It is ironic, that Friar Diego de Landa by detailing the process in which he tried to destroy not only the Mayan religion to replace it with the Catholic faith, but the Mayan culture itself, helped to save the Mayan's identity that he himself was trying to eradicate. For example:
"The tribes lived in such peace that they had no conflicts and used neither arms nor bows, even for the hunt...They had laws against delinquents...such as against an adulterer... One who ravished a maiden was stoned to death..."
De Landa also detailed the way in which he punished the Mayans forever recording his violent and disastrous acts in the pages of history: "cutting off their noses, hands, arms and legs, and the breasts of their women...thrusting the children with spears"
Mayan culture survival
As scholar Redfield notes however, there were many Mayan rituals that survived the Spanish conquest, "The number thirteen which plays an important part in the present-day Maya rituals, is almost surely derived from indigenous culture, just as three and seven, which go together in the Catholic prayer context, are probably European. But what of nine, which now is a magical and sacred number in a wide variety of ritual contexts? We can only point out that the ancient Maya had nine gods of the underworld as they had thirteen sky-gods, and also that the Catholic novena was introduced by the missionaries and is still generally practiced"
The only parts of the culture that were allowed to survive however were those that were coincidentally similar to the Spanish culture- one which was as superstitious, if not more superstitious, than the Mayan culture itself.
Modern Day Relevance
Friar Diego de Landa's quest to convert the Mayan people to the Catholic faith has a lesson to teach the modern world- the weakest humans in society will always have to assimilate according to the strongest's wishes. Even though in today's world the fear is not religious or ideological persecution but rather culture and identity loss due to the popularity of Western culture- be it movies, television shows, fashion, or a certain language.
Conclusion
In Diego de Landa's novel "Yucatan Before and After The Conquest" the catholic friar specifically details the Mayan culture he is trying to eradicate in the name of his God, but inevitably immortalizes it through his description. The power of religion to dominate and destroy a culture is one of the major themes of the novel and allows to show the atrocities committed under what is supposed to be a mission to better the world.
