be able to answer those.  In my research so far, I can find the
>first insidences of the Cherokee being taken to England to meet with the
>Royal family there was in 1760 or 1762 which is out of period; but De Soto
>did cross the area where the Cherokee lived in 1540.  Between these two
>reference points, what would someone do to support a Cherokee persona if
>they were so inclined to want to do so?  and are ones who represent
>cultures outside of the basic Western European cultures limited to the time
>frame in which the culture was in contact with Western Europe or any time
>in period?
>
>Yes, I am curious and really wish to be able to have the resources to
>answer questions that will come.  If you have someone outside of these
>lists who you think would have information on this to help me, please
>forward it on to them.
>
>Thank you,
>
>Susan the Curious
>Susan-the-Curious at swbell.net
>
>ps, hope to see many of you at our demo on Nov 3rd, details coming soon

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