1 Do a Marina and Spanish negotiations with the Aztecs Bernal D az del Castillo 1517 1521 Perhaps the most famous 16th century portrayal of Do a Marina this description is also the most extensive from the period D az del Castillo claims she was beautiful and intelligent she could speak Nahuatl and Maya Without Do a Marina he says the Spaniards could not have understood the language of Mexico These words while evocative were written decades after D az del Castillo marched with Cort s on Tenochtitlan and thus represent both his memory of Do a Marina and his reply to accounts of the conquest written and published by others Early the next morning many Caciques and chiefs of Tabasco and the neighboring towns arrived and paid great respect to us all and they brought a present of gold consisting of four diadems and some gold lizards and two ornaments like little dogs and earrings and five ducks and two masks with Indian faces and two gold soles for sandals and some other things of little value I do not remember how much the things were worth and they brought cloth such as they make and wear which was quilted stuff This present however was worth nothing in comparison with the twenty women that were given us among them one very excellent woman called Do a Marina for so she was named when she became a Christian Cort s received this present with pleasure and went aside with all the Caciques and with Aguilar the interpreter to hold converse and he told them that he gave them thanks for what they had brought with them but there was one thing that he must ask of them namely that they should re occupy the town with all their people women and children and he wished to see it repeopled within two days for he would recognize that as a sign of true peace The Caciques sent at once to summon all the inhabitants with their women and children and within two days they were again settled in the town One other thing Cort s asked of the chiefs and that was to give up their idols and sacrifices and this they said they would do and through Aguilar Cort s told them as well as he was able about matters concerning our holy faith how we were Christians and worshipped one true and only God and he showed them an image of Our Lady with her precious Son in her arms and explained to them that we paid the greatest reverence to it as it was the image of the Mother of our Lord God who was in heaven The Caciques replied that they liked the look of the great Teleciguata for in their language great ladies are called Teleciguatas and begged that she might be given them to keep in their town and Cort s said that the image should be given to them and ordered them to make a well constructed altar and this they did at once The next morning Cort s ordered two of our carpenters named Alonzo Ya ez and Alvaro L pez to make a very tall cross 2 When all this had been settled Cort s asked the Caciques what was their reason for attacking us three times when we had asked them to keep the peace the chief replied that he had already asked pardon for their acts and had been forgiven that the Cacique of Champoton his brother had advised it and that he feared to be accused of cowardice for he had already been reproached and dishonored for not having attacked the other captain who had come with four ships he must have meant Juan de Grijalva and he also said that the Indian whom we had brought as an Interpreter who escaped in the night had advised them to attack us both by day and night Cort s then ordered this man to be brought before him without fail but they replied that when he saw that the battle was going against them he had taken to flight and they knew not where he was although search had been made for him but we came to know that they had offered him as a sacrifice because his counsel had cost them so dear Cort s also asked them where they procured their gold and jewels and they replied from the direction of the setting sun and said Culua and Mexico and as we did not know what Mexico and Culua meant we paid little attention to it Then we brought another interpreter named Francisco whom we had captured during Grijalva s expedition who has already been mentioned by me but he understood nothing of the Tabasco language only that of Culua which is the Mexican tongue By means of signs he told Cort s that Culua was far ahead and he repeated Mexico which we did not understand So the talk ceased until the next day when the sacred image of Our Lady and the Cross were set up on the altar and we all paid reverence to them and Padre Fray Bartolom de Olmedo said mass and all the Caciques and chiefs were present and we gave the name of Santa Maria de la Victoria to the town and by this name the town of Tabasco is now called The same friar with Aguilar as interpreter preached many good things about our holy faith to the twenty Indian women who had been given us and immediately afterwards they were baptized One Indian lady who was given to us here was christened Do a Marina and she was truly a great chieftainess and the daughter of great Caciques and the mistress of vassals and this her appearance clearly showed Later on I will relate why it was and in what manner she was brought here Cort s allotted one of the women to each of his captains and Do a Marina as she was good looking and intelligent and without embarrassment he gave to Alonzo Hern ndez Puertocarrero When Puertocarrero went to Spain Do a Marina lived with Cort s and bore him a son named Don Martin Cort s We remained five days in this town to look after the wounded and those who were suffering from pain in the loins from which they all recovered Furthermore Cort s drew the Caciques to him by kindly converse and told them how our master the Emperor whose vassals we were had under his orders many to render him obedience and that then whatever they might be in need of 3 whether it was our protection or any other necessity if they would make it known to him no matter where he might be he would come to their assistance The Caciques all thanked him for this and thereupon all declared themselves the vassals of our great Emperor These were the first vassals to render submission to His Majesty in New Spain Cort s then ordered the Caciques to come with their women and children early the next day which was Palm Sunday to the altar to pay homage to …
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