Mapping Indigenous Land: Native Land Grants in Colonial New SpainBetween 1536 and 1601, at the request of the colonial administration of New Spain, indigenous artists crafted more than two hundred maps to be used as evidence in litigation over the allocation of land. These land grant maps, or mapas de mercedes de tierras, recorded the boundaries of cities, provinces, towns, and places; they made note of markers and ownership, and, at times, the extent and measurement of each field in a territory, along with the names of those who worked it. With their corresponding case files, these maps tell the stories of hundreds of natives and Spaniards who engaged in legal proceedings either to request land, to oppose a petition, or to negotiate its terms. Mapping Indigenous Land explores how, as persuasive and rhetorical images, these maps did more than simply record the disputed territories for lawsuits. They also enabled indigenous communities—and sometimes Spanish petitioners—to translate their ideas about contested spaces into visual form; offered arguments for the defense of these spaces; and in some cases even helped protect indigenous land against harmful requests. Drawing on her own paleography and transcription of case files, author Ana Pulido Rull shows how much these maps can tell us about the artists who participated in the lawsuits and about indigenous views of the contested lands. Considering the mapas de mercedes de tierras as sites of cross-cultural communication between natives and Spaniards, Pulido Rull also offers an analysis of medieval and modern Castilian law, its application in colonial New Spain, and the possibilities for empowerment it opened for the native population. An important contribution to the literature on Mexico's indigenous cartography and colonial art, Pulido Rull’s work suggests new ways of understanding how colonial space itself was contested, negotiated, and defined. |
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.
Contents
Painting the Colonial World | |
Requesting the Grant | |
Opposing the Grant | |
Negotiating the Grant | |
Conclusion | |
Appendix A Catalog of Land Grant Maps | |
Bibliography | |
Other editions - View all
Mapping Indigenous Land: Native Land Grants in Colonial New Spain Ana Pulido Rull Limited preview - 2020 |
Mapping Indigenous Land: Native Land Grants in Colonial New Spain Ana Pulido Rull No preview available - 2020 |
Common terms and phrases
AGN Tierras allowed altepetl Archivo arguments artist asked authorities belonged boundaries bring cattle century chapter church Coatlinchan colonial color communities composition conventions corregidor court courtesy created cultivated depicted described designed discussed distribution documents elements encomienda European evidence examined example fields figure files friars glosses hand hill houses Ilustraciones images important included indicate indigenous Irimbo Juan judge land grant map landscape lawsuits manuscripts Mapas Mapoteca mayor means merced Mexico Mexico City mountains Nación named Native negotiations nobles notes obtained offer official original Pahuatlan painted parties period petition petitioners Photograph place-name plate possible practice pre-Columbian presented proceedings protect ranches records reference rendered requested Rule shows sometimes space Spain Spaniards Spanish stories suggest territory Tetzcoco Tierras tlacuiloque took town Veracruz viceroy visual witnesses written
Bibliographic information
| Title | Mapping Indigenous Land: Native Land Grants in Colonial New Spain |
| Author | Ana Pulido Rull |
| Publisher | University of Oklahoma Press, 2020 |
| ISBN | 0806166797, 9780806166797 |
| Length | 272 pages |
| Subjects | › › Art / Caribbean & Latin American History / Indigenous Peoples of the Americas History / Latin America / Mexico Science / Earth Sciences / Geography |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |