Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Going Native


Remember the story about the Indian princess Pocahontas who fell in love with and married the English colonist in America, John Rolfe?

Well, the Yucatan has its own similar story, that of Gonzalo Guerrero (pictured here).
This is the TRUE story, as described under the painting at the Governor's Palace:

"This brave mariner survived a shipwreck (in 1511) on the coast of Yucatan along with a priest named Jeronimo de Aguilar. When they reached land, they were captured by the Mayas, who kept them in cages. Eight years later, Hernan Cortes--who was passing through Yucatan--rescued Aguilar, but Guerrero, who had married the daughter of the chief of Chetemal (today Chetumal) and had a family refused to go with Cortes. Guerror fought beside the Maya against the Spanish and died heroically in battle on Aug. 13, 1536 in Puert Cabello, Honduras. Guerrero is considered the father of "mestizago" (the mixing of races) in Yucatan.