19th Century Zuni Berdache, We’Wha

The Berdache in Native American Cultures

• “Third” Gender: Combined men’s and women’s traits• The Navajo, for example, believed nadle or berdaches to

be honored by the gods and to possess unusual mental capacity combining both male and female attributes.

• In many cultures, the berdache was expected to master the knowledge, skill, and leadership of a man and also all of the skills, ability, and intuition of a woman.

• They were believed to bridge opposites which threaten to divide society [mediators].

Photograph from Zuni, 1879

Summary of Unit 1

• History is an argument about the past based on primary source evidence.

• The U.S. Southwest: the region of the United States acquired from Mexico and Indian nations in the mid-1800s whose distinctive character reflects its enduring geographic, cultural, and historical ties with communities on both side of the U.S.-Mexico border.

• Major civilizations and cultures existed in the Southwest before the arrival of Europeans characterized by long-distance trade, agriculture, violence, and adaptation.

The Collision of Worlds: How and Why Spaniards Came to the Americas

HIST 136: 9.15.2011

Theme for The Next Unit: The Collision of Worlds

• How and why did Spaniards come to the Southwest?

• How did Spanish colonization change the Southwest?

Today—Why did Spaniards come here in the first place? Why Sail West?

• Trade Route to Cathay (China) and India

Today—Why did Spaniards come here in the first place? Why Sail West?

• Trade Route to Cathay (China) and India• Boosting status of Spain among European

monarchies

Today—Why did Spaniards come here in the first place? Why Sail West?

• Trade Route to Cathay (China) and India• Boosting status of Spain among European

monarchies• Competition with Ottomans

Today—Why did Spaniards come here in the first place? Why Sail West?

• Trade Route to Cathay (China) and India• Boosting status of Spain among European

monarchies• Competition with Ottomans• Religious motives: bringing about the end

times by recapturing Jerusalem, converting “heathen” populations

Christopher Columbus, 1492. . . and Your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians . . . took thought to send me, Christopher Columbus, to the said parts of India, to see those princes and peoples and lands . . . and the manner which should be used to bring about their conversion to our holy faith, and ordained that I should not go by land to the eastward, by which way it was the custom to go, but by way of the west, by which down to this day we do not know certainly that anyone has passed; therefore, having driven out all the Jews from your realms and lordships in the same month of January, Your Highnesses commanded me that, with a sufficient fleet, I should go to the said parts of India, and for this accorded me great rewards and ennobled me so that from that time henceforth I might style myself "Don" and be high admiral of the Ocean Sea and perpetual Governor of the islands and continent which I should discover . . . and that my eldest son should succeed to the same position, and so on from generation to generation.

Columbus’ 1st Voyage

Precedents for Spanish-Indian Encounters

• The Muslim occupation of Iberia

Muslim occupation of Iberia

Precedents for Spanish-Indian Encounters

• The Muslim occupation of Iberia• Popularity of Knights and Chivalry

Tale of Amadis

Precedents for Spanish-Indian Encounters

• The Muslim occupation of Iberia• Popularity of Knights and Chivalry• The “Reconquest” of Spain

Granada—The Final Defeat of the Muslims in Spain, 1492