Persistent, Multiscalar Disentanglement: Native-Spanish Trajectories in Early Historic New Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Disentanglement: Reimagining Early Colonial Trajectories in the Americas" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

What began in 1540 with sustained, lethal confrontations between Southern Tiwa pueblo communities and the conquista campaign of Vázquez de Coronado, set in motion a history of relations in New Mexico regularly punctuated by acts of Native independence and disengagement, and by Spanish policies and countermeasures to establish colonial peace and authority. As one of the most densely populated and economically advantaged regions in the American Southwest, Southern Tiwa territory (Tiguex) was critical to the success of the colonial project in northern New Spain. Seen first by Spaniards as a possible resource extraction zone and for its encomienda potential, Tiguex later became a region to be definitively restructured and marginalized. Decoupling from the Spanish colonial project therefore not only had its origins at the earliest stages of contact, but was a Native-Spanish tendency maintained – in varying degrees - for nearly 150 years. This paper argues that significant, material aspects of disentanglement can be seen throughout Early Historic New Mexico, and at the scale of individuals, communities, regions, and inter-regional territories. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of tracing the deep history of these historical patterns, their long-term trajectories, and the role played by diverse colonial actors in different, multiscalar contexts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Disentanglement: Reimagining Early Colonial Trajectories in the Americas

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22868