Allies or Servants? The Journey of Indian Conquistadors in the Lienzo of Analco

Abstract

This article analyzes ambiguities in the roles and identities of the indigenous allies of the Spanish conquerors of Oaxaca's Sierra Norte by putting into dialogue the Lienzo of Analco—an indigenous-produced cartographic narrative of the conquest of the sierra—and archival documentation. The Lienzo of Analco communicates the story of the conquest in an area far removed from pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican power centers from the perspective of lesser or “forgotten” allies of the Spanish conquerors: naborías (native people in the service of Spaniards, who were neither slave nor free); and it recounts the birth of their ethnic polity, the barrio of Analco. The status of these indigenous allies marks a central tension in the lienzo's message: were they allies (indios conquistadores) or servants (naborías)? Historical documents say both, but the coexistence of these statuses poses a conundrum, since in other parts of Mesoamerica, Indian allies of the Spanish endeavored to distance themselves from naborías. The patrons and painters of the lienzo sought to resolve this tension by casting the dependent servitude of naborías as merit-worthy service to the Spanish crown with the goal of achieving special collective status and privileges as “Indian conquistadors.”

El Lienzo de Analco: reconstruyendo una narrativa Indígena sobre la Conquista

“…Las investigaciones precedentes (YANNAKAKIS, 2007(YANNAKAKIS, y 2011ASSELBERGS, 2003) han empleado anteriormente el método etno-iconológico para abordar el análisis del Lienzo de Analco. De manera particular, Yannakakis propuso hacer dialogar al lienzo con otros documentos y fuentes del periodo colonial relativos a la región, y recurrió para ello a los expedientes resguardados en el Archivo Histórico Judicial de Villa Alta y en el Archivo General de la Nación, escritos los más tempranos en 1683 y en 1591 respectivamente, obteniendo resultados significativos que he mencionado ya.…”

O’odham Irrigated Agriculture Response to Colonization on the Middle Gila River, Southern Arizona

“…Wroth (2010:176) argues that some scholars may have assumed indios amigos on early Spanish expeditions to New Mexico were Tlaxcaltecas since they helped the Spanish subdue northern Mexican indigenous groups, which were referred to in Nahua as Chichimeca'. In addition, the Tlaxcaltecas were known to head to the edge of the Spanish frontier and establish barrios or communities; for example, Analco Araval in Oaxaca (see Yannakakis 2011 for details) and also Coahuila and Nuevo León (Wroth 2010:176), among other locations. During this same general time period, the mid-1500s to mid-1600s, other Spanish colonial settlements that contained barrios of indios amigos of various central Mexican origin included the Guatemalan communities of Totonicapán, Santiago, and Ciudad Viejo Sonsonate; San Salvador and San Miguel in modern El Salvador; Ciudad Real in Chiapas; San Esteban de Nueva Tlaxcala at Saltillo; Chalchihuites and Nombre de Dios in Durango; and Antequera in Oaxaca (see Asselberg 2008:113;Matthew 2000;Snow 2010:51).…”

Los Papeles de Analco: poder, prestigio y lucha por la tierra en la Sierra Norte de Oaxaca

“…Finalmente, otros investigadores se han visto atraídos a Analco por la belleza y singularidad del ya mencionado lienzo. Es el caso de Viola König (1993), Florine Asselbergs (2004, Yanna Yannakakis (2011), Pedro Rafael Mena (2019) y Raquel Güereca (2020). Estos trabajos, que combinan el análisis iconográfico con el de fuentes escritas, han dado lugar a una identificación del mensaje contenido en el lienzo, a la ubicación de algunos de los sitios que aparecen en él, así como al desciframiento de algunas de sus escenas.…”