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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 6 



carried. A short distance from Tzintzuntzan 

 they were met by 800 nobles and escorted to 

 the capital, where they were received with "joy 

 and veneration." Food was prepared and the 

 Spaniards were well treated. Subsequently they 

 were forced to stay in a small enclosure for 18 

 days, while Tangaxoan debated their fate before 

 finally deciding to sacrifice them. Fortunately, 

 an old lord, perhaps fearful of the powers of 

 the Spaniards, persuaded the king that it was 

 unworthy of a monarch to thus treat messengers 

 of another, and that they should be set free and 

 sent to Mexico with gifts of all kinds. Torn 

 between fear and hate, the king showered gifts 

 on the relieved Spaniards and sent them on 

 their way to Mexico, with the promise that he 

 would recognize the sovereignty of the king of 

 Castile. 



In July of the same year Cristobal de Olid 

 with two hundred Spaniards invaded Michoa- 

 can, and captured the city of Taximaroa. The 

 king made ready to fight, assembled his armies, 

 and sent an Indian known in the literature as 

 Don Pedro Cuirananguari as spy. Don Pedro 

 was captured by Olid and, after witnessing a 

 Mass, decided that all Spaniards were great 

 wizards and that resistance was useless. He was 

 sent back to Tzintzuntzan with the demand that 

 the king present himself at a place called Quan- 

 gaceo with cloths, turkeys, eggs, and fish. 



The terrified king, in spite of the assurances 

 of the peaceful intentions of the Spaniards, fled 

 to the hills with his wives, and was in hiding 

 when Olid arrived. Meanwhile, those left in 

 Tzintzuntzan sacrificed 800 prisoners to prevent 

 their falling into the hands of the Spaniards as 

 possible allies, and informed the conquistador 

 that their king had drowned. Olid ordered that 

 all treasures be gathered together and sent to 

 Cortes under the supervision of the same Don 

 Pedro. Subsequently the king came out of hid- 

 ing and aided in rounding up the last of the 

 Tarascan treasures, with which he was sent, 

 weeping for fear, to Mexico. Cortes received 

 him with hospitality, showed him the son of 

 Moctezuma with his feet burned for treachery, 

 and suggested that he should not act like the 

 Aztecs. According to Beaumont, Tangaxoan and 

 his men always ate with Cortes, and, though 

 pleased with Spanish cuisine, were much more 



impressed with Spanish wine (Beaumont, 1932, 

 vol. 2, p. 24). Greatly impressed, both by fear 

 and friendly treatment, the calzonci went over 

 completely to the Spaniards, and was allowed 

 to return to rule over his people.^ 



The data reveal little of what happened dur- 

 ing the next 2 years. In 1525, hearing of the 

 arrival of the first 12 Franciscan friars (1522- 

 23), King Tangaxoan resolved to go to Mexico 

 again, to ask that one or more be sent to Mi- 

 choacan. As Beaumont puts it, he was reward- 

 ed by God for his good will and diligence by 

 being the first Tarascan whose soul was washed 

 in baptismal waters, taking the Christian name 

 of Francisco. Fray Martin de Valencia, who 

 was in charge of the Franciscans, listened to 

 his plea and appointed Fray Martin de Jesus, 

 also known as de la Corona, and 5 other friars 

 to return to Michoacan with the king." 



Thus, at the end of 1525 or the beginning of 

 1526 — there are conflicting statements in the 

 sources — the first friars arrived in Tzintzun- 

 tzan. Immediately they surveyed the town for 

 the best location for their church, which was 

 quickly erected with wood, to be followed by 

 a temporary convent with straw cells. In the 

 new church of Santa Ana a wooden cross was 

 raised and the first Mass celebrated. Through 

 an interpreter Fray Martin "represented to them 

 with much vivacity and eflflciency the abomina- 

 ble errors in which they had lived, the awfulness 

 of their sacrifices which they made of men, 

 against all natural right, and the falsity of their 

 idols and gods which were nothing more than 

 instruments, images, and pictures of the devil" 

 (Beaumont, 1932, vol. 2, pp. 111-112). Never- 

 theless, the Tzintzuntzenos were loathe to aban- 

 don their old gods, so, making use of his friend- 

 ship with Tangaxoan, Fray Martin, in the pres- 

 ence of a great multitude, broke all of the 

 idols in the temples into pieces and, along with 

 the gold, silver, and precious stones with which 

 they were adorned, cast them into the deepest 

 part of Lake Patzcuaro. Subsequently, the friars 

 explained the new religion each morning and 



1 Beaumont, apparently erroneously, says that the calzonci 

 went to see Cortes before Olid arrived, and that when the 

 conquistador came he was cordially received (vol. 2, p. 24). 



2 Other sources suggest that only 2 or 3 friars went. Since 

 only 12 had arrived in Mexico, it is hardly to be expected 

 that half of them would go to one place. 



