Lost People of Baja
Amazonian women have dotted recorded history all over the world. From Ancient Greece to modern Brazil, these strong native women have elevated men towards greatness.
Spanish writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo was inspired by the voyages of Christopher Columbus and wrote Adventures of Esplandian in 1500. The buzzword of his time was “terrestrial paradise” with circulating rumors of gold and pearls worn by exotic women.
Then, with the historic mythical broadcasts of Columbus and Montalvo, Cortez was on a mission and would not quit, sailing to La Paz himself and landed there sometime in between 1534 and 1535. But reality met Cortez as he discovered the Pericu Natives, living off the land as regular tribal people.
“European contacts with the Pericú began in the 1530s, first when Fortún Ximénez and mutineers from an expedition sent out by Hernán Cortés, the conqueror of central Mexico, reached La Paz, followed shortly afterwards by an expedition under Cortés himself (Mathes 1973). Sporadic encounters, sometimes friendly and sometimes hostile, linked the Pericú with a succession of European explorers, privateers, missionaries, Manila galleons, and pearl hunters throughout the 16th, 17th, and early 18th centuries.”
The Pericú are best known for their maritime orientation, harvesting fish, shellfish, and marine mammals from the waters of the southern Gulf of California. Terrestrial resources such as agave, the fruit of cacti, small game, and deer were also important. Agriculture was not practiced.
An interesting fact about the Pericu, is that they had the technology of watercraft already in their possession. They knew how to fish since they did not practice farming. The Pericu Elder Women were mostly tribal leaders. And analysis of their skeletal ancestors suggest a connection to Trans-Pacific people. Even though the Pericu occupied Baja California Sur for over 10,000 years, something tells me that they sailed into Cabo San Lucas with dreams of their own!
