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Abstract. During the colonial period, Indian republics were formed as were pri-
vate holdings in the Otomí region of the Mezquital Valley. The indigenous popula-
tion was deprived of fertile agricultural lands while ranchos and haciendas raised
cattle, affecting the fragile semiarid environment of the region. This article ana-
lyzes the economic strategies of the indigenous inhabitants of the valley with an
ethnoarchaeological and historical perspective. Based on the historical evidence,
this article studies the socioeconomic interactions among the Otomí Indians and the
haciendas during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The impact of the indige-
nous marginal survival strategies on the economic success of ranchos and haciendas
in the Tula and Ixmiquilpan subregions is analyzed.
The Mezquital Valley is part of the Central Mexican Highlands and covers
an area of , square kilometers within the physiographic area of the
neovolcanic axis of the central Mexican plateau (Figure ). It includes the
western part of the state of Hidalgo, the northern part of the state of
Mexico, and a limited part of southwestern Queretaro (Fournier ;
López et al. : ). Currently the region is inhabited by the Otomí, an
ethnic group whose members have been progressively marginalized eco-
nomically since the beginning of the colonial period. This article explores
the long-term political and economic processes that led to the present state
of affairs, with particular attention to the formation of haciendas, ranchos,
and other private Spanish holdings in the valley. We suggest that the eco-
nomic situation of the Otomí is not simply a product of colonial exploi-
tation. Instead, the Mezquital’s limiting ecological conditions, especially
its infertile calcareous soils and scarcity of water, conditioned long-term
patterns of interaction between the Otomí and the Spanish colonists.
Ethnohistory
Ethnohistory
Perhaps more than in any other region of the Central Mexican High-
lands, the environmental characteristics of the Mezquital Valley make
it incumbent upon inhabitants to adopt complex strategies of natural
resources use. This is certainly the case if the Mezquital Valley is compared
to areas to the east, south, and west; only the neighboring region to the
north shares its shallow soils, scarcity of permanent water sources, and low
precipitation. Indeed, the Mezquital area is the archetype of a sterile and
eroded region. Different studies have emphasized the precariousness of the
environment, describing it as arid and infertile, ‘‘dispossessed’’ and inhos-
pitable, and the heart of drought and hunger (Anderson et al. ; Benitez
: , ; Lanks : ; Melville : ; Ortiz de Montellano
: ; Soustelle : –). The area, what may be one of the poor-
est and most marginalized regions of Mexico, is a classic example of how
humans can survive using unusual food sources (Johnson : ; Ortiz
de Montellano : ). The environment of the region has conditioned
not only the relations between people and their habitat; it has conditioned
social development and the relations between local inhabitants and the state
as well.
Initial Spanish colonization of the valley was characterized by small
ranchos and haciendas with limited productivity. Although the Otomí
actively contested the alienation of their lands, they were gradually pushed
into the more ecologically difficult areas of the valley, especially as popu-
lation declined. Consequently, their economic activities became increas-
ingly subsistence oriented. By the early nineteenth century, the pace of
latifundio development increased, and indigenous land and water rights
were usurped by Spanish-controlled municipal governments. Because the
haciendas and ranchos raised livestock, however, they employed relatively
few Indian laborers. The low ecological potential of the environment that
had severely limited the success of the cattle estates also precluded the
wholesale exploitation of Indian labor, resulting in a degree of cultural con-
tinuity for the Otomí.
During the eighteenth century, the most important territorial jurisdic-
tions of the region included Tula, Ixmiquilpan, Tetepango, and Huicha-
pan.1 The colonial regime imposed the Repúblicas de indios (Indian repub-
lics), a system of local Indian government, in these jurisdictions to facilitate
control and access to Indian labor while maintaining a separation between
Indian villages and private Spanish holdings. Spanish landholders monopo-
lized water sources, fertile agricultural lands, and the best grazing lands to
the detriment of both the indigenous population and the fragile semiarid
environment of the region. Thus the ostensibly ‘‘separate’’ Indian and Span-
ish republics were linked competitively on an ecological basis beyond the
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Figure . The Tula region in . Source: AGN, Tierras, vol. , foja .
. Santa María del Pino . Condesa . San Ildefonso
. Tepeytig . San Antonio . San Lucas
. Tepetitlán . Santa María Suchitlán . Santa María Ylucan
. Endo . San Andrés . Dengui
. Mestlalpa . Cochico . Salto
. Joya . Tula . Caltengo
. Joya chica b. San Lorenzo . Tepeji
. Santa María Nasto . Tultengo . Potrero
. Mestlalpa . San Pedro . Santiago
. Santa Ana . Santa María Coajuzpa . San Bernardino
b. Michimaloya . Puerto del Rey . Santa María
. Jiteje . San Marcos . San Ignacio
. San Francisco . Ocote . San José lenguas
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Tributaries*
Community Rented
Town Lands Lands Whole Half
Tula 1 small ranch, 8 milpas 124 64
10 solares
El Salitrillo
Santa María del Pino 600 varas 47 19
San Francisco 22 19
San Miguel Tecaxique 90 33
San Juan Michimaloya 114 54
Santiago Tultengo 26 20
Santa María Ylucan 33 14
Los Reyes de Tepeitique 16 12
San Marcos Xicapoya 91 56
San Lucas 14 7
Miguel Nostitlan 13 16
San Lorenzo Xipacoya 33 15
Santa María Qualuspa 24 11
Pedro Alpuyeca 30 20
Santa María Axuchitlan 59 47
San Andrés Chaltepec 57 15
Santa Ana 20 20
Bartolomé Tepetitlán 20 solares 86 46
San Pedro Nextlapa 98 51
San Mateo 23 9
Santa María Tlaxilotepec 34 12
Tepexi del Rio 7 pieces of tierras 124 70
de labor, 4 solares
San Ildefonso 82 37
Parcialidad de Otlaxpa 4 ranchos, 4 solares, 155 52
3 milpas
San Ignacio Otlaxpa 53 17
San Buenaventura 3 ranchos 81 26
San José 31 4
Source: , Indios, vol. , exp. , foja –v.
*A whole tributary was an indigenous man between the ages of sixteen and forty who was
married or the head of a family; a single man or widower was a half tributary (Malvido and
Cuenya : ).
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Figure . Hacienda of Santa María Temalatitlán in . Source: AGN, Civil, exp.
, vol. , foja .
. Store . Kneading room . Garden
. Back room . Corral entrance . Oven
. Living room . Corral b. Hayloft
. Entrance . Washbasin . Granary
. Entrance room . Coach house . Bedroom
. Room . Chicken coop . Assistance room
. Kitchen . Chicken corral . Living room
Tseng 2003.2.27 07:49
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during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz, both landowners and Indians were
able to make their products available to different areas of central Mexico.
Final Considerations
During the colonial period, the geopolitical structure of the viceroyalty that
created the Indian republics in the Tula and Chapantongo subregions pre-
vented the formation of large latifundios. Although small estates, ranchos,
and haciendas were founded from the beginning, the Indians often rented
or were forced to sell their parts of their communal lands.
The haciendas in the Mezquital Valley were relatively poor in spite of
covering large areas and having permanent water supplies. The exception-
ally poor quality of the land in this semiarid region contributed to their
low levels of productivity. The success of the haciendas depended on the
construction of dams and the appropriation of water supplies, the best irri-
gable lands, and the best grazing lands. It is important to mention that some
haciendas belonging to the Jesuits or the New Spain nobility, like the Conde
de Regla, generated vast incomes because they occupied lands in diverse
and fertile environmental zones, in contrast to those located in the jurisdic-
tion of Tula. In commercial terms, the region was relatively isolated with
products primarily consumed locally, with only small amounts consumed
in mining centers and in Mexico City. Therefore, viewed within the context
of colonial and independent Mexico, the natives, ranchers, and hacendados
of the Mezquital Valley may be considered economically marginal.
Because these haciendas and ranchos dealt with small and, to a lesser
extent, large livestock, resident laborers were few in number, in contrast
to the cereal-producing latifundios. This is one reason why the indigenous
populations preserved many of the traditional elements of pre-Columbian
society. Economically, they continued practicing primarily rainy-season
agriculture, traditional craft production, hunting, and gathering in their
communal lands or neighboring woodlands.47 They maintained a relative
degree of independence as well as preserved a communal and cohesive
social identity. In this manner, many of the essential elements were con-
served in the Otomí way of life. The use of pulque allowed the Otomí to
exist in communities without permanent water sources, although they had
to confront the landowners for the rights to water their livestock and to
look for springs within their lands or in surrounding areas. For this reason
the herds of animals that belonged to the Indians were always small, and
still are, a problem that today is compounded by the lack of pasture land,
money to buy fodder, and constant droughts.
The haciendas in the Tula and Chapantongo subregions were defi-
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nitely marginal to the rest of the latifundio development in New Spain and
Mexico because they lacked the necessary means of production to become
large commercial enterprises. The low quality of the majority of the lands,
as well as the shortage of water in the semiarid environment, prevented the
development of large-scale agriculture and the heavy exploitation of the
indigenous labor force. In spite of the apparent absence of visible means of
production in this region, however, the haciendas still had a certain amount
of success. This success was equal to or surpassed the development attained
by the pre-Hispanic populations in the Mezquital Valley, a region that is
said to have inadequate natural resources and is considered the northern
frontier of Mesoamerica, the land of agave: homeland of the Hñähñü.
Notes
Ethnohistory
exp. , fojas v–v []), April (, Indios, vol. , exp.
, foja []), and February (, Indios, vol. , exp. ,
fojas – []). In all of these petitions, there is mention of the popula-
tion decrease, caused by epidemics, harvest failure, deaths of animals, and the
emigration of the population.
, Indios, vol. , exp. (); exp. , fojas – (). In a docu-
ment from May (, Mercedes, vol. , fojas v–v []), the
natives of Tepetitlán asked for permission to sell some rough land from com-
munity property in order to pay tribute. The lands were sold for fifty pesos of
common gold.
, Indios, vol. , exp. , fojas v–v (); Tierras, vol. , exp. ,
fojas – ().
, Tierras, vol. , exp. , fs. ().
, Indios, vol. , exp. , fojas v–v ().
, Mercedes, vol. , fojas – ().
, Mercedes, vol. , fojas , ().
, Tierras, vol. , exp. , foja (–); vol. , exp. , foja
(–); vol. , exp. , foja (–); vol. , exp. (); ,
Indios, vol. , exp. , fojas v–v (); Archivo del Registro Civil de
Tepetitlán (hereafter ), Hidalgo, México, Nacimientos, vol. , fojas –
(–).
In , caciques from Sayula, in the jurisdiction of Tetepango, started a suit
against the Hacienda Endo for allegedly taking their land and water and for the
destruction of their houses and ranchos (Notaría Pública No. , Lic. Raul Efren
Sicilia Salgado, Tula de Allende, Hidalgo).
In , the tenant of a hacienda accused an Indian of stealing maguey plants
and demanded restitution for the act (, Criminal, vol. , exp. , fojas –
[]).
, Tierras, vol. , exp. , foja ().
, Tierras, vol. , exp. , fojas – ().
, Tierras, vol. , exp. , foja (–).
, Criminal, vol. , exp. , fojas – ().
, Tierras, vol. , exp. er., foja (–).
, Indios, vol. , exp. , fojas – ().
, Mercedes, vol. –, exp. s/n, fojas –v. ().
, Tierras, vol. , exp. , fs: – ().
, Indios, vol. , exp. , fojas – ().
, Padrones, vol. , fojas – ().
, Indios, vol. , exp. , fojas –v (). This ordinance had the objec-
tive of making the Indians ‘‘favored in their urgent necessities, maintaining for
them an ample fund, which cannot be created unless the expenses of this and
other communities are reformed, thereby complying with what is prevented by
the fourteenth and sixteenth laws of the sixth book, fourth Title, of the Recopila-
ción de Indias, and articles , , and of the Royal Ordinance’’ (, Indios,
vol. , exp. , foja v []).
The lands were distributed among the Indians ‘‘in small sections . . . , giving
each family what is necessary in order that they work them to their benefit, and
if some lands are left over after the distribution, these will be put up for rent in
favor of the common good’’ (, Indios, vol. , exp. , foja v []).
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References
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