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Pedro de Gante

Pedro de Gante was a European missionary that desired assimilation into Native American communities in order to further educational discourse amongst indigenous communities. He was so influential in his work, he became known as “The first teacher of the Americas” (Campos, 89). Originally, Peeter Van der Moere, Pedro de Gante came to “New Spain,” in 1523 also known as Mexico. A missionary, Pedro de Gante, wanted to spread the Christian faith to his native brothers and sisters. During this time, the mentality of the Spanish people was to not empower the indigenous people with knowledge because it would give them motivation to retaliate over their Spanish rulers. Nevertheless, Pedro de Gante saw the ritualistic practices being made with the indigenous, sacrificing animals, and as a missionary, saw the need for a change in faith. He decided in order to best approach theses indigenous communities he had to adapt to their way of life. He learned their native tongue and participated in their conversations and games (Lipp, 194). Despite having a stutter, he was a successful translator of Nahuatl and Spanish (Campos, 89). Additionally, Pedro de Gante was a big advocate of education of the youth, where he established schools throughout Mexico to cater to the indigenous communities (Britannica, 1998). His influence spanned so wide, others like him followed by example. Of the future missionaries to come to America, at least three of his compatriots came (Proano, 1972).

Introduction Before Christianity was introduced, Native American's used public spaces for sacred rituals (Wagner, 62).