Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 8 : Pressclippings, 1977-1981

Eldorado! The word has magic. It gleams in the mind and is music to the ears of treasure hunters. It has fed the gold-hungry dreams of adventurers in South America ever since the Spaniards first heard the story of El Dorado, the mythical Indian chieftain, the ..man of gold". The Spaniards wanted to believe the story. It seemed believable in a land where gold gleamed al them everywhere they turned. Into the secret places of the • fantastic mountains, the Andes, the dream of wealth beyond belief led them in search of Eldorado. High in those Andes, the Indians mined and worked their gold. They had done this, it seemed, since their civilisation began. Yet they had no money and no idea that people in distant parts of the world prized gold above human life. In the capital of one of the Indian empires, Atahualpa the Inca ruled his people. They believed he was the "Son of the Sun" and brought golden gifts to honour him. That was the way it should be, they thought, as they turned the gold from their mountains into jewellery, helmets, musical instru– ments and household bowls. Some temples were even plated with gold. Ruled by the Son of the Sun, the Indians worshipped the sun as their god. As the sun and the gold were both yellow, it was easy to see that gold was the sun god's metal, given to them for practical use and as an aid in worship. 22 But then the Spaniards came . In ,l their country and evay country of i 1 ,1 Europe, gold had a high commercial ~ • value. Ordinary people rarely had . the chance to own any . In places, .•·, · \ not ewn the wedding rings worn by \ common people wer.: made of gold . _:\ ~\ Sometimes they were made of such \.~ things as the plaikd hair of the , :, : · husband and wife . 1,\~ :. Yet in South America. eve n the \i. • · workers would have thought it odd \~,••. , to go about their day's labour .~, . '· · , without their gold nose rings. car- ,W: . ~ r I I· rings , other ornaments and religious \'., 1 / '/ 1 · articles. They had no reason to hide '1 i 1 • : their gold. ~ , ' .· Imagine the Spanish soldiers' ~-.'\. ; · . l • surprise when they saw all that ~ ·• ~~ l gold . To them it seemed that gold ll_i, 1 \ 1 ,1,.. lay everywhere around them, ~ -•• -..' although much of it was alloyed ~<l·'. ·.-.... 1 with other metals, or was only a 'jt·'. ~ · ~ thin layer of gold over earthen- ~t ~ · ~~ ware or shells. , i\\ :: _, Taking the gold was easy, at ~, : • · •. first. The Indians believed that ~ : 1 long ago a great, bearded white '\~\ 1 god lived among them, teaching •. , , them their skills and then leaving, with a promise to return. When the bearded Spaniards arrived, Atahualpa the Inca wel– comed the ret urning gods. These ..gods" asked for gold which was brought to them. Only when ii was too late did the Indians realise that the Spaniards were not gods but men with a set of different values and u different religion from their own. The Inca. Son of the Sun. was killed . Indian gold suddenly be– came something that men kill for. Soon, long lines of Indians