There are many indigenous people throughout the America's that still hate the conquistadors and the Catholic Church, and with good reason.
When I was living over in N.M they had consigned this high brow artist to make a large sculpture for the old town square in Santa Fe. Not knowing the history or the culture of the area he made a huge statue of Don Juan de Oñate.
"Historians like Oscar Martinez at the University of Arizona argue that erecting a statue to Oñate — particularly the largest statue of its kind — is a lot like flying the Confederate flag over the South Carolina state capital. "The Pueblo people have never gotten over the cruel treatment and oppression they endured under Oñate," Mr. Martinez wrote in a letter to the El
Paso City Council. "Oñate's behavior can actually be compared to Nazi officers who directed campaigns against the Jews in the 1930's and 1940's,
including extermination drives. ".
As a Sculpture Takes Shape in Mexico, Opposition Takes Shape in the U.S.
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Juan de Oñate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oñate retaliated for the loss of his nephew; his soldiers killed 800 villagers, including men, women and children. They enslaved the remaining 500, and by Don Juan’s decree,[SUP]
[3][/SUP] they amputated the left foot of every Acoma man over the age of twenty-five. Females were sent off to be slaves, several were forced to commit suicide, by crucifiction. Eighty men had one of their feet amputated though other commentators put the figure of those mutilated at twenty-four.[SUP]
[4][/SUP]
