New crops, new landscapes and new socio-political relationships in the cañada de Yosotiche (Mixteca region, Oaxaca, Mexico), 16th-18th centuries

Abstract

Our aim is to determine continuities and changes in the cañada of Yosotiche environment since the introduction by Spanish conquerors and settlers of new crops, especially sugarcane. A study of the biolog ical modifications of a particular ecosystem allows inferences on changes and continuities in socio-political relations. This particular case study contributes to a discussion of the general model of Mixtec political territoriality. The methodology applied here involves a convergence that integ rates the analysis of historical documents, archaeological data, fieldwork and anthropological infor mation, along with discoveries made by earlier research. It offers insight into occupational dynamics and their ties to the political, administrative, economic and social structures within the cañada dur ing colonial times. The introduction of foreign crops produced changes in the ecological complementarity system practiced by the villages that possessed lands in the cañada, consequently modifying the labour relations of the inhabitants. An analysis of this situation reveals the singular status of the lands owned by Tlaxiaco, which seemingly fit the regulations dictated by the Laws of the Indies but, in essence, meant the continuity of pre-Hispanic traditions.

Keywords

• ecological complementarity
• yuhuitayu
• sugar cane
• Mixteca region