The Nahuas After the Conquest: A Social and Cultural History of the Indians of Central Mexico, Sixteenth Through Eighteenth Centuries 0804723176, 9780804723176

Citation preview

The Nahuas After the Conquest

The Nahuas After the Conquest A Social and Cultural History of the Indians of Central Mexico, Sixteenth Through Eighteenth Centuries

James Lockhart

Stanford University Press, Stanford, California

Stanford University Press Stanford, California © 1992 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University Printed in the United States of America CIP data appear at the end of the book Published with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency Stanford University Press publications are distributed exclusively by Stanford University Press within the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America; they are distributed exclusively by Cambridge University Press throughout the rest of the world. Original Printing 1992 Last figure below indicates year of this printing: 05 04 03 02 OI 00 99 98 97 96

To the memory of Ned Lockhart and Bertha VanFossen Lockhart, my parents and to Arthur J. 0. Anderson

Contents

Abbreviations I

Introduction Views of Postconquest Nahua History Uses of Language Some Dimensions and Attributes of the Book Debts and Affinities

2

Altepetl Basic Principles of Altepetl Organization Complex Altepetl The Sixteenth-Century Reorganization Town Government and Structure in the Later Colonial Period

3

Household Terminology and Constitution of the Household Complex The Vocabulary of Kinship Hints of Household Interaction

4

Social Differentiation Commoners Nobles, Lords, and Rulers General Changes in the Postconquest Era The Evolution of Naming Patterns The Persistence of an Upper Group

5

Land and Living Land Tenure at Contact Land in Postconquest Times Economic Life and Material Culture

XIV

I

2 5 9 12

14 15 20 28 47

59 59 72

ss

94 96 102 110 II7 130

141 141 163 176

Contents

Vlll

6

Religious Life Religion and the Politics of the Altepetl The Church People Cofradfas The Church as Personal Property Saints The Question of Beliefs

7

203

206 2IO 2I8

229 235 251

Language Stage I Stage 2 Stage 3 "Stage 4"

8

Ways of Writing Preconquest Writing The Introduction of Spanish-Style Writing Postconquest Pictographic Writing Alphabetic Writing From Pictographic to Alphabetic Preconquest Modes in Alphabetic Texts The Evolution of the Spanish Documentary Genres in Nahuatl

9

Forms of Expression Annals Songs Theater Titles A Glimpse at Art and Architecture

I 0

32 7 330 33 I 335 345 364 372

374 376 392 401 410 418

Conclusion The Stages Some Aspects of Organization in Nahua Culture The Nature of Cultural Interaction Perspectives

Appendix A. Four Nahuatl Documents Appendix B. Molina's Model Testament Notes Glossary Bibliography Index

455 468

Tables

2.I 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 3·I 3·2 3·3 3·4 3·5 3·6 3·7 3·8 3·9 4•I 4·2 4·3 4·4 4·5 5·I

Postconquest Rulers of Tenochtitlan Officials of Coyoacan, I 55 3 Officials of Tulancingo at Two Points in the Late Period Some Sets of Town Officials in the Late Period Witnesses to the Will of don Josef de la Cruz, Tlapitzahuayan, I763 Delegation Sent to Represent Tepetlixpan in Tlalmanalco, I724 House Complex of dona Felipa de Jesus, Soyatzingo, 1734 Distinctions in Kin Terminology by Gender of Reference Point Gender Distinctions by Referent Some Cross-Generational Projections and Symmetries Affinal Kin Terms Reciprocity in Terminology for Siblings of Spouse Consanguineal and Affinal Relationships at the Level of Aunt, Uncle, and Niece/Nephew Comparison of Nahuatl and Spanish Systems of Categorizing Siblings and Cousins Approximately Equivalent Terms in the Spanish and Nahuatl Categorization of Siblings and Cousins Some Nahua Social Categories Personal Names, Cuernavaca Region, ca. I535-45 P.ersonal Names, Culhuacan, ca. I 5So Typical Names of the Mature Colonial Period: Householders of Teopancaltitlan Tlatocapan, I659 Known Governors of Tepemaxalco, I 6o 5- I 8 I 3 Terms for Fractions of the Primary Unit in the Indigenous Measuring System

34 38 50 50

5I

52 69 74 74 76 77 78 79 83 83 95

I20 I2I I28 I37 I44

Tables

X

5·2 5·3 5·4 5·5 6.I

6.2 6.3 7·I 7·2 7·3 7·4 7·5

7·6 7·7 7·8 7·9 7.IO 7.II 7.I2 7·I3 7·I4 7·I5 7.I6 7·I7 7.I8 7·I9

Land Scattering: The Estate of Felix de Santiago, Calimaya, I738 Overview of Indigenous Land Tenure Categories Items Sold in Some Central Mexican Markets, Mid-I6th Century Classes of Trade Groups in the Coyoacan Market, ca. I 5 50 Officers of the Cofradia of the Most Holy Sacrament of Tula, I63 2 and I64o Officers of the Cofradia of the Most Holy Sacrament of Tula, I667, I668, and I674 Contributions for the Church Organ, San Pablo Tepemaxalco, I647 Early Nahuatl Descriptions of Spanish Introductions and Concepts The Early Complex Around "Tlequiquiztli," "Firearm" The Early Complex Around the Cart Early Compound Words Based on the Extension of "Ma