"Cosa magnífica y sangrienta": la crónica de José Martí sobre la "invasión" de Oklahoma
Date
2010-12-30
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Abstract
In April 1889, Martí wrote one of his most passionate chronicles on the indigenous question in the United States. That same year, the US government had opened for colonization a piece of land in the heart of the Indian territories (what is today Oklahoma) and Martí was there-–metaphorically speaking--to capture the moment in full color. He wrote his chronicle as if he were an “eye-witness” to this event, but in reality he never visited Oklahoma and wrote his article after reading several newspapers that spoke about the incident at the time. In this essay I highlight Martí’s use of certain rhetorical devices in this chronicle to allow for this shift in perception (from ‘eye-witness’ to ‘testimony’), while at the same time, explaining how he criticizes the US government and takes side with the Indians. His criticism of the US however, does not mean that he stops advocating for American citizenship for those that were willing to give up their lands and accept the Dawes Act territorial reform. This contradiction, I believe, is at the center of Martí’s understanding of the Indian question.
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José Martí, Oklahoma, Indigenous, United States, Chronicles, Assimilation, Invasion, Eyewitness