1) On his first journey back to Ajacan, accompanied by Dominican missionaries and backed by an army, Don Luis failed to find his homeland. On his second voyage (this time undertaken without an army) Don Luis successfully led the Jesuits to Ajacan. Might these facts support the idea that Don Luis planned the massacre in advance?
2) Why was Alonso de Olmos spared? Brickhouse, after all, alludes to the “twinned roles of Don Luis and Alonso as bilingual interpreters and cross-cultural internal narrators” (28). Do you think Don Luis felt a kinship toward him, and to what extent?
3) Why was Alonso’s account of the massacre elaborated upon (and often completely altered) by different authors? What purpose does it serve, particularly from a religious standpoint? As Brickhouse puts it, “How does one tell a conversion story in which the central figure of redemption apparently converts back?”
4) Finally, consider the “frame narrative” structure of both accounts. How reliable are these sources? What do they add to our understanding of Jamestown’s beginnings, and what do they leave out?
(*For anyone interested in further reading, Rogel’s full record of Alonso’s story can be found here.)
Alonso`s account of the massacre was either highly embellished or was barely even mentioned. it seems to me that the authors lost all objectivity and simply made things up. This is inherently irresponsible and so it`s hard to believe that they didn`t have a reason to. Over time opinions on the matter would have changed and this change would have been reflected in their writings. Religion would have undoubtedly played a part as evidenced by Alonso, who went from a newly baptized boy to a corrupted individual in different accounts.
ReplyDelete1. i do happen to believe that Don Luis planned the massacre. page 34 states that Don Luis "suggested the project of returning to the Chesapeake Bay to convert the natives of Ajacan through his own navigational and interpretive labor." saying that he initiated the voyage. moreover,he was accompanied by "a group of Dominican missionaries", and "military backup." and could not find his "homeland." however he conviently found it when he was accompanied by just the TWO Jesuit priests. A very interesting point was brought up in class which correlates very nicely to this question. Maybe Don Luis spent so much time with the Spaniards to learn their ways in order to seek revenge. Which was all part of his plan.
ReplyDelete2) Due to the fact that Alonzo was the one remaining member, and all the other were killed, I believe that Alonzo was kept alive for the symbolization of youth, and starting fresh, a new translator or interpreter bringing about a more suitable native point of view.
ReplyDelete1) I believe that Don Luis did set up the Jesuits but I don't think he planned the attack in advance. I feel this way because he probably saw how the indigenous people of the Caribbeans and Mexico were treated. He probably feared the same would happen to his people, especially on their first attempt to go the Chesapeake Bay with an army.
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ReplyDeleteIn response to question #1, I don't necessarily believe that Don Luis' massacre of the Jesuits was premeditated dating back to his initial encounter with the Jesuits. However I do believe that along the way he made a personal choice. My personal reading the account is that Don Luis knew he was in a position of absolute power, he was the only mediator between the Jesuits and the natives. He was probably "playing both sides of the fence" and ultimately sided with his natives. He was intelligent enough to recognize the unique position he was afforded and probably saw greater glory siding with his natives over the Jesuits.
ReplyDelete(Question 1) Yes, those events do seem to have happened very conveniently in line with what Don Luis would wind up doing. All of the accounts noted in this texts (e.g., pp.25-26 from the original or pp. 38-39 of the reader) about how Don Luis murdered the Jesuits suggest that it was most likely premeditated. It is possible that from the start Don Luis came to live with the Spaniards by force (as mentioned on the 1st full paragraph of p.21 of the text/p.34 of the reader). If he was taken by force, I definitely think he'd have more motivation to plot this attack. It seems a little suspicious that the Jesuits on the second mission to the Americas went on the mission without military accompaniment "against all advice to the contrary from Jesuit and colonial authorities alike" (1st full paragraph, p.21 of text/p.34 of reader). I wonder why the Jesuits would agree to undertake the mission this way against so much advice, maybe Don Luis was really persuasive in convincing them that they don't need soldiers with them? And it is way too much of a coincidence that THIS time Don Luis was able to find his way to Ajacan. Then again, this relies on the accuracy of all the narratives used in this essay, it's impossible to know what really transpired and even harder to know Don Luis' mindset/thoughts. But according to and based on the facts presented, I think the points you brought up in this question definitely connect to this massacre being premeditated.
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