A Colonial Cacicazgo: the Mendozas of Seventeenth-Century Tepexí de la Seda

Abstract: The cacicazgo, or indigenous lordship, was a pivotal institution in colonial Mexican Indian pueblos. Caciques, or Indian nobles, played a role, both in the largely indigenous world of the pueblo and in the regional economy that was dominated by Spaniards. This subject of this essay is the analysis of the evolution and daily operation and of a cacicazgo from the Indian settlement of Tepexí de la Seda near the city of Puebla de los Ángeles and the life of its caciques in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the sixteenth century the cacicazgo was in upheaval because of discord between the cacicazgos and their dependent Indians. A number of long-running accounts from the 1620s record in detail the daily operations of the cacicazgo of Doña Ana de Santa Bárbara of the Mendoza family, thus illustrating how caciques negotiated their positions and coped with their lives and the changes in it. Keywords: caciques, colonial Mexico, seventeenth century, indigenous elite, ethnohistory. During the transitional situation of the early sixteenth century following the military conquest in highland Mexico, Spaniards and Indians had to find a way to create a more stable and sustainable society. This transition involved a wide range of social and economic interactions that eventually resulted in a new society with a place for both Spaniards and Indians. Instead of the usual picture one imagines of ruthless Spaniards, local authorities and clerics lording it over defeated indigenous peasants, one finds in the documents evidence of indigenous lordships, or cacicazgos that blended indigenous and Spanish social and economic characteristics. The cacicazgo as an institution had developed from the lordly domains as the Indians had known them before the Spaniards arrived. However, in order to survive, the caciques had to adapt to the changing world and participate in the new activities colonial society was creating. The caciques played a pivotal, but evolving role in colonial society on the crossroads of the Spaniards and Indian worlds that, officially, were kept separated in colonial legislation Most studies focus primarily on the landownership relations of rural players such as hacienda-owners, indigenous peasants and caciques. Research is mostly based on lawsuits concerning lands and testaments. The institutional situation was largely settled by laws, vice regal decrees, Indian petitions, and actions of Spanish authorities and lawsuits. Research has also made it clear that throughout Mexico, many indigenous cacique families were able to continue their cacicazgos in the colonial period. However, the inner workings of the cacicazgo remain a largely unexplored terrain, not in the last place because of the shortage of sources. The social position of the cacique was intricate and involved many parties. Nevertheless, it did shape social relations. This essay explores the workings of the cacicazgo of the cacique family of Doña Ana de Santa Bárbara of the pueblo de indios o

A Colonial Cacicazgo: the Mendozas of Seventeenth-Century Tepexí de la Seda

The cacicazgo, or indigenous lordship, was a pivotal institution in colonial Mexican Indian pueblos. Caciques, or Indian nobles, played a role, both in the largely indigenous world of the pueblo and in the regional economy that was dominated by Spaniards. This subject of this essay is the analysis of the evolution and daily operation and of a cacicazgo from the Indian settlement of Tepexí de la Seda near the city of Puebla de los Ángeles and the life of its caciques in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the sixteenth century the cacicazgo was in upheaval because of discord between the cacicazgos and their dependent Indians. A number of long-running accounts from the 1620s record in detail the daily operations of the cacicazgo of Doña Ana de Santa Bárbara of the Mendoza family, thus illustrating how caciques negotiated their positions and coped with their lives and the changes in it.   Resumen: Un cacicazgo colonial: los Mendoza de Tepexí de la Seda en el siglo 17 El cacicazgo, o señorío indígena, fue una institución fundamental en los pueblos indios de México colonial. Los caciques, o nobles indígenas, desempeñaron un papel tanto en el mundo en gran parte indígena del pueblo y en la economía regional dominada entonces por los españoles. El tema de este ensayo es el análisis de la evolución y operación cotidianas de un cacicazgo del asentamiento indígena de Tepexí de la Seda cerca de la ciudad de Puebla de los Ángeles y la vida de sus caciques en los siglos 16 y 17. En el siglo 16, el cacicazgo vivió tiempos convulsos debido a los conflictos entre los caciques y sus dependientes indios. Varias extensas cuentas de los años veinte del siglo 17 registran en detalle las operaciones diarias del cacicazgo de doña Ana de Santa Bárbara, de la familia Mendoza, mostrando así cómo negociaban los caciques sus posiciones y se adaptaban a los cambios en sus vidas

A Colonial Cacicazgo: the Mendozas of Seventeenth-Century Tepexí de la Seda

The cacicazgo, or indigenous lordship, was a pivotal institution in colonial Mexican Indian pueblos. Caciques, or Indian nobles, played a role, both in the largely indigenous world of the pueblo and in the regional economy that was dominated by Spaniards. This subject of this essay is the analysis of the evolution and daily operation and of a cacicazgo from the Indian settlement of Tepexí de la Seda near the city of Puebla de los Ángeles and the life of its caciques in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the sixteenth century the cacicazgo was in upheaval because of discord between the cacicazgos and their dependent Indians. A number of long-running accounts from the 1620s record in detail the daily operations of the cacicazgo of Doña Ana de Santa Bárbara of the Mendoza family, thus illustrating how caciques negotiated their positions and coped with their lives and the changes in it.   Resumen: Un cacicazgo colonial: los Mendoza de Tepexí de la Seda en el siglo 17 El cacicazgo, o señorío indígena, fue una institución fundamental en los pueblos indios de México colonial. Los caciques, o nobles indígenas, desempeñaron un papel tanto en el mundo en gran parte indígena del pueblo y en la economía regional dominada entonces por los españoles. El tema de este ensayo es el análisis de la evolución y operación cotidianas de un cacicazgo del asentamiento indígena de Tepexí de la Seda cerca de la ciudad de Puebla de los Ángeles y la vida de sus caciques en los siglos 16 y 17. En el siglo 16, el cacicazgo vivió tiempos convulsos debido a los conflictos entre los caciques y sus dependientes indios. Varias extensas cuentas de los años veinte del siglo 17 registran en detalle las operaciones diarias del cacicazgo de doña Ana de Santa Bárbara, de la familia Mendoza, mostrando así cómo negociaban los caciques sus posiciones y se adaptaban a los cambios en sus vidas

Review of Contested Contest. Indigenous Perspectives on the Spanish Occupation of Nueva Galicia, 1524-1545, by Ida Altman

Contested Contest. Indigenous Perspectives on the Spanish Occupation of Nueva Galicia, 1524-1545, by Ida Altman. Latin American Originals 12, Pennsylvania University Press, 2017

Review of Contested Contest. Indigenous Perspectives on the Spanish Occupation of Nueva Galicia, 1524-1545, by Ida Altman

''''Contested Contest. Indigenous Perspectives on the Spanish Occupation of Nueva Galicia, 1524-1545', by Ida Altman'. 'Latin American Originals 12, Pennsylvania University Press, 2017.