Oñate's Foot

In: Aztlán: international journal of Chicano studies research, Band 33, Heft 2, S. 91-119

Abstract

This essay analyzes the historical construction of "Spanish" icons in northern New Mexico and the complex Hispanic and Chicano identities they both evoke and mask. It focuses on the January 1998 vandalism of a statue depicting New Mexico's first Spanish colonial governor, Don Juan de Oñate. The removal of the Oñate statue's foot references a brutal colonial encounter in 1599, when Oñate ordered the amputation of one foot each from Pueblo men in the rebellious Native American village of Acoma. In this case study, national and regional narratives as well as self-consciously oppositional narratives collude, conflict, and supplement one another. I conclude that the vandalized statue offers a dynamic and "open" icon that powerfully represents the contradictions of New Mexican Chicana/o identity, shedding light on the complex and contradictory identities of all Mexican-origin peoples in the United States.