Don Luis
Don Luís de Velasco (fl. 1561-1571
Virginia Indians
During the sixteenth century, the Indians in Tidewater Virginia were Algonquian speakers. They lived in towns and villages located along the rivers feeding the Chesapeake Bay, and were ruled by chiefs, or weroances that were part of the Powhatan confederacy.[6]
Spanish exploration
Early in the 16th century, Spanish explorers discovered the Chesapeake Bay while in search of the fabled Northwest Passage. They gave the land now known as Virginia the name Ajacán.
After several failed attempts at colonization of the portion of the New World now known as the future United States, the Spanish succeeded in 1565 with the establishment of
Early life
Spanish exploration northward in the area of the Chesapeake Bay continued into the late 16th century. During an exploratory voyage in June 1561, ordered by
Though King Philip ordered him returned to North America, friars from the Dominican order in Mexico City denied Don Luís' repatriation. Against his wishes, the Dominican provincial fray Pedro de Feria refused to allow him passage home. Don Luís remained in Mexico until 1566, when King Philip commanded that he depart to Cuba and take part in an expedition to the Delmarva Peninsula.[9]
Ajacán Mission on Virginia's Lower Peninsula
In 1570,
In August 1570, Father Segura, Father Luís de Quiros, former head of the Jesuit college among the Moors in Spain, and six Jesuit brothers set forth from their base in Havana to establish their new mission in Ajacán. A young Spanish boy, Alonso de Olmos, called Aloncito, also accompanied the priests to serve mass. They were also accompanied by Don Luís as their guide and translator. On September 10, Don Luís and nine Spaniards landed in the region now known as the Virginia Peninsula.[10]
Approximate location
It is possible the location they chose was at Queen's Creek on the north side of the Lower Peninsula, near the York River. More recent findings suggest that the mission may have been on the New Kent side of Diascund Creek near its confluence with the Chickahominy River.[11]
Don Luís likely set about attempting to locate his native village which he had not seen in ten years. There, a small wooden hut was constructed with an adjoining room where mass could be celebrated. Soon after the ship bringing them had departed, Don Luís left the Jesuits, supposedly to seek his uncle and supplies.
Abandonment, massacre
As time went by, first days, and then months, the eight Jesuits realized that they had been abandoned. To their added misfortune, it was a time when the mid-Atlantic region was enduring a long period of famine.[2] The food they brought with them was in short supply. Immediately there was a dependence on the Indians for food.
They successfully traded with some natives for food, but it was increasingly in short supply as the winter months set in. Around February 1571, Don Luís returned with other natives and stole all their clothing and supplies. The natives killed both of the priests and all six brothers. Only Alonso de Olmos, the young servant boy, was spared.
Survivor, retaliation, aftermath
In the spring of 1571, after the massacre at the Ajacán Mission, a Spanish supply ship arrived and found natives wearing the missionaries' garments and ornaments. Two natives were captured and interrogated, informing the crew of the massacre.[12]
In August 1572,
Before leaving the bay, Menéndez de Avilés had the remaining native hostages baptized and hanged from the ships' yards. During the expedition, 20 natives were killed.[13][12]
The failed attempt at establishing a mission in Virginia was the end of Spanish ventures to colonize the area. Don Luís subsequently disappeared from the historical record.
Possible link between Don Luís and Opechancanough
At the time of the first permanent English settlement at
It has been speculated by some historians that Don Luís may have been Opechancanough. However, Paquiquino (Don Luis) was of the Paspahegh Tribe while Opechancanough was of the Pamunkey and Powhatan Tribes, they were not born of the same people. While both men are believed to have been born about the same time, and both have a reputation for being violently opposed to European settlers, Murrin suggests that Opechancanough was more likely the nephew or cousin of Don Luis.[14]
Possible father of Powhatan
Alternatively, some believe that Don Luís may have been the father of
"Thirdly they should at all times be ready and willing to furnish vs with three or foure hundred bowmen to aide vs against the Spaniards, whose name is odious amongst them, for Powhatans father was driuen by them from the west-Indies into those parts..." - Ralph Hamor, A TRVE DISCOVRSE of the present estate of Virginia, and the successe of the affaires there till the 18 of Iune. 1614.[15]
Based on this possibility, Frank T. Siebert Jr. speculates that Don Luis' experience observing Spanish rule contributed to the later founding of the Powhatan Confederacy by uniting six tribes before of his presumable death around 1583-1585, at which point Wahunsonacock could have succeeded him.[5]
The belief that Don Luis could be Wahunsonacock's father is flawed, however, for it is not chronologically possible. Paquinquineo was a youth when he was kidnapped by the Spanish, and is thought to have been born between 1540 and 1550. The Spanish liked young captives that could easily learn the Spanish language and still remember their native tongue. Wahunsonacock is believed to have been born about 1547. John Smith estimated that he was born in 1547, while William Strachey thought he could have been born as early as 1527. Therefore, Wahunsonacock was either older than or of the same age as Don Luis.[16] Additionally, the Powhatan Indians were a matrilineal society, Wahunsonacock explained to the English that he inherited his right to rule from his mother, and that his siblings, not his own children, would succeed him. Based upon this, it is believed that the chief before Wahunsonacock was likely his uncle, but certainly not his father.[17]
Modern times
Descendants of the Powhatan Confederacy live on in Virginia in many places, including two reservations in King William County. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond has designated St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in New Kent County as the new shrine of the Jesuit martyrs.
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0-8203-1654-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8130-2966-5. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8078-3159-5. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
- ^ a b Rountree, Helen C. (December 15, 2010). "Don Luís de Velasco / Paquinquineo (fl. 1561–1571)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8203-0334-5.
- ^ Huber, Margaret Williamson (January 12, 2011). "Powhatan (d. 1618)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- ^ Toscano, Nicolás (2008). "La Florida y el suroeste americano" (PDF). 2008 Yearbook (in Spanish). Instituto Cervantes. p. 42. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-8071-3028-5. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-1906-7308-6. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ISBN 9781928874201. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ Seattle Catholic article about Virginia's Jesuit Martyrs
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8173-5336-0. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
- ISBN 9780813919881. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
- ISBN 978-0-87935-230-1. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
- ^ Hamor, Ralph (March 2004). A true discourse of the present estate of Virginia and the successe of the affaires there till the 18 of Iune. 1614. Together with a relation of the seuerall English townes and forts, the assured hopes of that countrie and the peace concluded with the Indians. The christening of Powhatans daughter and her mariage with an English-man. Written by Raphe Hamor the yonger, late secretarie in that colony. EEBO-TCP Phase 1.
- ^ Rountree, Helen. Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opchanacanough. Charlottesville: The University of Virginia Press, 2005, p.26-27
- ^ Rountree, Helen. Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opchanacanough. Charlottesville: The University of Virginia Press, 2005, p.23
Further reading
- Huber, Margaret Williamson (January 12, 2011). "Powhatan (d. 1618)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- Martinez, Bartolomé. "Relation," The Spanish Jesuit Mission in Virginia, 1570-1572. Clifford M. Lewis and Albert J. Loomie, eds. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1953.
- Rountree, Helen C. (December 15, 2010). "Don Luís de Velasco / Paquinquineo (fl. 1561–1571)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
- Rountree, Helen C. Powhatan Foreign Relations: 1500-1722. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. 1993.
- Taylor, Alan. American Colonies. New York: Viking, 2001.
- Anger, Matthew, "Spanish martyrs for Virginia," Tuesday, June 06, 2006
- Jamestown 2007 Archived 2006-02-02 at the Wayback Machine
- "Letter of Luis de Quirós and Juan Baptista de Segura," 1570 This Virtual Jamestown letter describes the settlement at Ajacán and requests that Juan de Hinistrosa, the Royal Treasurer of Cuba, send a ship of grain to sustain the settlement.
- Letter of Juan Rogel to Francis Borgia 1572 This Virtual Jamestown letter from Juan Rogel describes the rescue of a young boy, the sole survivor of the Indian massacre at Ajacán. The account details the massacre as related by the boy. The letter also describes the revenge taken by the Spanish forces for the massacre of the settlement.