Around the statue of India Catalina, the most photographed statue in Colombia. • She lived between 1,495 and 1,538. Catalina was abducted at 14 years of age in 1509 by Spanish conqueror Diego de Nicuesa from an indigenous settlement known as Zamba o Galerazamba, where she was the daughter of the local chief. She was sent to Santo Domingo, where she learned the Spanish language and adopted the Catholic religion. Pedro de Heredia required her to serve as an interpreter to the Native Americans. Afterwards, she married Alonso Montañez, Pedro de Heredia's cousin. • The name of India Catalina appeared in a letter sent for Pedro de Heredia to King Carlos V in 1533. No one knew what her real name was because he began calling her 'Catalina' from 1509 when the Diego de Nicuesa expedition kidnapped and took her to Santo Domingo where she was educated as a Spaniard. From that time she would use Spanish dress only, but was still considered a slave. • When they returned to Cartagena twenty years after, she was changed. She made the first contact with Corinche Indians after her arrival with Heredia, on the 14 January 1533. She translated for Heredia in the slaughter of the many Indian towns as turbacos that he eliminated in combat to Juan de La Cosa many years ago. • Some see her as a hero because she communicated with indigenous groups and avoided further killings and was an indigenous representative in times were indigenous people were seen as inferior. Some see her as a tool the Spaniards had to further their conquest. She moved to Seville, Spain were her historic trace was lost. • In the present, in an award ceremony called Premios India Catalina, a statue is given to the best of Colombian Television. Exact small replica statues of the one in a park in Cartagena. • • • #indiacatalina #indiacatalinaawards #indiacatalinacartagena #indiacatalinacolombia #cartagena #colombia #indiacatalinastatue #monumentoindiacatalina #parqueindiacatalina #colombianhero (at India Catalina, Cartagena) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ-WjPtjWkW/?utm_medium=tumblr
