Andrew L. Knaut
1 One of the few temporary sucess for the Indians......
A very interesting book on a rare event where the Indians actually drove out their white conquerors from a long established colony. In 1680, the Pueblo Indians of norther New Mexico rose up in massive revolt against their Spanish overlords and managed for a short time, to regained their independence from colonial rule. This revolt came after nearly four generations of colonial rule where continued Spanish misrule generated this revolt.
The book proves to be well written and researched as the author explained how this revolt came to be. According to the author, much of for the revolt had to do with the following factors. Rejection of Christianity, economic dependency on the white, inter-racial marriages between whites and Indians and how that reflects on the fact that small numbers of Europeans were controlling larger numbers of Indians. In four generations, many of the Spanish colonialists have intermarried with the local Indians, blurring the racial lines. White intimidation fades as the conqerors and the conquered blended in.
The book proves to be a short read but it turned out to be very informative and rather an eye-opener. Spanish did managed to reconquered New Mexico once more in the 1690s, never again were the Indians sucessful in pushing out their European overlords which have been in place for generations. (It would be like if the 1862 Dakota Indian Revolt in Minnesota were successful!) The book come highly recommended for those interested in western colonial history.
