The Woman Who Turned Into a Jaguar, and Other Narratives of Native Women in Archives of Colonial Mexico

The Woman Who Turned Into a Jaguar examines gender relations in indigenous societies of central Mexico and Oaxaca from the 1520s to the 1750s, focusing mainly on the Nahua, Ñudzahui (Mixtec), Bènizàa (Zapotec), and Ayuk (Mixe) people. This study draws on an unusually rich and diverse corpus of original sources, including Ñudzahui- (Mixtec-), Tíchazàa- (Zapotec-), and mainly Nahuatl-language and Spanish civil and criminal records, published texts, and pictorial manuscripts. The sources come from more than 100 indigenous communities of highland Mexico. The book considers women’s lives in the broadest context possible by addressing a number of interrelated topics, including: the construction of gender; concepts of the body; women’s labor; marriage rituals and marital relations; sexual attitudes; family structure; the relationship between household and community; and women’s participation in riots and other acts of civil disobedience. The study highlights subtle transformations and overwhelming continuities in indigenous social attitudes and relationships. The book argues that profound changes following the Spanish conquest, such as catastrophic depopulation, economic pressures, and the imposition of Christian marriage, slowly eroded indigenous women’s status. Nevertheless, gender relations remained inherently complementary. The study shows how native women and men under colonial rule, on the one hand, pragmatically accepted, adopted, and adapted certain Spanish institutions, concepts, and practices, and, on the other, forcefully rejected other aspects of colonial impositions. Women asserted their influence and, in doing so, they managed to retain an important position within their households and communities across the first two centuries of colonial rule. This Book Is An Ambitious And Wide-ranging Social And Cultural History Of Gender Relations Among Indigenous Peoples Of New Spain, From The Spanish Conquest Through The First Half Of The Eighteenth Century. In This Expansive Account, Lisa Sousa Focuses On Four Native Groups In Highland Mexico -- The Nahua, Mixtec, Zapotec, And Mixe -- And Traces Cross-cultural Similarities And Differences In The Roles And Status Attributed To Women In Prehispanic And Colonial Mesoamerica. Sousa Intricately Renders The Full Complexity Of Women's Life Experiences In The Household And Community, From The Significance Of Their Names, Age, And Social Standing, To Their Identities, Ethnicities, Family, Dress, Work, Roles, Sexuality, Acts Of Resistance, And Relationships With Men And Other Women. Drawing On A Rich Collection Of Archival, Textual, And Pictorial Sources, She Traces The Shifts In Women's Economic, Political, And Social Standing To Evaluate The Influence Of Spanish Ideologies On Native Attitudes And Practices Around Sex And Gender In The First Several Generations After Contact. Though Catastrophic Depopulation, Economic Pressures, And The Imposition Of Christianity Slowly Eroded Indigenous Women's Status Following The Spanish Conquest, Sousa Argues That Gender Relations Nevertheless Remained More Complementary Than Patriarchal, With Women Maintaining A Unique Position Across The First Two Centuries Of Colonial Rule.-- Introduction -- Gender And The Body -- Marriage Encounters -- Marital Relations -- Sexual Attitudes And Concepts -- Sexual Crimes -- Duties And Responsibilities -- Household And Community -- Rebellious Women -- Conclusion. Lisa Sousa. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 373-392) And Index. "This book is an ambitious and wide-ranging social and cultural history of gender relations among indigenous peoples of New Spain, from the Spanish conquest through the first half of the eighteenth century. In this expansive account, Lisa Sousa focuses on four native groups in highland Mexico--the Nahua, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Mixe--and traces cross-cultural similarities and differences in the roles and status attributed to women in prehispanic and colonial Mesoamerica. Sousa intricately renders the full complexity of women's life experiences in the household and community, from the significance of their names, age, and social standing, to their identities, ethnicities, family, dress, work, roles, sexuality, acts of resistance, and relationships with men and other women. Drawing on a rich collection of archival, textual, and pictorial sources, she traces the shifts in women's economic, political, and social standing to evaluate the influence of Spanish ideologies on native attitudes and practices around sex and gender in the first several generations after contact. Though catastrophic depopulation, economic pressures, and the imposition of Christianity slowly eroded indigenous women's status following the Spanish conquest, Sousa argues that gender relations nevertheless remained more complementary than patriarchal, with women maintaining a unique position across the first two centuries of colonial rule."--Publisher's website