Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2018 August 19

= August 19 =

looking for a young adult novel/tv serial
Hi, in about the mid-80s, there was a tv series that I'm fairly sure was adapted from a young adult novel. The premise was that a teenage girl was abducted and drugged, and she could only be awoken by someone talking in a deep voice. But she found an accomplice within the baddies' family, who also knew how to use "the voice". I don't want to spoil the ending, because it was rather exciting, but I'll add that if I had to. Can anyone help me with the title? IBE (talk) 14:48, 19 August 2018 (UTC)
 * this might be one for r/tipofmytongue. I did try to figure it out but I wasn't able to find anything useful myself. Sorry. &rsaquo; Mortee  talk 06:52, 20 August 2018 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the suggestion IBE (talk) 10:30, 22 August 2018 (UTC)

Slaves in Mesoamerica
Did African slaves ever come into contact with the Mayan or Nahua people? Makuta Makaveli (talk) 22:20, 19 August 2018 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure I understand the basis of the question. Do you mean people who are currently slaves in Africa? People brought over during the Atlantic slave trade, or something else? The Maya peoples still exist and have existed for centuries, so you'd have to assume that there was contact at many points. Many people in Central America and the Caribbean today are descendants of African slaves to some degree. If you're referring to the grand Maya civilization, our article at Spanish conquest of the Maya mentions "In addition to Spaniards, the invasion force probably included dozens of armed African slaves and freemen." and it is supported by a reference. As with the Maya, Nahuas are an extant people. They didn't disappear. Matt Deres (talk) 01:45, 20 August 2018 (UTC)


 * Appreciate your answer, and yes, I was talkin about the Ancient Maya and Aztec Civilizations. I already knew they didn't disappear, but thanks anyway. Makuta Makaveli (talk) 01:55, 20 August 2018 (UTC)


 * This is not my area of expertise but Matthew Restall seems to be a trustworthy authority on the subject (The Black Middle: Africans, Mayas, and Spaniards in Colonial Yucatán, the edited volumes Black Mexico: Race and Society from Colonial to Modern Times and Beyond Black and Red: African-Native Relations in Colonial Latin America, the article "Black Conquistadors: Armed Africans in Early Spanish America"). The short answer is yes, they came into contact frequently. "...the local native population met most colonial labor demands. But African slaves from the onset comprised a permanent labor force that was more directly and closely tied to the colonists." (The Black Middle, p. 15) The Spanish enslaved the local natives along with the African slaves they brought with them, and then the African slaves mostly replaced the native ones when the natives were all worked to death. The Spanish sometimes used African soldiers (not enslaved) to conquer Nahua or Mayan territory. 12:20, 20 August 2018 (UTC)

By the way, there was a specific word in the Spanish colonial empire for the child of an American Indian and a black African: zambo (or zamba if female)... AnonMoos (talk) 20:22, 20 August 2018 (UTC)