A KID’S GUIDE TO

LATINOHISTORY

More than 50 Activities

Valerie Petrillo

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Ω Contents Ω

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v

TIME LINE vi

INTRODUCTION ix

1 ≈ DISCOVERY OF THE NEWWORLD 1

Make Champurrado: A Hearty Spanish Beverage 4

Put Together a Columbian Buffet 7

2 ≈ THE SPANISH NORTHAMERICAN FRONTIER 9

Make a Medicine Man’s “Gourd” Rattle 11

Design a Straw Art Piece 20

String Chili Peppers 21

Craft a Corn Husk Doll 22

Create a Ring and Pin Game 25

3 ≈ FRONTIER LIFE IN THEMEXICAN SOUTHWEST 31

Throw a Lariat 36

Design a Cattle Brand 38

4 ≈ MEXICAN AMERICANS 45

Compose a Corrido: A Mexican Ballad 49

Play Games from the Fields 53

Play La Vieja Inez: Buyer of Colored Ribbons 53

Join in the Game of Ring 54

Play Loteria: Mexican Bingo 59

Prepare Capirotada: Mexican Bread Pudding 64

Make Cascarones: Confetti-Filled Eggshells 65

Light Christmas Eve Farolitos: Candles in Paper Bags 69

Join in the Mexican Hat Dance 71

Mold a Day of the Dead Skull 74

Make Pan de Muertos: Bread of the Dead 76

5 ≈ PUERTO RICANS ON THEMAINLAND 83

Make a Guiro: A Popular Musical Instrument 86

Play Stickball 90

Join in a Game of Ring-a-Levio 92

Try Stoop Ball 93

Make a Piragua: An Icy, Sweet Treat 95

Create a Vejigante Mask 97

Craft a Capia: A Traditional Keepsake 100

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6 ≈ CUBAN AMERICANS 105

Grill a Cuban Sandwich 108

Make a Batido: A Tropical Milkshake 116

Start a Conga Line 118

Build Afro-Cuban Bongos 119

Play Cubilete: A Traditional Cuban Dice Game 122

7 ≈ CENTRAL AMERICANS 127

El Salvador 129

Create Corn Husk Flowers 132

Try a Salvadoran Street Food 134

Guatemala 135

Create Guatemalan Worry Dolls 137

Make a Guatemalan Weaving 139

Honduras 140

Spin a Ronron: A Traditional Honduran Toy 142

Play Button in the Hole 143

Try Your Hand at a Honduran Game of Jacks

with Seeds 144

Nicaragua 145

Bake a Tres Leches Cake: A Traditional

Nicaraguan Dessert 147

Wrap Sugarcane Treats for Purisima 149

8 ≈ DOMINICAN AMERICANS 153

Dance the Merengue 157

Put Together a Dominican American Baseball

Hall of Fame Exhibit 159

Craft a Dominican Carnival Mask 161

Make a Charamico: A White Christmas Branch 163

Make Arroz Con Leche: Creamy Rice Pudding 164

9 ≈ SOUTH AMERICANS 169

Colombia 170

Create a Primitivo: Colombian Folk Art 173

Write a Short Story Using Magical Realism 174

Ecuador 176

Mold Ecuadorian Bread Figurines 178

Make Locro: Ecuadorian Potato and Cheese Soup 180

Peru 181

Make a Collection of Milagros: Offerings of

Thanks and Prayers 184

Paint a Peruvian Bird Gourd 186

10 ≈ LATINOS: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 191

Have a Día Celebration 199

Design a Poster to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month 201

BIBLIOGRAPHY 203

RESOURCES 205

Latino Museums 205

Suggested Reading List for Kids 207

Latino Movies and Videos 208

Web Sites for Kids 208

Teacher’s Guide 209

History Standards and Learning Objectives 210

INDEX 212

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Christopher Columbus and theSpanish ExplorersIn 1492 the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus was com-missioned (hired) by the country of Spain to travel across theocean in search of a western sea route from Europe to China.Hoisting the Spanish flag, Columbus set sail with asmall fleet of three ships—the Niña, the Pinta, andthe Santa María—and 90 men. He hoped tobring gold and spices from China back to theking and queen of Spain. Instead, on October12, 1492, Columbus stumbled onto an islandin what are now known as the Bahamas—andaccidentally discovered a New World. At thattime, no one could have predicted that one ofthe world’s greatest civilizations, the UnitedStates of America, would be created on the shoresof this strange “new” land.

The land may have been new to Columbus, but the islandhad been home to natives called the Taino (TAY-noh) for thou-sands of years. Columbus, who mistakenly believed he hadlanded in the spice islands of the Far East known as the Indies,

named the native people Indians, and he named the island SanSalvador, which means Holy Savior.

Eager to find gold, silver, and any other riches that he couldbring back to Spain, Columbus explored the other islands in thearea as well. On Christmas Day, the boat he was on—the Santa

María—became shipwrecked on an island. Columbusnamed that island La Isla Española (it would later be

renamed Hispaniola). He decided to use the woodfrom the wrecked ship to build a fort there, andhe named the fort La Navidad (NAH-vee-dahd),which means Christmas. When Columbus left theisland to return to Spain, he ordered some of hismen to stay behind in order to build colonies and

set up farms. Columbus would travel back andforth between the New World and Spain three more

times in his lifetime.At first the relationship between the Spanish who had

“discovered” the new land and the natives who had lived therefor centuries was friendly, but it soon turned hostile. The Spanishexplorers enslaved the Indians and forced them to dig for goldand silver. The natives suffered from overwork, as well as from

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≈ 1 ≈

Discovery of the New World

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diseases they had never before encountered. The Spanish hadunintentionally brought these diseases with them from Europe tothe New World, and many natives died from them. Those whosurvived eventually turned against the Spanish explorers. All ofthe men who had been left behind by Columbus were killed, andthe fort La Navidad was burned to the ground.

In 1494 Columbus returned to the islands and establishedthe first permanent colony in the New World on what is nowcalled Hispaniola. The colony, which was built near the placethat La Navidad had been, was named Isabella in honor ofQueen Isabella of Spain.

The Spanish were not the only people who sought gold,spices, and other riches in places far from their homeland.Explorers and adventurers from countries all over Europe,including Portugal, France, England, and others, soon followed

Columbus’s trail to try their luck in the New World. But it wasthe Spanish who led the way in exploring and conquering theland. In fact, the early Spanish explorers were called conquista-dors (kon-KEE-sta-dohrs), which means conquerors. By 1513the Spanish had established New World settlements in Cuba,Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Hispaniola, and by the end of the1500s Spain had claimed what is now Mexico, most of CentralAmerica, part of South America, and the Caribbean islands asits own.

The Catholic MissionariesThe natives of the New World had their own, deeply held reli-gious beliefs and customs, and they worshipped many gods—most of which were rooted in nature. The Spanish, however,

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Early Spanish Settlements:

1492 to 1513Gulf of Mexico

Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Caribbean Sea

Jamaica 1509Hispaniola 1496

Puerto Rico 1508Cuba 1513

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believed that it was their duty to spread their own religion ofCatholicism to the Indians.

Spanish missionaries who accompanied the explorers andsettlers set about persuading—and sometimes forcing—thenatives to give up their own religious beliefs and becomeChristians. Although they usually continued to worship theirown native gods, many Indians also embraced Christianity tosome extent. The Spanish destroyed many of the native tem-ples of worship, and the missionaries used the Indians aslaborers to build Catholic churches near the places that thetemples had been.

Hernán Cortés and the Conquest of the AztecsIn 1521 the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés led a groupof 500 men from Cuba (an island in the Caribbean) into whatis now central Mexico. The area was ruled by a highly civilizedsociety of natives known as the Aztecs, and their kingdomstretched out over 80,000 square miles (129,000 km) of land.The capital of their kingdom was a city called Tenochtitlán(teh-NOCK-tea-t’lan), and thousands of Aztecs lived there. InTenochtitlán there were magnificent temples, pyramids, gar-dens, and—most important to the Spanish—gold and silver.Cortés and his men decided to take over the city. With the helpof powerful firearms—the likes of which had never before beenseen by the natives—the Spaniards defeated the Aztecs and setabout ransacking and destroying Tenochtitlán. Three years laterCortés rebuilt the city and named it Mexico City. Mexico Cityis now the capital of the country of Mexico.

The defeat of the Aztecs by Cortés gave Spain control overthe vast amount of land that had comprised the native king-

dom, and the building of a Spanish city in the ruins ofTenochtitlán paved the way for other Spanish colonies to beestablished in the Americas.

In 1535, the King of Spain organized these colonies intoterritories called viceroyalties. One of the viceroyalties wascalled New Spain, and it included what is now the country ofMexico, most of present-day Central America, most of thepresent-day southwestern United States, California, Florida,and the Caribbean Islands.

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New Spain in 1600

Pacific Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

New SpainNewSpain

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The early Spanish colonists adapted an ancient Aztec bever-age of water and masa harina (MAH-sah hah-REE-nah),

or corn flour, by adding sugar, milk, and chocolate to the mix-ture to create what they called champurrado (chahm-poor-RAH-thoh). The Spanish settlers enjoyed champurrado both asa beverage and as breakfast because it is warm and filling, likehot cereal. The U.S. descendents of Spanish people still enjoychampurrado, especially during the celebration of Christmas.

4 servings

What You NeedAdult Supervision Required¼ cup masa harina (corn flour, found in the

baking section of grocery stores)4 cups milk, dividedBlender1 disk Mexican chocolate (found in the ethnic

section of grocery stores or in Latinogrocery stores)

½ cup packed dark brown sugar

1 cinnamon stickMedium saucepanWhisk4 mugs

What You Do1. Place masa harina and 1 cup milk in the blender. Put

the lid on the blender and blend until smooth. Setaside.

2. Place remaining milk, chocolate disk, brown sugar,and cinnamon stick in the saucepan. Heat overmedium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, untilthe milk, chocolate, and brown sugar have meltedtogether.

3. Add the mixture from the blender and stir constantlyfor several minutes, until the champurrado comes to afull boil.

4. Remove from heat, discard cinnamon stick, and pourinto 4 mugs.

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Make Champurrado: A Hearty Spanish Beverage

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Old World Foods chicken bacon milk eggs bananas oranges cheese bread made from wheat onions peas hamburgers

New World Foodscorn peppers tomatoes pumpkins chocolate potatoes peanuts strawberries squash turkey pineapple

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Apeanut butter and jelly sandwich is a product of the ColumbianExchange. Peanuts come from the Americas, while jelly (made

from grapes) and bread (made from wheat) come from the OldWorld. If you have potato chips on your plate you can thank theNative American potato, but if you finish your lunch with a bananaand a glass of milk you’re eating Old World foods.

Have some fun putting together a buffet of Old and NewWorld foods.

What You Need5 or 6 plates of food (choose from lists at right)Table

What You Do1. Choose foods from the lists of New World and Old World

Foods and serve a buffet of 5 or 6 plates to choose from.Invite friends or family members to guess which “world”is responsible for each food.

Put Together a Columbian Buffet

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