Indigenous Communities and Migration in Colonial Yucatan

Abstract

In colonial times, the Maya population was considerably mobile in the Yucatan peninsula, not only to areas uncontrolled by Spaniards in the south and east of the region, but also to urban centers, other indigenous towns and hamlets, Spanish ranches and haciendas. This article summarizes and systematizes the results of previous studies on different aspects of this key topic in order to better understand the colonial reality. In addition, it argues that the migrants’ places of origin were social spaces where internal and external power relations were intertwined and overlapped, generating various contradictions and conflicts. In contrast to previous studies of indigenous migration that rarely considered this reality, this article argues that internal power relations were an important impetus for the emigration and dispersion of the indigenous population.