The Indian in contemporary Mexican literature as portrayed in the works of Gregorio Lópaz y Fuentes

87 Pages·03.878 MB·English

by  Yorba, E. J

TEE INDIAN IN CONTEMPORARY MEXICAN LITERATURE
AS PORTRAYED IN THE WORKS OP
GREGORIO LOPEZ Y PUENTES
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Spanish Department
The U niversity of Southern C alifo rn ia
In P a r tia l F ulfillm ent
of the Requirements fo r the Degree
Master of Arts in Spanish
E rnest John Yorba
November 1942
UMI Number: EP65416
All rights reserved
INFORMATION TO ALL USERS
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.
In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript
and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed,
a note will indicate the deletion.
Dissjwtatien Publishing
UMI EP65416
Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author.
Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC.
All rights reserved. This work is protected against
unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code
ProQuest LLC.
789 East Eisenhower Parkway
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346
This thesis, written by
ERNEST JOHN YORBA
under the direction of hJLs. Faculty Committee,
and approved by all its members, has been
presented to and accepted by the Council on
Graduate Study and Research in partial fulfill­
ment of the requirements for the degree of
master OF.. ARTS
Dean /
Secretary
January.,1SL43
Date
Chairman
TABLE OP CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF THE STUDY . . . . i
I. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GREGORIO LOPEZ Y
FUENTES ....................................................................................... 1
His L i f e .................................................................................. 1
His N o v e l s ....................................................................... 3
El I n d i o ............................................................................ 3
A rrieros ............................................................................. 5
Campamento . . . . . . . • • 6
Mi G e n e r a l ....................................................................... 7
T i e r r a ...................................................................................• 10
H u a s t e c a ............................................................................ 11
C o n c lu s io n ............................................................................. 11
I I . THE LAND PROBLEM OF THE IN D IA N ............................... 13
Social Developments of the I n d i a n ..................... 13
Labor amongst the I n d i a n .................................... 14
Domestic R elations ......................................................... 15
H ealth and S a n i t a t i o n ............................................. 16
P ositio n of the Women............................................... 17
T ransportation P r o b l e m ............................................... 17
Land R e f o r m s .............................. 18
C o n c lu s io n • 24
I I I . THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF THE INDIAN..................... 26
Indian H e r ita g e ........................................................ 26
CHAPTER PAGE
The V illage P rie st • • • • • • • • • • • • 27
T raditions and F i e s t a s .............................................. 28
B elief in Supernatural Power . . . . . . 28
R elationship of R eligion to Medicine . . . 30
Curative Methods ......................................... 30
Conclusion .................................................... 31
IV. EDUCATION AMONGST THE IN D IA N S............................... 36
Indian Background . . ............................................... 36
I llite r a c y of the Masses • • • • • • • • • 39
Education fo r Life • • . . . • • • • . • • 41
Moral Education ............................... • • • • • 41
The Language Problem .................................................... 42
New Methods of Educating the Indian . . . 43
Types of Schools ............................................... 44
Conclusion ........................................................................ 48
V. INDIAN GOVERNMENT.............................................................. 51
P a tria rc h a l O rganization . . ................................ 51
Taxation • • • • • • • 52
Ind ian ’ s Fear of White M a n ................................... 53
Defrauding of I n d i a n ................................................... 54
Credit System ................................................... 55
F inancial P o sition of the Indian . . . . . 55
P o litic s ............................................................................ 57
Conclusion ........................................................ 59
CHAPTER PAGE
VI. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ................................ 61
Summary .................................................................... 61
C o n c lu s io n ................................... . . 62
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . ......................................................................... 66
INTRODUCTION
THE INDIAN PROBLEM IN MEXICO
An outstanding problem in the h isto ry of Mexico has
been th a t of the Indian. Since the advent of the white man
in to Mexico to the p resent, th is fig u re has liv e d in m isery
and ignorance.
The Indian was w illin g to change m asters ra th e r than
oppose a ra c ia l enemy when the Spaniards came because of
having been ru le d by despotic c h ie fta in s and having been
h eld in re lig io u s bondage to cruel gods. There v/ere th ree
fa c to rs th at in sp ired the Spanish conquerors: physical
co n tro l, r a c ia l amalgamation, and in te lle c tu a l co n tro l.^
In th is country of c o n flictin g cu ltu res and psy­
chologies, th e predom inating fac to r today is Indian. This
is a lower race cu lture upon which the higher id e a ls of
2
w hites are being imposed creatin g a veneer.
There are many Ind.ian d ia le c ts spoken in Mexico.
The Indian c h a ra c te ristic s th at are dominant are sub­
m issiveness and gen tlen ess. Due to th e existence of many
d iffe re n t trib e s , each of which has i t s own te r r ito r y ,
^ C arleton B eals, Mexico an In te rp re ta tio n (New York
B. W. Huebsch, 1923), pp. 3-18.
2
Loc. c it.
there e x ists a so rt of se m i-p o litic a l independence among
them. The clan or kinship groups are known as c a lp u lli
and are ruled by a cacique.
Each community had an ejid o or community pasture
land o rig in a lly ; l a t e r , th is p lo t of land became the com-
mon a g ric u ltu ra l land of the Indian v illa g e . Some
Indians liv e d in ra n c h e ria s, which were sc a tte re d and
iso la te d clumps of houses. These were governed by a
group of e ld e rs.
THE PROBLEM
The purpose of th is study is to discuss the d if ­
feren t phases of th e social and economic l i f e of the
Indian as portrayed in the novels of Gregorio Lopez y
Fuentes and to show what influence h is w ritin g s have had
in molding the fu tu re of h is people in Mexico. Also a
comparison w ill be made w ith other w rite rs to show th at
Lopez y Fuentes* views are not always the re a l viewpoint
held.by the people.
H eretofore, the Indian had been com pletely ignored
except to work in the fie ld s fo r the Church and hacendados.
I t was only through the influence o f g reat Mexican w rite rs
3 L eslie B. Simpson, Many Mexicos (New York: G. P.
Putnam Sons, 1941), pp. 163.
iii
lik e Gregorio Lopez y Puentes, Mariano Azuela, Jose^ Manuel.
Puig Gasauranc, Jose Vasconcelos, and others th a t the
economical and so c ia l sta tu s of the Indian has changed to ­
day.
iv
THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The follow ing problems w ill be tre a te d in the sub­
sequent chapters in re la tio n to the Indian problem, those
dealing w ith the land, the e jid o , and its re s to ra tio n to
the v illa g e s, the d iv isio n of the haciendas, so cial i n s t i ­
tu tio n s, the re lig io u s question, the education problem,,
the Indian p o litic ia n , the fin a n c ia l p o sitio n of the
Indian, the problem of governmentr and f in a lly , th a t of
tra n sp o rta tio n .
In order to get a b e tte r p ersp ectiv e of the period
and of the problems Lopez y Fuentes discu sses, i t is ne­
cessary to have a general background of Mexican h isto ry .
Mexico was conquered by Hernan Cortes in the year
1519 because the Aztec empire was a weak, d isu n ite d nation
f u ll of riv a lr ie s when Cortes a rriv e d . The la s t Moctezuma
had weakened h is government by d isg ru n tlin g h is su b je cts.
Previous mention has already been made showing how the
Indians liv e d with th e ir ejid o s In v illa g e s and v^ere
governed by a cacique or by a group of eld ers.
From the time of a rriv a l of the Spaniards t i l l the
Revolution of 1911, the Indian had suffered much m isery
and w retchedness. He had been re le g a te d to a p o sitio n
comparable to th a t of a se rf. For example, the encomiendas
were land grants assigned to indiv idu als which included a