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Lost Shores, Forgotten Peoples: Spanish Explorations of the South East Maya Lowlands
Long after the Aztecs and the Incas had become a fading memory, a Maya civilization still thrived in the interior of Central America. Lost Shores, Forgotten Peoples is the first collection and translation of important seventeenth-century narratives about Europeans travelling across the great “Ocean Sea” and encountering a people who had maintained an independent existence in the lowlands of Guatemala and Belize.
In these narratives—primary documents written by missionaries and conquistadors—vivid details of these little known Mayan cultures are revealed, answering how and why lowlanders were able to evade Spanish conquest while similar civilizations could not. Fascinating tales of the journey from Europe are included, involving unknown islands, lost pilots, life aboard a galleon fleet, political intrigue, cannibals, and breathtaking natural beauty. In short, these forgotten manuscripts—translations of the papers of the past—provide an unforgettable look at an understudied chapter in the age of exploration.
Lost Shores, Forgotten Peoples will appeal to archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians interested in Central America, the Maya, and the Spanish Conquest.
In these narratives—primary documents written by missionaries and conquistadors—vivid details of these little known Mayan cultures are revealed, answering how and why lowlanders were able to evade Spanish conquest while similar civilizations could not. Fascinating tales of the journey from Europe are included, involving unknown islands, lost pilots, life aboard a galleon fleet, political intrigue, cannibals, and breathtaking natural beauty. In short, these forgotten manuscripts—translations of the papers of the past—provide an unforgettable look at an understudied chapter in the age of exploration.
Lost Shores, Forgotten Peoples will appeal to archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians interested in Central America, the Maya, and the Spanish Conquest.
296 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2000
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September 9, 2018
I bought this book specifically to read about the Miskitu conflicts during the colonial period, but the book covers a wide scope of narratives from the colonial period.
However, this book left much to be desired, at least for my needs.
1. The author provides a single paragraph of context to each chapter, many of which span 20 or 30 pages. Copious foot-notes in the appendix do not make up for a proper introduction from an expert, which would have provided much-needed context to help me understand the texts I am about to read.
2. This might sound odd, but I think the author translated too much. I love Matthew Restall's work in Yucatec documents, precisely because he dives into the language and explores the use of vocabulary, formulaic and reverential address, cultural signifiers, the use and incorporation of foreign words, etc. In contrast, this author anglicizes even the terms for colonial church officials (e.g. sexton) and offers zero input on the language and discourse choices of the original text.
For example - How did Spanish colonists use their European language to describe American flora, fauna, and places? How did the Spanish interpret indigenous words for social structures, concepts, and community leaders? What was the meaning of lengthy dedications to Don So-and-So, the cultural significance of a random sermon about the Pope, what words did the Spanish use to describe Indians that they favored vs. those Indians that they deemed rebellious? How did the original Spanish authors use language and rhetoric to justify their worldviews and advance their own agenda to their audience? These are some of the language questions I have that I felt were not adequately answered.
3. Why are there only accounts by Spaniards? There are some 20-ish living Maya languages, and the Franciscans taught the nobility how to write in the Latin script back in the 1550s. I mean, literally every Spaniard from 1492 to 1821 was accompanied by Indian porters, translators, servants, guides, allies - surely 1 of them left some sort of documentation about the territory in question. And if not, I wish the author would explicitly address a paucity of Maya accounts.
However, this book left much to be desired, at least for my needs.
1. The author provides a single paragraph of context to each chapter, many of which span 20 or 30 pages. Copious foot-notes in the appendix do not make up for a proper introduction from an expert, which would have provided much-needed context to help me understand the texts I am about to read.
2. This might sound odd, but I think the author translated too much. I love Matthew Restall's work in Yucatec documents, precisely because he dives into the language and explores the use of vocabulary, formulaic and reverential address, cultural signifiers, the use and incorporation of foreign words, etc. In contrast, this author anglicizes even the terms for colonial church officials (e.g. sexton) and offers zero input on the language and discourse choices of the original text.
For example - How did Spanish colonists use their European language to describe American flora, fauna, and places? How did the Spanish interpret indigenous words for social structures, concepts, and community leaders? What was the meaning of lengthy dedications to Don So-and-So, the cultural significance of a random sermon about the Pope, what words did the Spanish use to describe Indians that they favored vs. those Indians that they deemed rebellious? How did the original Spanish authors use language and rhetoric to justify their worldviews and advance their own agenda to their audience? These are some of the language questions I have that I felt were not adequately answered.
3. Why are there only accounts by Spaniards? There are some 20-ish living Maya languages, and the Franciscans taught the nobility how to write in the Latin script back in the 1550s. I mean, literally every Spaniard from 1492 to 1821 was accompanied by Indian porters, translators, servants, guides, allies - surely 1 of them left some sort of documentation about the territory in question. And if not, I wish the author would explicitly address a paucity of Maya accounts.
Displaying 1 of 1 review