Everything about Don Luis totally explained
Don Luis (b. 1543? - 1646 ?) was a
Native American who was the son of an
Algonquian chief in an area which eventually became
Virginia in the
United States. He may have become the father of
Wahunsonacock (better known as Chief Powhatan) or, even less likely, may be the same individual later known as
Opechancanough who became the Chief of the
Powhatan Confederacy between the 1620s and 1640s, and a fierce opponent of the European settlers.
Native Americans
For thousands years before the arrival of Spanish and English settlers in the 16th and 17th centuries, the
Native Americans in the area now known as Virginia were semi-nomadic
hunter-gatherer tribes.
then opecancanough died.
In the second half of the 16th century, the
Algonquian-speaking
Powhatan Confederacy included most natives in the area which became southeastern Virginia, although there were some other small unaffiliated tribes in the area.
Spanish exploration
Early in the
16th century, Spanish explorers discovered the
Chesapeake Bay while in search of the fabled (and non-existent)
Northwest Passage to
India. They gave the land now known as
Virginia the name "Ajacan."
After several failed attempts at colonization of the portion of the New World now known as the United States, the Spanish succeeded in 1565 with the establishment of
St. Augustine, the first city in the United States. Small settlements spread northward along the eastern coast into Georgia and the Carolinas. The northern-most post was Santa Elena (today
Port Royal, South Carolina).
a 17-year old Native American boy
Spanish exploration northward in the area of the Chesapeake Bay continued into the late 16th century. During one such trip in
1560, the 17-year old son of an
Algonquian chief of the
Native Americans in the village of
Chiskiack on the
Virginia Peninsula (in an area now part of the lands of the U.S.
Naval Weapons Station Yorktown) agreed to go with the Spanish to learn their culture. The Spanish called him Paquiquino (little Francis) at first. He was brought to
Mexico and was instructed in the Catholic religion and later baptized "Don Luis", in honor of
Luis de Velasco, his sponsor, who was the Viceroy of New Spain. The youth was then transported to
Madrid, Spain, and had an audience with the Emperor. He received a thorough
Jesuit education. Don Luis later returned to the New World.
Ajacan Mission on Virginia's Lower Peninsula
In 1570, Father
Juan Bautista de Segura, Jesuit vice provincial of
Havana, wanted to establish a mission in Ajacan without a military garrison, which was unusual. One of the chief stumbling blocks to converting the Natives to Christianity at other locations had been the often deplorable conduct of the colonial soldiers. On garrison duty, not challenged by the prospect of fighting, they were apt to seek an outlet for their boredom in drunkenness, thievery, bullying and sexual license. Despite concerns about the plan's feasibility, Father Segura eventually obtained permission from his superiors for the founding of the new
Ajacan Mission, which was to be called "St. Mary's Mission."
In August 1570, Father Segura, Father
Luis 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 Ajacan. A young Spanish boy, Alonso Olmos, called Aloncito, also accompanied the priests to serve Mass. They were also accompanied by Don Luis as their guide and translator. On September 10, the party of 10 landed in the region now known as the
Virginia Peninsula.
Exact location: still unknown
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 St. Mary's Mission may have been in the village of Axacam on the
New Kent side of
Diascund Creek near its confluence with the
Chickahominy River.
In either case, Don Luis soon set about attempting to locate his native village of
Kiskiack which he hadn't 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 Luis left the Jesuits, supposedly to seek his uncle and supplies.
Abandonment, massacre
As time went by, first days, and then months, the small band of Jesuits realized that they'd been abandoned. To their added misfortune, it was a time when the mid-Atlantic region was enduring a long period of famine. 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 of 1571, Don Luis returned with other natives and stole all their clothing and supplies. The natives killed both of the priests and all six brothers. Only the young servant boy was spared, perhaps because he wasn't a Jesuit. Escaping the carnage, the young boy made his way to a rival native chief who lived close to the main coast on the Chesapeake Bay. There he waited until the relief expedition arrived in 1572.
Survivor, retaliation, aftermath
More than a year after the massacre at the
Ajacan Mission, a Spanish supply ship found and rescued Alonso, upon which he gave the only survivor's account. Subsequently, Florida's Governor,
Pedro Menendez de Aviles, traveled to Ajacan to punish the culprits. The native-convert Don Luis proved ever elusive and was never discovered. However, eight other Indians accused of murdering the missionaries were promptly hanged by the Spaniards.
The disastrous attempt at establishing a mission in Virginia spelled the end of Spanish ventures to colonize the area. Following the death of Father Segura and his companions in the Ajacan Mission venture, the Jesuits were recalled from St. Augustine and sent on to Mexico where the harvest, temporal and spiritual, seemed much more promising.
The story of native-convert Don Luis may end at this point. However, perhaps it doesn't. No one knows for sure.
Possible link between Don Luis and Opechancanough
At the time of the first permanent English settlement at
Jamestown in 1607, a fierce Native American warrior named
Opechancanough was the half-brother of
Wahunsonacock, the Chief of the
Powhatan Confederacy, The name Opechancanough meant "He whose Soul is White" in the
Algonquin language.
It is speculated by some historians, but not known with certainty, that the same Native American youth who had also been known as "Don Luis" was either the father of Wahunsonacock or may even have been Opechancanough. What is known is that Opechancanough was violently opposed to the European settlers. A period of relative peace between the Powhatans and the settlers ended not long after the death of his brother,
Wahunsonacock, when Opechancanough became the new chief.
Beginning with the
Indian massacre of 1622, Chief Opechancanough gave up on
diplomacy with the
English settlers of the
Colony and Dominion of Virginia and tried to force them to abandon the region both then and again in
1644, when he was captured. Opechancanough was later killed by a soldier assigned to guard him. At the time, he was said to be about 90 years old.
The timing makes the possibility that Opechancanough and the Don Luis who sabotaged the Jesuit
Ajacan Mission in 1571 were one and the same at least feasible.
Modern times
Descendants of the Powhatan Confederacy live on in Virginia in many places, including two reservations in
King William County. The Richmond Diocese of the Catholic Church has designated St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in New Kent County as the new Shrine of the Jesuit Martyrs.
Sources
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. 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
"Letter of Luis de Quirós and Juan Baptista de Segura," 1570 This Virtual Jamestown letter describes the settlement at Ajacàn 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 Ajacàn. 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.Further Information
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