I
The xiquilite (1) is a small bush, very common in Central America. It´s easy to sow that plant,
you only need to spread the xiquilite´s seeds in a field and wait for a couple
of days, then you see a small plants sprouting from the soil. When I lived in El Salvador, in the rainy
season I sowed xiquilite in my backyard, just for fun.
For centuries El Salvador had an important
industry of Xiquilite. From that bush is possible to get an indigo or añil, a natural blue dye. The
ancient Mesoamerican Indians used xiquilite leaf to dye cotton of to made blue
ink for ritual or art purposes. When the Spanish colony arrived, they operated
a big industry of xiquilite, exported tons of blue dye from Central America to
Europe or others parts of the world.
In the 18th century El Salvador had
a several farmlands of xiquilite with obrajes (2)
for the production of indigo. The impact of that industry was so important that
the first book printed in El Salvador was a manual for indigo production,
printed in 1741, "El Puntero
apuntado con apuntes breves"(3).
In Central America the indigo
industry died out in the second part of XIX century. In El Salvador it was
replaced by coffee and sugar cane.
In a poetic way, I have a tradition
of indigo-blue blood.
II
When the smoke cleared and the sun
lighted up over the Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key saw the structure had
survived, the attack of British Navy against the fort was unsuccessful. To
prove it, the Star - Spangled Banner was still there, ripped but proud. The
flag had survived the bombs and rockets; it was September 14, 1814.
By that time the United States was
at war in the post-Napoleonic conflict against England. In that conflict the English
army destroyed the US Capitol, burned the White House and demolished government
buildings in Washington DC. The capital suffered pillage.
Then the British began an invasion
of Baltimore, but first they needed destroy the Fort McHenry, which protected
the city port. They started to attack on September 13, they ware convinced that
McHenry would be easy prey.
In that day, Francis Scott Key was
onboard in one ship of the British navy; he was an attorney and tried to negotiate
the release of prisoner of war. Then the attack against McHenry began. Scott
Key saw how the British cannon fired again and again, for 25 hours, trying to
destroy the wall of the Fort.
But when the dawn began the McHenry had
survived all bombs and rockets, and all people in the bay saw a stars-spangled
banner wave over the Fort, the Royal Navy was a low on munitions and preferred
to withdrawal.
Scott Key was so impressed with that
scene, it inspired him to write a poem about the flag. Three days later, the
poem was printed and distributed to all people of Baltimore. A month later the
poem was published in all the newspaper across the United States. Finally the poem
was sung with the music of “To Anacreon in heaven” and became the US national
anthem.
The Star-Spangled Banner was made by
Mary Pickersgill and her assistants a few months before the Baltimore Battle;
they used a 300 yards of dyed wool and white cotton. She got the materials from
Europe under the British blockade. After the battle the flag was protected by
George Armistead, who was served as the commander of Fort McHenry. Years later
his family gave the flag to Smithsonian Institution. Today the Star-Spangled
Banner is display in the Museum of American History in Washington DC.
And of course, for the Americans
eyes, the Star-Spangled Banner is a cult object.
III
2015 was an important year for me,
was a year when I moved from El Salvador to the United States. I tried to
understand the history of this nation, if the United States is going to be my
new homeland, and the homeland of my future family, I need to understand its
history; so, for that reason in my first month in United States I visited
Washington DC.
In the National Archives and Records
Administration, I saw the Constitution, the Declaration Independence and the
Bill of Rights. Those documents are placed in an important site of the building.
When I visited I saw many people from different states of the Union. They
traveled to DC just to visit the museums and see these important documents.
I saw the eyes of the American
people, how they appreciate these antique documents, because for them these
document are the foundation of their nation. Then I realized the real
significance of this country. The United States is an important symbol, a
symbol about freedom and democracy, funded by immigrant people who traveled
across the earth, searching a good place to live, a new place for better
opportunities and pursuit of happiness -people who believe the same thing than
I believe- people like me.
When I comprehended that, I
recognized myself in those people; they and I have the same idea about this
county. Maybe they are born here accidental but in my case, it’s my free
decision.
In a shady room inside the National
Museum of American History the Star-Spangled Banner is on exhibit, the old flag
reposes in a special environmentally-controlled chamber. I saw it there and I
was a very impressed, because I knew the history about the flag and its
importance for United States history. But I never prepared myself for one of
the most interesting discoveries in the Star-Spangled Banner: When the science
specialist worked with the flag, they discovered their blue wood fibers, used
in the stars area, were dyed with indigo.
Yes, with indigo, logically produced
by the leaf of xiquilite.
In that moment I got an important
connection with my past. I had felt an overlap of history with El Salvador and the
United States.
I don’t know if Mary Pickersgill
used blue thread colored with Salvadorian indigo, but if she bought all the
materials from Europe, it was possible to get a thread dye with indigo produced
in Central America. Who knows? Maybe that indigo came from El Salvador.
Whatever
happened, for me, that exceptional and magical moment, when my two worlds collided,
was a crossover.
(1) Indigofera tinctoria
(2) Obraje is a pool for decomposition
of leaf of xiquilite.
(3) Puntero is an old job, it’s was a
man who get the right point of indigo dye.
