THE Evolutlon of the Lndlan Corporatlon of the TOLUCA Reglon, 1550-1810
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THE EVOLUTlON OF THE lNDlAN CORPORATlON OF THE TOLUCA REGlON, 1550-1810 STEPHANIE WOOD The determination of indigenous groups to defend and enhance their corporate status and autonomy during the colonial period is increasingly appearing to be a regional constant. The extent to which the indigenous people were successful in their endeavor, however, seems to have de pended on their distance from the center of Spanish activity and markets, their ecological setting, and their potential as purveyors of labor and tribute to the colonizers. The application of practices such as congregacion, land grants, and composiciones, or of laws designed to ensure the longevity of the self-sustaining lndian town varied in intensity and effectiveness according to sorne of these same deter I minants, producing predictably divergent results with regard to cor 1" porate autonomy in different regions. The work of Charles Gibson on the Valley of Mexico and William Taylor on Oaxaca stands out as most exemplary of these regional variations.1 The purpose here is to examine the evolution of the lndian corporation as it adjusted to the colonial situation in an intermediate region, the Valley of Toluca.2 The Toluca Valley covers a great distance from its southemmost to its northemmost points. Over that expanse, the landscape changes from a fertile, irrigated terrain with a dense population in the south, to a semi-fertile plain -the Sabana Grande- suitable for agriculture and stockraising, and populated with a scattering of indigenous settle ments of various sizes between the larger towns of Toluca, Zinacantepec, Lerma, and lxtlahuaca. The plain follows the Lerma River north of lxtlahuaca, becoming increasingly arid and more lightly inhabited as it reaches to the northem limit of the Valley around Atlacomulco. The fertile stretches of the Val1ey have been devoted to maize growing, aimed in part at the Mexico City market, since prehispanic 1 Gibson, 1964, and Taylor, 1972. 2 Much oí what follows is a distillation oí my dissertation, "Corporate Ad justments in Colonial Mexican Indian Towns: Toluca Region, 1550-1810", Uni. versity oí California, Los Ángeles, 1984. '\ ,, 382 STEPHANIE WOOD ,, ,, times. In the colonial period wheat also caught on quickly. The , TepeoI<Jko. , southem and central regions are well suited for grain agriculture, and , these areas together with the drier north were adapted readily to ", ."'1 stockraising upon the arrival of the first encomenderos. The Valley's ,, numerous pig farms have been famous for their sausage and other ,, Topo<co • , pork by-products since the sixteenth century. ,, The principal mining centers around the Valley included Zacual , pan, on the southem slope of the Nevado de Toluca; Sultepec and Son Felipe del Progre,o. Temascaltepec, southwest of that mountain range; and Tlalpuxagua, at the northwestem edge of the Lerma River drainage. The popula tions at the mines consisted of Spanish mine owners, operators, and merchants, and mestizo, mulatto, Black, and Indian staff and laborers. The mines drew labor and produce from communities and estates in the Valley, thereby acting as an indirect influence on the evolution of those towns. Ore refineries also had an impact on the few in digenous settlements in the mining regions and contributed to the •• Son Felipe Santiago .le Gayia formation of new towns. 3 Son Jo.e Molocotepee The location and the social and economic potential of the Toluca Valley ensured its place as a major arena for the usual reorganization efforts instituted by Spaniards all over central New Spain. Adjust ments in the status, jurisdiction, and holdings of the Indian cor poration as a result of these colonial arrangements are the principal focus of this study. Congregación . Two periods of congregación are general1y recognized in the litera ture on the colonial Mexican resettlement programs, the mid-sixteenth century and 1598-1606. Because the known records are more extensive for the latter program, it has received more attention. Consequently, and although the numbers still do not seem great, there were pro bably more congregaciones in the mid-sixteenth century than have Hueyotenco. previously been recognized. In the Toluca Valley, several moves to Sultepec. ward population concentration following epidemics can be detected for the years 1557 through 1564, during the administration of don Son H'polito. Luis de Velasco. The nature of the congregaciones of that period Po¡ontepe< e seems limited to the removal of a few communities from highland sites to the Valley floor, or despenolación, and, more typically, the collapsing of sujetos in upon cabeceras when the quasi-separate, sub .8 Gerhard, 1972. See descriptions of each jurisdiction under these toponyms. Sultepec is rendered as Zultepec, cIoser to the original Nahuatl spelling. "", ,, lilotepec. I I I I j4;kly. The I Chopo de Mota I eAtotonilco ~ '\ ulture, and I ~ readily to \ o Atlocomulco Ul...5" o \ • Acutzilopan !le Valley's \ \ and other \ Topoxco • \ \ V • Jocoti.lon \ N ed Zacual \ • Los Reyes \ \ Malocota. ltepec and Son Felipe del Progre,oo , \ alpuxagua, \ le popula ',. .Son 8ortolo 'ators, and _XTlAHUACA • \ ",o,",I~ 4 d laborers. nd estates : evolution , Temooyo. ~ ,~ • Tlochioloyo MexicoCity e few in \ , O~lot..p.. c.. ' .ChlchlCo,pa.;ir ed to the .Lo Gavia \ XonocQtlon • HUlIlIt"lopón ;;; '. '"\ Tlamll~.IoI¡~'o he Toluca o'::,...: .. \ ganization .• TOlUCAD .. -:____~e__ -tI"';'-~ ~. Adjust • • DMETEPEC o e. ¡dian cor o principal e • • .. e o • • • • • • • •• $•• Mop,2 • y"\ Son froncisco'Tepexoy-uca rema>ealtepec • Atlotlauco~ • ~he litera o Joquicingo . I-sixteenth San luon Xochiyococ • ; extensive .Ocuilon Tenancingo. sequently, .Molinako were pro oChalma han have Hveyotenco e Illoves to Sultepeco detected Ixtapon de la Sal. San Hipolito. 11 of don MAP I at period highland Pozantepec e o Ayotochco TOLUCA REGlON oZocuolpon cally, the rate, sub . toponyms. ~. E INDlAN COl ordinate units became . viable communities.4 Until we can ascer1 ..v gram, generalizations a Q. .! , 8 impossible. But we do 1 , u put into effect, there " g • ...... , g 2" v o in landholding pattem g ~ r \ g ~ ¿: ! UJ the case when the hillsi , ,.. .... 6. .~ N ......J to the valley floor and , e • " " Q.. ......J ,0. u• t=" I ~ '<t second Marqués del V .. I :] • ~ , u ~ oí land 10ss in 1563 ! , . « Tenango del Valle wl 0\• •e •,.. 8. "o Taxco.~ Flight {rom a r ~ \ • N 1 • ~ .. , " " ~ ......J case oí Zinacantepec ÍJ I ~ « :::,... I faction of the local pec I !::2 "8 ~ I 1 ~" e· The final congrega , • .;¡" :; , -S. smaller than once ÍJma! I .::;" " I ..! .í the Toluca Valley am I .g , o 8. than the mid-sixteenth , -" 'a. "E •v lo sites were chosen; mOSl ..g ..Q. ] •" the relocation of sujeto U .." -'§" ::! d'"'" ] :lE Q. I e ~ ,.2 ..:: w ..c; • larger towns. Furthem l.:.c .... " .~" IV w • U ,. :lE • • adjustments and compI c: '"" :! .g • :i interests of the local p ~ ~ •I O ..!I• o Ji! ~ & Q." :! Mast of the same 1 ,! " -'= :~ • ::2 .:i? ,!! " •1< ] • ..!I "'" encountered in the first • ~ E l > -:; 2 1 '¡ " ,! • ~3 ~ E • • .5" Q. relocation, to disruptiOI ,41"0 ~ ~ " 'O • • i V ment, and to alteratioru "" """""" O'""· ~ ,".. ~" was at least equally si ".'" V ".'" •8. cabeceras with distinct ".'" .~ faced authorities who ".'" ".'" 8. settlement patterns and •" .. ".".'" ~ 8 dais mistakenly tried t ~ ~ Santiago (sujetos of Te: •lO ° S ol Calimaya). But pI1 j alteration in the origin: 8 .j • 4, 'Wood, 1984: 26-32. 5 AGN, Hospital de le, (\ Quezada Ramirez, 19 1 Colin, 1967a: 145. 8 AGN Congregaciones 9 AGN, Congregacione$ INDlAN CORPORATION OF THE TOLUCA REGlO N 385 ordinate units became too small in the Spaniards' eyes to continue as viable communities:' v Until we can ascertain more about the breadth of this early pro a. .!" gram, generalizations about the degree of disruption in daily life are o o V impossible. But we do know that in the areas where the program was • >-< put into effect, there were certain recurring problems. Disruptions r in landholding pattems is a familiar complaint. Such was allegedly UJ the case when the hillside community of 11ancingo was brought down N ......J ~ ......J to the valley fIoor and Toluca was founded under the direction of the « second Marqués del Valle (1547-1589).5 There were also allegations :::E ~ of land loss in 1563 by members of the reinforced community of « Tenango del Valle who had been relocated from somewhere near U e ! ::::::> Taxco. Flight from a nucleated settlement --seen, for example, in the o ......J ..~ case of Zinacantepec in 1564- is another indicator of the dissatis '8 7 K ~ faction of the local people with sorne of the rearrangements. .!! .):!o· The final congregación program of 1598-1606, although much -5." ~~ smaller than once imagined, did succeed in at least thirty towns in .,! ..2. ..g the Toluca Valley and was therefore apparently more far-reaching than the mid-sixteenth-century program.8 Still, very few truly new sites were chosen; most rearrangements again seem to have involved the relocation of sujetos hit especially hard by population loss to the larger towns. Furthermore, only rarely did a plan succeed without ad justments and compromises, many of which took into account the interests of the local people. Most of the same difficulties cited in the earlier program were encountered in the first part of the seventeenth century. Resistance to relocation, to disruptions in land holding or other resource manage ment, and to alterations in customary political and religious dominions was at least equally strong. Calimaya and Tepemaxalco, adjoining cabeceras with distinct and loyal subordinate towns attached to each, faced authorities who for a second time misunderstood indigenous settlement patterns and jurisdictional loyalties. The congregación offi daIs mistakenly tried to relocate the survivors of Santa Maria and Santiago (sujetos of Tepemaxalco) to San Lucas (under the domain of Calimaya). But protests from these people quickly brought an alteration in the original order, respecting the age-old system.9 4 Wood, 1984: 26-32.