How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
A new settlement in the Conejos valley had lately been raided by Indians; many of the inhabitants were killed, and the survivors, who were originally from Mora, had managed to get back there, utterly destitute. (2.2.3)
Once again, we hear a story about disgruntled Native Americans raiding a white colonial settlement and killing all of the people in it. Father Latour's relations with Native Americans might be decent, but that doesn't mean that things are peachy everywhere. There's a lot of resentment on both sides of the White/Native American relationship.
Quote #5
All white men knew him for a dog and a degenerate—but to Mexican girls, marriage with an American meant coming up in the world. (2.2.37)
Buck Scales is a horrible man and everyone knows it. But Magdalena still marries him because he's white and she's Mexican. In her culture, marrying a white man is a big step up in the world. Little does she know that she's getting into a horribly abusive relationship with a murderer. Poor Magdalena.
Quote #6
He felt as if he were celebrating Mass at the bottom of the sea, for antediluvian creatures; for types of life so old, so hardened, so shut within their shells, that the sacrifice on Calvary could hardly reach back so far. (3.2.20)
When he preaches a Catholic mass to a group of Native Americans, Father Latour can't help but feel like these people are completely set in their ways. They might pay a little lip service to Catholicism, but Latour thinks of them as a completely different species than himself, something more ancient than he or any white person could ever understand. It's kind of racist and othering, but Latour generally has his heart in the right place.