Finding Your Roots

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Host

Hernan was a sergeant in the army of Don Juan de Oate, a man known today as the last conquistador notorious for brutally subduing the Pueblo Indians. How do you feel about having a conquistador ancestor? You know, I've been sorta touting the whole Native American thing for my whole life. These are the conquistadors, Yeah. Who are not exactly smoking the peace pipe with the Native Americans. Right. I don't identify with that spirit. (drumming) Adrian seemed pained to learn about this ancestor, and it turned out that his anxiety was well founded. In 1598, Oate's men got into a dispute with one of the Pueblo tribes, the Acoma Indians. 12 Spaniards were killed. In response, Oate and his soldiers struck back, killing hundreds of Acoma men, women and children. Then they turned on the survivors in an almost unimaginable way. Oate ordered his men to amputate the foot of every man over the age of 25. Oh! That's, that's brutal. You know, I'd like to think that I was part of a more peaceful ancestry. I mean it was a war for survival, and it was a war for survival. And they had different values, absolutely. Completely. A total clash of cultures. Yeah.