Alva Ixtlilxochitl’s Native Archive and the Circulation of Knowledge in Colonial Mexico

Modern Language Association's Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize, Honorable Mention, 2016 Born between 1568 and 1580, Alva Ixtlilxochitl was a direct descendant of Ixtlilxochitl I and Ixtlilxochitl II, who had been rulers of Texcoco, one of the major city-states in pre-Conquest Mesoamerica. After a distinguished education and introduction into the life of the empire of New Spain in Mexico, Ixtlilxochitl was employed by the viceroy to write histories of the indigenous peoples in Mexico. Engaging with this history and delving deep into the resultant archives of this life's work, Amber Brian addresses the question of how knowledge and history came to be crafted in this era. Brian takes the reader through not only the history of the archives itself, but explores how its inheritors played as crucial a role in shaping this indigenous history as the author. The archive helped inspire an emerging nationalism at a crucial juncture in Latin American history, as Creoles and indigenous peoples appropriated the history to give rise to a belief in Mexican exceptionalism. This belief, ultimately, shaped the modern state and impacted the course of history in the Americas. Without the work of Ixtlilxochitl, that history would look very different today. Modern Language Association's Katherine Singer KovacsPrize, Honorable Mention, 2016 Born between 1568 and 1580,Alva Ixtlilxochitl was a direct descendant of Ixtlilxochitl I andIxtlilxochitl II, who had been rulers of Texcoco, one of the majorcity-states in pre-Conquest Mesoamerica. After a distinguishededucation and introduction into the life of the empire of New Spainin Mexico, Ixtlilxochitl was employed by the viceroy to writehistories of the indigenous peoples in Mexico. Engaging with thishistory and delving deep into the resultant archives of this life'swork, Amber Brian addresses the question of how knowledge andhistory came to be crafted in this era. Brian takes the readerthrough not only the history of the archives itself, but exploreshow its inheritors played as crucial a role in shaping thisindigenous history as the author. The archive helped inspire anemerging nationalism at a crucial juncture in Latin Americanhistory, as Creoles and indigenous peoples appropriated the historyto give rise to a belief in Mexican exceptionalism. This belief,ultimately, shaped the modern state and impacted the course ofhistory in the Americas. Without the work of Ixtlilxochitl, thathistory would look very different today Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction: Giving and Receiving 14 1 Creoles, Mestizos, and the Native Archive 26 2 Land, Law, and Lineage: The Cacicazgo of San Juan Teotihuacan 54 3 Configuring Native Knowledge: Seventeenth-Century Mestizo Historiography 90 4 Circulating Native Knowledge 122 Epilogue: Native Knowledge and Colonial Networks 152 Notes 156 Bibliography 182 Index 200 "Focusing on the production and circulation of native knowledge through collaborations between indigenous, mestizo, and creole intellectuals in colonial Mexico, this book proceeds through an in-depth case study of the exchange of native materials between the family of don Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochtil and don Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora"--Provided by publisher