Guest Blogger, Manny Monolyn Moreno... Talks About His Yaqui Heritage - One Tribe Never Conquered!

It was 484 years ago, on the morning of October 4th, 1533, our Yaqui people had first contact with non-natives. After the Spanish conquistadors had defeated the great Meso-American empires and enslaved many tribes of present day southern Mexico, the Spaniards began to explore north of Mexico City. Captain Nuño de Guzman and his slave hunting party reached the Yaqui River, this being as far north as any white man had ever ventured in the “New World.”

A large population of Indians lived along the river and thousands of armed warriors confronted the Spanish and started to throw fistfuls of dirt in the air, drawing their bows and grimacing fiercely.

An Indian among the others emerged from the crowd wearing a black robe decorated with many carved pearl figures that shined like silver in the sunlight. He had his bow and quiver of arrows, and held a staff in his hand while ruling over the people.

This leader stepped out in front of the others, took his bow and drew a long line in the sand with it, knelt down to this line and kissed the ground. He rose up and stood, and he and the other Indians started to speak saying stop to the Spaniards, telling them that they weren’t welcome and shouldn’t pass that line or they would all be killed.

A battle took place and records state that the Yaqui fought with great spirit and that no other tribe had fought as well as they had since the Spaniards arrival to the Americas.

The Yaqui became known as the most valiant, belligerent, and independent tribes among others and were the most fiercest, savage, and barbaric fighters in all of New Spain.

We were the first tribe to stop these invaders and their colonization of Native America. We fought off their encroachment for seven more decades before we were the first tribe to strategically request Jesuit Priests to live among us in peace and at this time no Spanish soldiers were welcome to live in our lands.

To this day, the Yaqui are one of the few if not the only tribe that was never entirely conquered by the Spanish, Mexicans, and the U.S.

Thanks so much, Manny, for sharing here at Book Readers Heaven... Hey, everybody, you'll be seeing more from Manny as he has agreed to be an ongoing contributor! Cool, right?!

Some of you may already know Manny at Facebook. But I met him first through his books! Manny works to ensure his heritage is known and, if you are connected to him, you'll often see words in his language, with the translation... Me, I need to hear it, so I've added a primer for us to start learning by hearing the words... Try it and let us know if it works for you!

You know, folks, I've always had a great sympathy for the indigenous people of our nation. As Manny's story shows, there were early attempts to enslave his ancestors by the Spanish... Why is it that men who came to America felt that they could "use" people from other races as slaves... It boggles my mind to realize just how many of those who lived her first, were murdered or lost their freedom through the loss of land, claimed with little, if any, payment...

You know, I have to say that I was proud that Manny's ancestor fought to retain their freedom! Even though, through the years, little has been done by Americans to help those from whom they stole so much. It was good to learn that they were strong enough to fight back, and then, shrewd enough to ensure they would not be targeted, simply by opening their homes to those who spoke of God, instead of war...

Looking forward to having you back here soon, Manny!

God Bless,

Gabbie