Florentin Paragrax And The Hopi Summary

The Florentine Codex and the Hopi's oral history tell us about their first encounters with the Spaniards. The Spanish entered the Hopi's land, and the people assumed these were the "white brother." The Florentine Codex tells us about Montezuma's belief in the evil omens that foretold the coming of the Spanish and the ruin of the Aztec nation. The Hopi's oral history explains the assumption made by their tribe that the Spanish were the mythological gods they had been waiting for. "When the Spaniards came, the Hopi thought that they were the ones they were looking for—their white brother, the Bahana, their savior" (Hopi 150). The Hopi tribe assumed the Spanish were the "white brother," the mythological gods that would one day come to their lands.

The missionary came to save them from idolatry, and the people should forget their idolatry and believe in the God of the Spanish and be saved. However, the missionary did not like the customs of the tribe, so he destroyed them. "The missionary did not like the ceremonies. He did not like the kachinas, and he destroyed the altars and the customs" (Hopi 151). The Spanish removed their altars and stripped the Hopi tribe of their culture. The Hopi could not revolt against the destroyer of their lands. The Spanish believed they had complete control over the people and the land, and under their guidance New Spain would grow into a huge kingdom. The Spanish believed they were entitled to control the resources and the dominate the

“Montezuma only awaited the Spaniards: he made himself resolute; he put forth heroic effort; he quieted, he controlled his heart; he submitted himself entirely to whatsoever he was to see, at which he was to marvel" (Codex 26). Montezuma loses his command as the Spanish authority dominates his tribe. He assumes they were the gods he saw only ten years ago in the heavens. However, shortly after his encounters with the Spaniards he comes to understand they are not gods. Even though he knows they have no supernatural authority, he prepares himself and resigns his empire and the Spanish conquer his lands. He justifies his submission to the Spanish on the evil omens that foretold the arrival of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire. The Spanish plundered the Aztec nation and easily assume they have privilege and superiority over Montezuma’s