'Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest' by Matthew Restall

0 Comments | Indian Country Today (Lakota Times), August, 2004 | by Burnham, Philip

Burnham, Philip Indian Country Today (Lakota Times) 08-04-2004 WASHINGTON - Hernando Cortez conquered the Aztecs almost 500 years ago. The event, by now, has achieved legendary status. We know how the Aztecs mistook the conquistadors for gods; the Spanish attacked and laid waste to the Valley of Mexico; and Native cultures were crushed in a tragedy ever after known to history as the "Conquest." What a shame, as Matthew Restall wrote in "Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest" (Oxford University Press), that much of that history has been distorted, knowingly or not, and in a way that makes Native people seem invisible or powerless in the wake of their European invaders. Restall argued that we have been taught cliches about the Conquest, not facts - and the facts, so...