U.S. monuments to Spanish conquest face new criticism

SANTA FE, N.M. - Public statues and tributes to early Spanish conquerors are facing mounting criticism tied to the brutal treatment of American Indians centuries ago by Spanish soldiers and missionaries, with activists drawing ethical parallels to the national controversy over Confederate monuments.

From California to Florida, historical markers and commonplace names trace the path of the 16th century Spanish conquistadors and missionaries who explored and settled land inhabited by American Indians in what is now the U.S. Few, if any, of the monuments honoring them have come down.

The Spanish presence is particularly noticeable in parts of the Southwest, which Spaniards controlled for about 300 years.

Pageantry supporters say they are honoring their Spanish heritage, paying homage to the Roman Catholic faith and highlighting reconciliation. For Native American tribes, the monuments and events often are reminders of forced religious conversions and violence against resisters of Spanish rule.

Here’s a look at Spanish historical figures whose legacies are stirring protest and debate:

Don Diego de Vargas

Police thronged downtown Santa Fe streets on Friday to contain protests of an annual costumed pageant that re-enacts de Vargas’ 1692 arrival in Santa Fe, some 12 years after Pueblo Indians from small, scattered tribes rebelled against Spain.

There were no signs of violence among the roughly 100 protesters. But police Sgt. Gardner Finney said a dozen people were arrested on charges including trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Organizers of the “entrada” — or arrival — of de Vargas say the event on Santa Fe’s downtown plaza portrays a peaceful reconciliation between the conquistador and American Indians in shared reverence for a wood-carved Virgin Mary known as “La Conquistadora.”

New Mexico Deputy State Historian Rob Martinez says the dramatization wrongfully gives the impression that Native Americans welcomed back the Spanish, and activists say it obscures the cruelty de Vargas inflicted as he stamped out resistance to Spanish rule.

Juan de Onate

Juan de Onate’s arrival in present-day New Mexico in 1598 is re-enacted at an annual fiesta in Espanola, a small city set amid several Indian Pueblos in northern New Mexico.

To American Indians, Onate is known for having ordered the right feet cut off 24 captive tribal warriors after his soldiers stormed Acoma Pueblo’s mesa-top “sky city,” an attack precipitated by the killing of Onate’s nephew.

The former Onate Monument and Visitor Center reopened in August as the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Center. Board member Patricia Trujillo said some people avoided the building for its focus on Onate, although a statue of him still stands on the path to the front entrance.

Junipero Serra

A Franciscan friar who founded the Spanish mission system in California, Junipero Serra believed that American Indians needed to be baptized and taught to farm. Once converted, they were prohibited from leaving the missions and became largely dependent on the Spanish, said Robert Senkewicz, a history professor at Santa Clara University.

In August, a statue of Serra in Southern California was splashed with red paint and defaced with the word “murderer” in white. Other Serra statues were vandalized — one beheaded — surrounding his elevation to sainthood two years ago.

The popular picture in colonial California was one of heroic Spanish missionaries and content American Indians, Senkewicz said.

The problem isn’t Serra himself, Senkewicz said.

“The problem is he’s been allowed to symbolize everything.”

Juan Ponce de Leon

Juan Ponce de Leon is credited for naming Florida in 1513. Though he did not establish a permanent settlement, statues of him are found throughout the state.

He was among Spanish explorers who forged alliances with American Indians and fought against them. Ponce de Leon died from an arrow wound in 1521, said J. Michael Francis, who heads the Department of History and Politics at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg.

Ponce de Leon and Pedro Menendez de Aviles, who founded St. Augustine in 1565, are less controversial than explorers in the Southwest and the Spanish never gained a stronghold over the peninsula, Francis said.

Protesters say the period of ethnic genocide and environmental degradation is nothing to celebrate.