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

423 Pages·2017·20.847 MB·English

by  Lisa Sousa

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,
and Other Narratives of Native Women
in Archives of Colonial Mexico
Lisa Sousa
;
stanford university press
stanford, california
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
© 2017 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission
of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sousa, Lisa, author.
Title: The woman who turned into a jaguar, and other narratives of native
women in archives of colonial Mexico / Lisa Sousa.
Description: Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2017. | Includes
bibliographical references and index. | Description based on print version record
and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Identifiers: lccn 2016021290 (print) | lccn 2016020106 (ebook) |
isbn 9781503601116 () | isbn 9780804756402 | isbn 9780804756402
(cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: lcsh: Indian women—Mexico—Social conditions. | Mexico—Social
conditions—To 1810. | Mexico—History—Spanish colony, 1540–1810.
Classification: lcc f1219.3.W6 (print) | lcc f1219.3.W6 S68 2017 (ebook) |
ddc 305.48/897072—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016021290
Typeset by Newgen in 10/12 Sabon
To Kevin, Isabella, and Vincenzo, with love

Contents
List of Figures, Tables, and Maps ix
Acknowledgments xiii
1. Introduction 1
2. Gender and the Body 19
3. Marriage Encounters 50
4. Marital Relations 84
5. Sexual Attitudes and Concepts 110
6. Sexual Crimes 148
7. Duties and Responsibilities 177
8. Household and Community 225
9. Rebellious Women 262
10. Conclusion 296
Glossary 309
Notes 313
References 373
Index 393

Figures, Tables, and Maps
figures
1.1. Offerings to the goddess Chicome Coatl at Cinteopan
revealing the gendered division of labor in Nahua society 2
2.1. Drunkard who transformed into a rabbit 23
2.2. Nahualli forms of a commoner 25
2.3. Calendar reader naming a newborn and explaining his fate 27
2.4. Midwife ritually bathing a baby boy with the
symbols of masculinity lying beside the basin 34
2.5. Symbols of femininity introducing text that describes the
bathing ritual for a baby girl performed by a midwife 35
2.6. Midwife performing the bathing ceremony 36
2.7. Ñudzahui noblemen and noblewomen
making offerings at a temple 44
2.8. Xochihuaque, or cross-dressed man and woman 47
3.1. Image submitted to the Holy Office of the Inquisition
showing Martín Xochimitl being tried for polygyny
with the four sisters who were his “wives” 60
3.2. Marriage prognostication warning of violence 66
3.3. Marriage prognostication warning of violence 67
3.4. Marriage prognostication warning of violence 68
3.5. Cihuatlanque discussing marriage
negotiations with a young man 69