Researching Whitewashed History

On the 30th June 1520 the Spanish conquistadors, led by Cortes, suffered through the humiliating barbarity of the Noche Triste. The 'sad night' was blamed on the Aztec warriors who ambushed them and drove them out of Tenochtitlan, the capital city of what was to become New Spain. The Aztecs finally retreated after stealing booty and declaring themselves the victors, leaving the Spanish to lick their wounds and seek help among their Tlaxcala allies. One year later, they returned to triumphantly conquer the city once and for all.

Noche Triste

So says the Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Aztec and Maya, a book written in 2006 as a comprehensive overview of two mesoamerican nations. And it's not exactly wrong. It omits enough facts to make us sympathise with the Spaniards, and there's no arguing that they did suffer a huge defeat. For an army used to defeating glass spears with their superior cannon, the ambush tactics of the Aztec army must have come as a huge shock. But while the Encyclopedia suggests that this was a matter of greed and pride, one event tells another story.

The Alvarado Massacre took place a month before the Noche Triste. The story goes that, while Montezuma was imprisoned in his own palace, Cortes left the city in the charge of his second in command, Don Alvarado. Montezuma asked Alvarado if his people could celebrate the festival of Toxcatl. Alvarado agreed, and scores of Tenochtitlan citizens gathered at the Great Temple. After this point the story turns to hearsay: some say that the Spanish were greedy for the gold the noble Aztecs were wearing. Some say Alvarado heard the drums and singing and ordered his men to stop the 'riot'. Some say the Spanish intervened during a human sacrifice. Whatever the reason, the Spanish soldiers attacked the unarmed men, women and children and slaughtered them. Some climbed the walls of the plaza in order to escape.

Alvarado's betrayal and brutality ignited the anger which had been running through the city since its occupation began. One month later the anger reached its peak, and the Spanish were driven from the city. The Aztec were to endure famine, disease and starvation in the year to come.

The Spanish said, 'it was a sad night'. They did not say the same thing about the massacre. And now, some respected books barely mention it at all.

During my research for Drowning Altar I have come across these stories over and over again. My story is written from the perspective of an Aztec woman, and so my own narrative will be biased. However, I find it infuriating that the things I was taught in school, and the things I now read in books, are still so explicitally whitewashed. The word 'Aztec' is synonymous with jagged sigils, human sacrifice and ancient prophecies. You have to dig down to find the very real tragedies which occurred. The more we focus on the gruesome parts of history, the more removed we get from the people who lived and breathed it.