Otomies and Mazahuas of Michoacan during the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Traces of a history

Abstract

One of the gaps that exist in the historiography dealing with the history of the Indian
people of Michoacan, is referred to the Otomi and Mazahua located on the eastern
side of the state. In a way, the Tarascan or Purepecha strong presence that still ex-
ists in many parts of the state, and the enormous task of evangelization of Vasco de
Quiroga in that vast diocese, determined researchers to address these issues instead
of other ethnic minorities. Based on the Franciscan chronicles, and geographic rela-
tionships of the sixteenth century relied on unpublished documents from local and
foreign files, as well as literature on the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centu-
ries, this article reconstructs the history of Eastern Otomi and Mazahua Michoacan
before the Conquest and after. The study highlights the arrival of the two groups
to the “Michoaque” territory in the mid-fifteenth century and the role both played
during the military conquest undertaken by the Spanish in 1522. It also examines
the influence exerted upon them the Franciscan evangelization, the different pro-
ductive activities in which they were involved and the strategies that they used to
maintain control of their territory and defend their identity.