My Tuesday Talk Guest - Linda Covella
My young adult historical romance Yakimali’s Gift takes place in 1775 New Spain. At that time, New
Spain consisted of parts of California and Mexico, which included areas of
modern-day Arizona. The story revolves around a historical colonization
expedition from Mexico to California led by Juan Bautista de Anza.
When I first learned about the expedition, I was surprised that I
had never heard of it and, especially since I grew up in California, that it
wasn’t taught in schools. Thus, I was inspired to write my story. Additionally,
among the 240 colonists, more than half were woman and children (115 children),
and I wanted to write the story from their perspective.
As I began my research, I realized I’d taken on a bigger task than
I’d originally anticipated: information on the expedition and the time and place
was very limited. There was no historical society, no newspaper articles, etc.,
that could provide information. The focus of the colonization of California was
mostly on the colonists who came from the eastern U.S. some eighty years later,
and on the California mission period. (In 1775, they were just being
developed.) And most of the resources I did uncover were from the male’s
perspective.
I was lucky in one aspect: I had access to the diaries of Anza and
the priests who also went on the journey. This “Web de Anza” became my go-to resource for
details about the journey (though somewhat dry and again from the male
perspective).
After much Google and library research, I found primary and
secondary resources that provided me with period detail: customs, clothing,
food, utensils, plants, wildlife, etc. The primary resources are from priests,
missionaries, and other travelers to New Spain in the late 18th
century who wrote about their experiences. Of course, I was thrilled to find
these accounts. Most of this information, however, only discussed the Spanish
people inhabiting the area.
My main character, 15-year-old Fernanda, is half Spanish and half
Pima Indian. Along the journey, she tries to learn the secrets to her mother’s
Pima Indian past. I thought it was difficult finding information on the
Spaniards! Anything on the Pima and Papago Indians from that time was almost
non-existent. Information about the relationship between the soldiers,
missionaries, and Indians during that time is sketchy. (Again, there are
abundant resources about these relationships during the time of the missions.)
After much digging, I found some wonderful books that detailed the different
tribes’ housing, clothing, religious beliefs, language, and social customs of
that time.
An invaluable book gave me some of the female perspective I was
looking for: Women and the Conquest of
California. The book and the author, Dr. Virginia Bouvier, were both
helpful.
My research brought me to various people who were willing to talk
with me, including descendants of colonists who joined the expedition. I
contacted Pima Indians in Arizona, mostly to answer questions about the
language. I did get some answers, but they were wary of speaking with me.
Besides people, books, and websites, I found other resources. I
traveled to Arizona and visited the areas in which Yakimali’s Gift takes place. I saw the ruins of the ancient Casa
Grande. I explored small museums that displayed personal items used in New
Spain in the late 18th century, and nature museums where I could
view plants and wildlife of the area, as well as traveling around by car just
soaking up the atmosphere. To be able to visit these places, to get a sense of
what it may have been like to live there in 1775, was the best part of my
research.
All in all, researching the novel took several months before I even
started writing the novel. At first I was worried I wouldn’t find enough
information. I ended up being overwhelmed by what I discovered and deciding how
to use what in my story. Thankfully, I love doing research, so it wasn’t
drudgery, by any means.
I’ve loved historical fiction from an early age, and to research and
write my own has been a real thrill.
Story Synopsis:
It’s 1775 in Mexico, New Spain, and 15-year-old Fernanda Marquina, half Pima Indian and half Spanish, can’t seem to live up to her mother’s expectations or fit into the limited female roles of her culture. While she tends her garden, matches wits with buyers and sellers at the weekly market, and avoids Mama’s lectures and the demands of Nicolas, the handsome soldier pursuing her, Fernanda grabs any opportunity to ride the horses she loves, racing across the desert, dreaming of adventure in faraway lands.
But when a tragic accident presents her with the adventure she longed for, it’s at a greater cost than she could have ever imagined. With her family, Fernanda joins Juan Bautista de Anza’s historic colonization expedition to California.
On the arduous four-month journey, Fernanda makes friends with Feliciana, the young widow Fernanda can entrust with her deepest thoughts; Gloria, who becomes the sister Fernanda always wished for; and Gloria’s handsome brother Miguel, gentle one moment, angry the next and, like Fernanda, a mestizo–half Indian and half Spanish. As Fernanda penetrates Miguel’s layers of hidden feelings, she’s torn between him and Nicolas, who has joined the journey in the ranks of Anza’s soldiers and whose plans include marrying Fernanda when they reach California.
But propelling Fernanda along the journey is her search for Mama’s Pima Indian past, a past Mama refused to talk about, a past with secrets that Fernanda is determined to learn. The truths she discovers will change the way she sees her ancestry, her family, and herself.
Fernanda’s story is one of discovery: her place in the Spanish world and in the Pima Indian world, her views on race and religion, her connection to family. And as a teenage girl curious about love and romantic relationships, she discovers that on her journey as well.
You can find out more about Yakimali’s
Gift—historical notes, bibliography, excerpt, trailer, reviews—on my website. I welcome your
comments or questions on my research, or I’d love to hear anything about your own
work.
Thank you for reading my article
Yours,
Linda
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