Abstract

VENEGAS PEREZ, Ysmael  and  URQUIJO TORRES, Pedro Sergio. The primordial title of the natives of San Juan Zitácuaro. Instrument of territorial exercise. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2022, vol.43, n.171, pp.71-102.  Epub June 09, 2023. ISSN 2448-7554.  https://doi.org/10.24901/rehs.v43i171.878.

In 1730 the natives of San Juan Zitácuaro requested the notary of the “novohispanic” capital, a testimony of the titles of their lands, which dated their foundation in the improbable year of 1519. The document elaborated according to the characteristics of the primordial titles (Títulos Primordiales), presents characters, appeals, and facts of the past intertwined with their present. Beyond the blatant historical inaccuracies, a detailed reading of the document reveals a discursive form of political power based on its legitimate right to land and water, the demarcation of geographic space, and the interest in controlling social relations. Among their arguments were divine protection, agreements for the exercise of government, common history, the decisive intervention of ancestors, and the principle of merit. The moment in which the testimony is requested coincides with the growth of the village of Spaniards and mestizos in the head town, in addition to the intention of the subject towns to emancipate themselves. The information is relevant because it contributes to the territorial and historical recognition of eastern Michoacan peoples, in central western Mexico, where native populations currently live and propose self-determination.

Keywords : Territoriality; indians village; historical geography; New Spain; Michoacan.

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