New Direction for the Arrows and Swords

Jose Humberto Rodriguez Seas is an educated man. A graduate of the University of Autonomy in Guadalajara, Mexico, he went on to receive his post-graduate degree in medicine at the University of Miami. He headed the medical section of the University of Costa Rica and was the vice-consul of Costa Rica in Guadalajara. And these are just a few of his credentials. But, besides being an educator, Sr. Seas is also a man of passions, including writing. He has recently written a book, “La Flecha y la Espada,” about another of his passions, an accurate portrayal of the treatment of the indigenous peoples of Costa Rica by the Europeans who first arrived in The Americas. Using no less than twenty-three reference books, Jose Humberto has succeeded in presenting a scholarly text that is very readable for the casual reader. I have studied the Mayan civilization for more than two decades and read books such as “1491,” so I have a good base of understanding of the subject matter, but I still found the book full of interesting material and I think the flow of the book, along with its “voice,” lends to its success.
The book is also full of facts and viewpoints. I did not know that Ponce de Leon, for example, discovered the Gulf of Nicoya or that the country of Panama was originally called Tierra Firme, or the history behind the naming of Cartago. I also had no idea that there was such an early faction of Austrians and Portuguese here.
The real insight in the book, however, is the view of the author: pointing out that very few of the indispensible native guides were even named in any of the diaries or letters of the explorer/conquistadors. Equally revealing are particulars like the Catholic priest Estrada Ravago dubbing himself the “apostle warrior,” a mouthful in just two words. But these were the guys who would read their proclamations to the Americans that they were now under Spanish rule. The proclamations were read in Latin or Spanish to indigenous people who did not understand either language, and were usually read from a safe, peripheral distance from the villages, or even from their boats before disembarking. The indigenous people here were ready and even happy to embrace a new god, the one the missionaries were toting on a cross, but were also perplexed as to why the priests showed no interest whatsoever in their gods. Make no mistake, Sr. Seas is ready to point out that not all the indigenous peoples were pacifists. The Couto tribe, for example, lived in heavily fortified pueblos, with the decapitated heads of their nemeses on proud display; certainly a barbaric, albeit effective, practice by Euro-standards.
The hunger for power and, more importantly, control of the mythical gold cities proved to be one of the strong driving points among the conquistadores, so it comes as no surprise that the Spaniards were fighting among themselves at least as much as they were defending themselves from “the locals,” who at times were more than willing to relocate to more desolate sites rather than deal with the Europeans.
Sr. Seas’ passion for writing shines through, especially in his great scenery and nature passages, as the landscapes come to life through his written words, granting the reader a glimpse at some of the first Costa Rican travelogues, a wonderful glimpse of Costa Rica during the Sixteenth Century.
La Flecha y la Espada is available in Playa Tamarindo at Jaime Peligro Book Store.

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