Mary, Mother and Warrior: The Virgin in Spain and the Americas

chapter ten

mary moves north 


MaryMovesNorth Aspects of National Identity and Cultural Dissemination chapter ten


For centuries, as we have discussed, the Virgin Mary has been associated with Spanish Christian imperial projects, in Reconquest Spain, then in the Spanish discovery and conquest of Latin America, and later in combating independence movements in that continent; the leaders of those movements also invoked María.TheVirgin has also accompanied Latinos into the United States, and the identification of migrating populations with several advocations of the Virgin associated with countries or regions of origin is rising along with their numbers. International agreements such as NAFTA, the North American FreeTrade Agreement, which increase contact between the United States and Latin American nations, and U.S. immigration policies , such as favoring Cuban migration into the United States in the period since Fidel Castro took over in , have accentuated and accelerated the significance of this cultural and religious icon in the United States.Turmoil in Central America in the s, the continuing drug war in Colombia, and economic problems throughout Latin America have further driven Latino migration north. The  U.S. census shows that more than  percent of U.S. residents born outside the country come from Latin America, up from  percent in . Comparisons of the  and  censuses showed that Hispanics in the United States had increased from almost  million to more than  million; the percentage boost, in terms of total U.S. population , was from . percent to . percent. As PresidentVicente Fox in Mexico continues to push George W. Bush for a smoother and more regularized Mexican immigration to the United States and despite the problems for all immigrants caused by the destruction of the World Trade Center on September , , the movement of individuals from that country seems likely
,   


to continue at a high level. Given the intense devotion for the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico, the reverence for her on this side of the border is growing as well. However, a crucial difference separates the current migration from the ones we looked at earlier in this work, those of the Reconquest and the Conquest. In those two cases, the image of Mary was used along with military force to impose new political, economic, and social systems in the dominated areas. It should be kept in mind that though the Virgin became a, and perhaps the, major figure of reverence, she was no longer only the European Mary. European ideas and images interacted with indigenous and even African ones, leading to new, hybrid versions of the Blessed Mother. These, in turn, changed as the context did; the ideas of Mary corresponded to the needs—psychological, social, economic—of those invoking her.These have varied from nurturing to militant; and these traits may be combined and emphasis shifted as the occasion arises.The needs of Latino immigrants to the United States have been quite different from those of the Spanish as they moved into Moorish territory or into their NewWorld, and the images and ideas of theVirgin have changed according to those needs. The situations of Latin Americans moving to the United States are far different from the position of power that the Spanish were able to establish in southern Spain and in the Americas. These immigrants have most often been relatively disadvantaged in relation to Anglo, Protestant, U.S. citizen populations. Nevertheless, the image of the Virgin has been significant in maintaining a sense of identity, protection, and even power among Latinos in the United States.The mechanisms and significance of Mary’s travels are similar over the centuries, as current migrants bring with them images and a sense of her presence, much as did Fernando III and Cortés. But there are significant power differences. In Reconquest Spain, theVirgin became closely associated with differentiation between Christians and people of other faiths, particularly Muslims and Jews.The fact that Muslims held peninsular territory that Christian princes desired made this distinction more significant, as Nuestra Señora developed into a kind of warrior goddess leading Christian forces forward. The figure of Mary likewise divided the Christian Spanish from the idolatrous indigenous.TheVirgin Mother of God, in various manifestations and advocations, also was seen as bringing a nurturing and protective presence into the dangerous, liminal areas retaken from the Moors or taken from native groups. Mary’s churches replaced mosques in Spain and preempted sacred spaces in the Americas. A more direct assertion of Christian power is difficult to imagine. Latino immigrants to...