Ramón Gutíerrez. When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away: Marriage, Sexuality, and Power in New Mexico, 1500-1846
"Statements Submitted for the Symposium on When Jesus Came, the Corn Mothers Went Away, at the 1993 Annual Meeting of the Organization of American Historians."
1. How do you account for the differences in the Pueblo origin myths given by Matilda Cox Stevenson (Zía Pueblo) and the Acoma Origin Myth recounted by Gutíerrez? How much of the difference is due to Gutíerrez's interpretation of the myth?
2. What are the reasons that Gutíerrez gives for the early success of the Spanish colonizers and Franciscan missionaries among the Pueblos in New Mexico?
3. What analytical concepts allow Gutíerrez to claim to interpret the Pueblo side of the early contact and subsequent domination of the Río Grande peoples by the Spanish? What assumptions does he make about the relationship between past and present Pueblo peoples?
4. What kinds of authority do Gutíerrez's critics cite to attack his claim interpret the Pueblo side of the early Spanish-Pueblo contact and subsequent history of the Río Grande area? Upon what assumptions about the relationship between past and present Pueblo peoples is this criticism based?
5. What is the larger historical story or plot (as in tale) that the two sides are contesting? How might the contested areas connect to contemporary issues of ethnic identity in New Mexico?
6. What are the causes given for the Pueblo revolt of 1680? What does the revolt say about the makeup of Pueblo culture?