I have found learning about the history of Mexico is something that has become very interesting to me since the start of this class. Exploring the amazing creation of Mayan society and seeing the horrific actions brought upon by the Europeans conquering native Indian land, an array of emotion has come along with the enriched information in our teachings. With the opportunity to learn even more through this assignment, I am privileged to have researched the following topic of ethnohistory and gender in Mesoamerica. With the article chosen through our Southwestern College library, I am able to see deeper into the lives of the indigenous people who lived through the Spanish Conquest, with a particular view, but not subject to, the female aspect during this time. The interest in gender when studying history is not very prevalent in many cases. With the emergence of ethnohistory and feminist studies, the question of woman's history, especially in colonized worlds, has arisen (Silverblatt, 639). Within the response to my chosen article, aside from gender, I will cover the social boundaries and grounds of ethnicity, community, and the colonial state, as well as participation in the church, and female sexuality.
First, we will go into the Toluca Valley during the late-colonial period, where community borders were weak to external pressure. Due to the changes in economic circumstances, there was a transformation in the structure of community membership. Before the Spanish conquest, native men were guaranteed rights to community land, where as woman had independent access to land in central Mexico. They were able to keep occupancy of the land in the mid-sixteenth century during the decline of population in the natives. But during the mid-eighteenth century, things turned around as non-natives began to pair with local population, making their land prime again. New rules came along with the changing circumstances though.
