Corruption of the Invader
On his deathbed, one of the first conquistadors, Amancio de la Sierra Lesama, wrote an apologetic letter to King Felipe V de España. The source of this letter is from a book called Sick People by the Bolivian author Alcides de Arguedas first published in 1909.
"For your majesty to understand; the Incas governed (the indigenous people) in such a way that there wasn't a single thief, dissolute or idle man, nor any perverse or adulterer woman. The Incas did not allow among themselves people with bad morals and men had their fruitful and honest professions.
In order for us to conquer them (indigenous people), we had to forcefully remove the Incas from their power and take away their property. By doing this we found the strength and will to subjugate and oppress the indigenous people so they work for God our Lord under the Spanish crown.
Being allowed by God our Lord, we could sustain this kingdom of many people and riches and make loyal serfs out of dignified men. I hope your Majesty can see and understand this. What moves me to write this letter is the weight of my consciousness, because I find myself as being guilty of this.
We, with our bad example, have destroyed a people of the highest governance as were the naturals of this land. They were extremely detached from committing crimes; and men as well as women lived a life of no excesses. An example of this would be an indigenous man, who could leave a 100 thousand pesos in gold and silver in his house merely with a broom or a small stick across the entrance as a signal that the owner of this house is not present. This, according to the custom, meant that no one is allowed in nor to touch anything that lays beyond those walls. Therefore, when they saw that we put doors and locks to our houses they thought we were afraid to be killed by them. They never imagined that people stole from one another.
So, when they saw that among ourselves there were thieves, and men that incited their women and daughters to sin they lost their respect. And after sometime, driven by the bad example that we have given them went from the extreme of not doing anything bad to hardly ever doing anything good".
Below we can read the comments of Arguedas about this letter:
"The conquistadors came; rough, brute, harsh, without a soul and dominated by a ferocious appetite. They were selfish, sensuous and of low lineage; without any notions of beautiful virtues, besides those of courage and fight without brakes.
Therefore they see on the natural and on his riches a source of easy exploitation for its unlimited avarice. Their brutality clashes with the gentleness of the native. Their unstoppable sensuality with the moderate sexual pleasures found in the indigenous woman.
The ignorance of the indigenous on the representative value of precious metals makes it an easy pray for the avaricious gold hunter. The sleepy and gregarious spirit of the aborigine disappears against the strong individualism of the Iberian man. The sweet and feminine soul of the autochthonous man melts and is annihilated by the rude and violent character of the invader".
This section of the book is from my own translation, you can find this book at the University of Auckland Library.
"For your majesty to understand; the Incas governed (the indigenous people) in such a way that there wasn't a single thief, dissolute or idle man, nor any perverse or adulterer woman. The Incas did not allow among themselves people with bad morals and men had their fruitful and honest professions.
In order for us to conquer them (indigenous people), we had to forcefully remove the Incas from their power and take away their property. By doing this we found the strength and will to subjugate and oppress the indigenous people so they work for God our Lord under the Spanish crown.
Being allowed by God our Lord, we could sustain this kingdom of many people and riches and make loyal serfs out of dignified men. I hope your Majesty can see and understand this. What moves me to write this letter is the weight of my consciousness, because I find myself as being guilty of this.
We, with our bad example, have destroyed a people of the highest governance as were the naturals of this land. They were extremely detached from committing crimes; and men as well as women lived a life of no excesses. An example of this would be an indigenous man, who could leave a 100 thousand pesos in gold and silver in his house merely with a broom or a small stick across the entrance as a signal that the owner of this house is not present. This, according to the custom, meant that no one is allowed in nor to touch anything that lays beyond those walls. Therefore, when they saw that we put doors and locks to our houses they thought we were afraid to be killed by them. They never imagined that people stole from one another.
So, when they saw that among ourselves there were thieves, and men that incited their women and daughters to sin they lost their respect. And after sometime, driven by the bad example that we have given them went from the extreme of not doing anything bad to hardly ever doing anything good".
Below we can read the comments of Arguedas about this letter:
"The conquistadors came; rough, brute, harsh, without a soul and dominated by a ferocious appetite. They were selfish, sensuous and of low lineage; without any notions of beautiful virtues, besides those of courage and fight without brakes.
Therefore they see on the natural and on his riches a source of easy exploitation for its unlimited avarice. Their brutality clashes with the gentleness of the native. Their unstoppable sensuality with the moderate sexual pleasures found in the indigenous woman.
The ignorance of the indigenous on the representative value of precious metals makes it an easy pray for the avaricious gold hunter. The sleepy and gregarious spirit of the aborigine disappears against the strong individualism of the Iberian man. The sweet and feminine soul of the autochthonous man melts and is annihilated by the rude and violent character of the invader".
This section of the book is from my own translation, you can find this book at the University of Auckland Library.
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