1. By: Miguel Cardenas Struggle & Survival Part: 1

2. Opehancancough Born in 1554-1646. Was a tribal chief of the Powhatan Confederacy of what is now Virginia in the United States and its leader from sometime after 1618 until his death in 1646. His name meant "He whose Soul is White" in the Algonquian language. Algonquian Indians were the ones who had the land first. The tale of Pocahontas took place in his land. Opechnanceriouch tried to keep the more important English leaders distracted some miles upriver from the settlement while others attacked James Fort. Violent action by the Powhatans quickly escalated into full scale warfare between 1609 & 1614. Recognizing Openchancancough’s importance to the Indians courage & persistence, Jamestown officials placed a bounty on his head. The English came close to killing him in 1623; & the war continued until 1625 with both sides coming to a realization that the annihilation of their enemies was impossible. After peace was agreed in 1632, a decade of tenuous coexistence were in between the Powhatans & the English. The Virginia colony developed so rapidly that the Indians territorial & cultural foundations were quickly & irrevocably eroded. Opechancanough’s death ended a talented & tempestuous career of leadership that spanned four eventful decades.

3. Diego Vasicuio Born in 1580-1670. He was a Peruvian Indian. He was a Male Lived near Arequipa in southern Peru in town called Salamanca. Diego’s parents & grandparents had entrusted him with the stone image of the god Sorimana, & they had taught him to recite the proper prayers & perform the specific ceremonies of his cult. He was the chief priest in charge of the ‘God’ idol "Sorimana". He also served time in the silver mines of Castrovireyna, it was called "Mita" Labor. At 90 he was on trial for Heresy. This is because his father and he kept alive the idol, and that was against Spanish Religious laws. In his father’s time population of Indians was 16 million strong. At his time they fell to only 600,000.

4. Thomas Peters Born in 1738 – 1792. Historians portray the American Revolution as an epic struggle for independence. In 1760 Peters was kidnapped by African Slave traders & moved to the coast. He never adapted well to slavery. He made a new family after being sold 3 times & now is in North Carolina. The refugee ex-slaves found that they were segregated in impoverished villages, deprived of the rights normally extended to British subjects, forced to work on road construction in return for the promised provisions. Peters lived for 54 years – During 32 of them he struggled incessantly for personal survival & for some larger degree of freedom beyond physical existence. He never learned how to write his name.

5. Francisco Baquero Born in 1748-1810. He was born in Buenos Aires. He was a Male. He was a dark skinned “Mestizo”. He was hardworking & frugal, he remained a journey man, often working on day-to-day basis, for nearly a decade until he had acquired his own tools & opened a shop. His strategy was to identify potential allies among the white master & forge an affective alliance that would prevent racial discrimination. He was a ‘Master of the shoe guild’ starting at 12 years old. Later on in life he became an organizer. He was one of the first non-whites to speak up. His record was clean, and he was not an immigrant.

6. Catarinade Monte Sinay Born in 1680-1758. She was a Female She was Portuguese. Was born in Captaincy of Bahia (A shipping harbor in Brazil). Her father was a top sugar planter. She was a nun and entrepreneur. She went against archbishop rule and did certain things to benefit the villagers without his permission. On her death bed she begged the archbishop for forgiveness.