Posted by Margaret Carson on March 09, 192003 at 23:40:02:
In light of the current headlines, I was so overwhelmed by the speeches extolling war that I didn’t at first see the play as a critique of war and the Spanish triumph. However after reading Sandra Dahlberg’s essay I am persuaded by her argument that the text is more problematic and complex than previously thought. The question of authorship may never be resolved, but it seems certain that the play was written by a criollo, someone of Spanish heritage who was born in New Mexico and forced to submit to the Spanish tribute and militia system. Resentment grew towards Spain as it did in the thirteen colonies towards England. The whims and obsessions of appointed governors from Spain wrecked havoc on a fragile coexistence between Southern Plains tribes and the criollos. Perhaps the criollos wondered who was more of a danger, the Southern Plains Indians or the Spanish? It is very striking that the Comanche characters are given equal time, are given lines that do not strip them of their dignity, and like Atau Wallpa, Cuerno Verde can be seen as a tragic hero, bravely meeting his death.
I also want to comment on the curious symmetry of this play. The play has a format: point/counterpoint, challenge/counterchallenge. The action seems to be taking place in parallel spaces, Comanche speaking to Comanche and Spaniard to Spaniard, with no communication between the two. The odd note is Barriga Dulce’s soliloquy at the end; he is speaking to himself into a void.
How was this play staged and who played the parts? Perhaps further research (in newspaper archives? memoirs, letters, travel journals?) will uncover descriptions of actual performances of this play in the late 18th century.