Indians into Mexicans: History and Identity in a Mexican Town / Edition 1

by David Frye

Overview

The people of Mexquitic, a town in the state of San Luis Potosí in rural northeastern Mexico, have redefined their sense of identity from "Indian" to "Mexican" over the last two centuries. In this ethnographic and historical study of Mexquitic, David Frye explores why and how this transformation occurred, thereby increasing our understanding of the cultural creation of "Indianness" throughout the Americas.

Frye focuses on the local embodiments of national and regional processes that have transformed rural "Indians" into modern "Mexicans": parish priests, who always arrive with personal agendas in addition to their common ideological baggage; local haciendas; and local and regional representatives of royal and later of national power and control. He looks especially at the people of Mexquitic themselves, letting their own words describe the struggles they have endured while constructing their particular corner of Mexican national identity.

This ethnography, the first for any town in northeastern Mexico, adds substantially to our knowledge of the forces that have rendered "Indians" almost invisible to European-origin peoples from the fifteenth century up to today. It will be important reading for a wide audience not only in anthropology and Latin American studies but also among the growing body of general readers interested in the multicultural heritage of the Americas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292724969
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	03/01/1996
Edition description:	1st ed
Pages:	268
Sales rank:	767,816
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.61(d)

About the Author

David Frye is Visiting Assistant Professor in the Departments of Anthropology and History at the University of Michigan.

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction
• 2. A World in Construction
• 3. Founding Mexquitic
• 4. Colonial Politics
• 5. People and Priest
• 6. Modern Politics
• 7. Land, History, and Identity
• Abbreviations
• Appendix A. Population of Mexquitic
• Appendix B. Will of Sebastian Martin, 1714
• Appendix C. Summary of Merchant's Account, Mexquitic, 1798
• Appendix D. Petition by Three Widows of Mexquitic, 1764
• Appendix E. Petition by a Friar to the Viceroy of New Spain
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index

Editorial Reviews

Frye used extensive colonial era archival data to document the transformation of the Indians of Mexquitic, a town in northeastern Mexico, into Mexicans. His research combined ethnographic data with the history of the people and region. The book reflects an impressive scholarship invaluable to anyone interested in Mexican history.

Choice

Frye used extensive colonial era archival data to document the transformation of the Indians of Mexquitic, a town in northeastern Mexico, into Mexicans. His research combined ethnographic data with the history of the people and region. The book reflects an impressive scholarship invaluable to anyone interested in Mexican history.-- "Choice"

From the Publisher