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Eusabio
Manuelito is the leader of the Navajo tribe, living in exile in western New Mexico after Kit Carson has forced the rest of the tribe further east. Though Manuelito only appears once, after Eusabio introduces him to Latour, he plays a key role in reframing the story’s central arc. In addition to emphasizing the unspeakable harm Latour’s beloved Carson has done to indigenous communities across the Southwest, Manuelito points out the hypocrisy of church politics: at the same time that Latour and his successors emphasize Christian conversion, they are actively helping to displace indigenous tribes from their native landscapes, which are “more sacred to them than churches, than any place is to the white man.” Historically, Manuelito was a real person and vital political figure, leading several important rebellions and signing the treaty that would end the Long Walk (a euphemistic name for the migration of indigenous peoples Carson and others forced).
Manuelito Quotes in Death Comes for the Archbishop
The Death Comes for the Archbishop quotes below are all either spoken by Manuelito or refer to Manuelito. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 9: Chapter 7
Quotes
It was [Latour’s] own misguided friend, Kit Carson, who finally subdued the last unconquered remnant of that people; who followed them into the depths of the Canyon de Chelly, whither they had fled from their grazing plains and pine forests to make their last stand […] This canyon had always before proved impenetrable to white troops. The Navajos believed it could not be taken. They believed that their old gods dwelt in the fastnesses of that canyon; like their Shiprock, it was an inviolate place, the very heart and center of their life.
Carson followed them down into the hidden world between those towering walls of red sandstone, spoiled their stores, destroyed their deep-sheltered corn-fields, cut down the terraced peach orchards so dear to them. When they saw all that was sacred to them laid waste, the Navajos lost heart. They did not surrender; they simply ceased to fight.
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Manuelito Quotes in Death Comes for the Archbishop
The Death Comes for the Archbishop quotes below are all either spoken by Manuelito or refer to Manuelito. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Book 9: Chapter 7
Quotes
It was [Latour’s] own misguided friend, Kit Carson, who finally subdued the last unconquered remnant of that people; who followed them into the depths of the Canyon de Chelly, whither they had fled from their grazing plains and pine forests to make their last stand […] This canyon had always before proved impenetrable to white troops. The Navajos believed it could not be taken. They believed that their old gods dwelt in the fastnesses of that canyon; like their Shiprock, it was an inviolate place, the very heart and center of their life.
Carson followed them down into the hidden world between those towering walls of red sandstone, spoiled their stores, destroyed their deep-sheltered corn-fields, cut down the terraced peach orchards so dear to them. When they saw all that was sacred to them laid waste, the Navajos lost heart. They did not surrender; they simply ceased to fight.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
