Beginning in the late 1400s, Spain explored and colonized much of North and South America. Their empire would stretch across most of America as we now it today, spilling down into all of Central America and the entire West Coast of South America. When colonizing California, the Spaniards believed that their land would fall under both Spanish law and religion. The Spanish culture differed greatly from that of the native Californian Indians so the Christianized Spaniards attempted to reform the marriage customs and sexual practices of the Indians they encountered. Their previous attempt at reforming religion in a colonized culture proved to be successful when Father Juniper Serra reformed a young girl who was in a "sinful" relationship with an older man. Based on this success the Spanish wanted to Hispanicize and to Christianize the Californian Indians, therefore sexual reformation was an important matter.
Spanish society followed the canons for Christianity. They forbade premarital sex. Marriages were for life, and fidelity was expected. Divorce was not granted unless the circumstances were extreme. Christianity had a variety of acceptable sexual practices and all others were considered sins, among which the "sins against nature," including homosexuality, were considered the worst. Christians believed that sexual intercourse was for procreation and not pleasure, thus only one sexual position was allowed. These were the sexual ideologies that the Spaniards brought to California and intended to impart on the Indians
The sexual practices of the Indians varied greatly from that of the Spanish colonists. Virginity was not a primary concern in finding a spouse and premarital sex was not a taboo. Monogamy was expected in Indian marriages and infidelity was grounds for divorce while other punishments for infidelity included whipping, and, in extreme cases, execution. According to Albert Hurtado "anthropologists characterize the common Gabrielino marital pattern as serial monogamy with occasional polygyny, indicating that separations were common." Another phenomenon in Indian sexual practices is the berdache, a male homosexual transvestite. The Indians believed them to be both male and female, and would often marry heterosexual males.
The Spanish believed the Indians to be a backward race who were "incomprehensible," while the Indians did not understand why such strict regulations. Hurtado explains a perfect example of this on page 11 of Sex, Gender and Culture in Old California. Indian men, he says, usually did not wear clothing, and women only wore skirts. While the missionaries wondered why the Indians were not embarrassed, and tried to clothe them, the Indians did not understand the need for these strict rules. One way the Spanish tried to get the Indians to adopt their sexual restraint was by separating the male and female Indians at night, which as unsuccessful.
The Spanish colonists and the Californian Indians were two different cultures that found it difficult to understand each other. Each had their own practices and were set in their own ways, and found the other's culture abnormal. Their misunderstandings lead to diseases and revolts leaving Indians and colonists dead. In Hurtado's words "Indian and Spanish sexuality embodied the paradox and identity of their all-too-human encounter."
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Jesus enjoys making food on his BBQ and enjoying his yard. He writes on his website about the Coleman Mosquito Deleto and the Coleman Mosquito Deleto System. |