The Visit and Demarcation of the Gueychiapa Village (Xilotepec Province) and its People. Conflicts over the Land in the Center of New Spain, 1600-1602

Abstract

This paper presents the process of the visitation and demarcation of the village of Gueychiapa, in the province of Xilotepec (Mexico), during the stage prior to the elimination of the congregation and reduction of its numbers. It analyses the organization of the territory, the transfer of villages and their position within the congregational order. It also examines the disputes among cattle ranchers, landowners, and beneficiaries of land grants; the Indian villages adjacent to these properties; and the viceregal administration, which was inclined to return the lands in order to reduce the number of congregated villages on them. The documentation consulted provides a glimpse into both the Indigenous villagers’ and Spanish and Creole farmers/ranchers’ interests in the control and use of resources such as land and water.