Hey,

It's John here.  I figured I'd start today's post by explaining a little more about myself, and particularly what my studies entail and how I intend to contribute to this project.  If you’re not particularly interested in this, by all means skip down a few paragraphs to where I elaborate on the process of religious conversion in Mexico after the Spanish Conquest.

     From ages 4-9, I was convinced I would become a paleontologist.  On career days, I’d draw a picture of myself in typical dig clothes (in the fashion of Michael Crichton’s Alan Grant), standing over a giant hole with a dinosaur skeleton at the bottom.  Most of the vacations I remember from my childhood involve my parents indulging me by taking me to dinosaur sites across the U.S. and Canada.  We even bought t-shirts in multiple sizes from the Royal Tyrrell dinosaur museum in Alberta so we wouldn’t have to go back every time I grew larger.  I wore a T-rex shirt purchased ten years ago to my first Mayan Archaeology class this year.

     But these plans all changed when my family took me to Mexico for the first time.  We flew into Cancun, a city that most Americans never leave when they visit Mexico.  My parents, however, much preferred renting a car and traveling up and down the Yucatan peninsula, getting off the highway every time a sign appeared which said “Las Ruinas.”  Because of this, my first experience in Mexico involved very little time at the beach, but tons of time spent wandering around the ruins of Uxmal, climbing the then accessible “Piramide del Castillo” in Chichen Itza, and attempting to photograph every single lizard in the Yucatan Peninsula.  From then on, I’ve wanted to be an archaeologist, and nearly ten years later I’m here at Vanderbilt, majoring in Anthropology and Spanish.

     Along with Luke, I intend to study the effects of global conquest on both the conquering nations and those who are conquered.  Naturally, in this project I’m probably going to spend a lot of time dwelling on Mexico and Central America.  I’ve already taken an amazing writing seminar on the conquest of the Aztecs, and as I mentioned before, I’m currently studying Mayan civilization.  However, my research will also focus on more recent effects of conquest as well, such as the reign of Genghis Khan and the United States’ belief in manifest destiny.

Religious Conversion in Nahua Society

Today I thought I’d share some of my research on the process of religious conversion in Mexico after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec civilization.  One of the first questions worth considering when discussing conquered societies is whether or not their ideologies were challenged by the conquering parties.  In some cases, religious beliefs are allowed to remain intact as long as tribute is paid and the subjects submit to the will of their conquerors.  Unfortunately for the Aztecs, however, the entire Spanish conquest was performed under the pretense of serving the Lord’s will.  Once the conquistadores were through fighting indigenous armies, plundering cities, and overthrowing local leaders, Mexico became home to a number of Spanish missions, and the process of religious conversion was underway.

                However, even while under the rule of their Spanish conquerors, the Aztec proved remarkably adept at subtly resisting a complete conversion to Christianity.  Below are some examples of the difficulties of religious conversion in the new world:

1.  Difficulties in Translation

Before the Spaniards could hope to indoctrinate the Aztecs, they first needed to develop an understanding of the Aztec language, Nahuatl.  Unfortunately, the Spanish friars soon realized that Nahuatl lacks a number of key words in understanding Christian teachings, including “sin,” “virginity,” and a Christian version of “Hell.”  Aztec society did not focus on a battle between good and evil, but rather a balance of chaos and order.  This made the concept of immorality and sin very difficult for the Spaniards to explain to the conquered Aztecs.  Also, the Aztecs believed that the majority of people were destined to inhabit the underworld, with only people who died in very specific circumstances (drowning, lightning strike, death of a sexually pure warrior in battle, etc.) being allowed to enter a world similar to the Christian heaven.

2.  Assignment of Responsibilities in the Church

In order to make Christianity more appealing to the natives, the friars appointed certain Aztecs to various positions with the church.  Aztec priests were encouraged to study Christianity and retain their original positions (Aztec priests already practiced celibacy).  Aztecs were also appointed as fiscales, who managed many of the financial aspects of church organization.  Many Aztecs were more than willing to accept these positions, but their motives were not of a very Christian nature.  Corruption was common amongst the fiscales; families were excessively charged for funeral procedures, and children in catechism classes were sometimes asked to bring their residing fiscal maize.

3.  Aztec Assistance in the Translation of Religious Texts

Because the Spaniards had such a poor understanding of Nahua language, Aztecs who also knew Spanish were often enlisted to assist in the translation of various religious texts.  These Aztecs often managed to sneak subtle references to their old religious beliefs into these translations.  For example, one translator describing the conversion of Paul mentioned a man who “swept the roads that led to heaven.”  This is not included in the original text, and this is most likely a reference to the priestly duty of sweeping in the temples.  The Aztecs were also encouraged to write plays which focused on religious themes.  However, recent studies have uncovered subtle references to Aztec religious beliefs as well as outright mockery of the Spanish conquerors.

I have written more about this subject, and if this is something you are interested in, I encourage you to check out my full paper, which also includes some helpful references.  Louise Burkhart has some great writings about the Aztec plays.   The Process of Religious Conversion in Nahua Society