The Sins of the Fathers: Franciscan Friars, Parish Priests, and the Sexual Conquest of the Yucatec Maya, 1545-1808

Abstract

Differing from the rapid political, economic, and social conquests, the conquest of indigenous sexuality was often a long and deeply contested arena of indigenous-Spanish encounters. The roots of what can be called the “sexual conquest” of the Yucatec Maya began with the initial missions of the Franciscan friars. The earliest friars produced vocabularies, grammars, sermons, and confession manuals as tools for their missionary effort. By analyzing these missionary creations, we can approach an understanding of the friars' views of Maya sexuality. The Maya, however, often took the missionary teachings concerning proper and improper sexual activities, and through the lens of their own cultural concepts of sexuality and sexual relations they manipulated them for their own purposes. This paper will examine how the knowledge of the “sins of the fathers” served both the missionaries and the Maya in their struggle for control over the complex nature of evolving colonial sexuality.

Contagion and Alterity: Kowoj Maya Appropriations of European Objects

“…In many colonial situations, powerful foreigners become subtypes of gods. Although this was not the case in the Spanish interaction with the Maya, they did become a subtype of the legendary Itza—depraved intruders from the east, possessing knowledge (Chuchiak 2007:77–83; Clendinnen 1980:384). Nevertheless, some Maya considered the Spaniards “three times” worse than the Itza and argued that the Spaniards were the source of decimating biological contagions (Edmonson 1986:149).…”

“…Alternately, many respected Spanish iron weapons (Restall 2003:143), and some appreciated Spanish knowledge, regarded clergy as wise travelers, and at least initially compared the Spaniards with the legendary Itza (Clendinnen 1980:384; Helms 1988:151) 1 . However, like the legendary Itza, the Spaniards were also known for their immorality and sexual depravity (Chuchiak 2007:77–83). Apparently, Avendaño y Loyola's knowledge so impressed the Petén Itza that they gave the title Kitkaan or “Father of Heaven,” while the Kowoj schemed to kill him (Jones 1998:208).…”

Resistance, the Church, and a Comparison of Ceramics from Sixteenth-Century Caluco, El Salvador

“…Many contemporary historical sources discuss the colonial period in Latin America (Brown 1996;Chuchiak 2007;Overmyer-Velázquez 2005;Peel 1995;Restall 2003;Stear 2014). Some areas of study include the conquest, with emphasis on the conquistadors.…”

“…Misunderstandings of Native American religions by the Spanish and English caused colonial-period writers to equate the religions with paganism and Satanism, which was then used to justify atrocities committed against the practitioners (Bauer 2014). Also, the study of native sources has led to a better understanding of how the indigenous viewed the colonial experience (Llerena 2014) and the relationship between members of the clergy and natives (Chuchiak 2007). In addition, Bethell's 1984 work covered Mesoamerica and Europe before, during, and after the conquest, along with a section about the Catholic Church in America.…”

“…In addition, it was used to study the construction of churches in Belize and the Yucatán during the Colonial Period (Andrews 1991). And Chuchiak (2007 employed Marxian theory when he researched the social relations between Yucatec Maya and Franciscan friars and writing as a form of resistance used by the Maya against the friars.…”