Santa María Ixcatlan, Oaxaca: from colonial cacicazgo to modern municipio

Isolated in the mountains of the Mixteca Alta in Oaxaca, Santa María Ixcatlan is the last surviving settlement of the Ixcatec-speaking people. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, Ixcatlan was a native señorio whose nobility ruled numerous communities and controlled the land and its resources. This dissertation offers an examination of the ethnohistory and historical geography of the region, including the significant maps that have been produced throughout the centuries. Information was gathered from various archival repositories and field work conducted in Ixcatlan. Some observations are made about the archaeological remains located within the municipio. The study examines the forces that shape the Ixcatec cacicazgo after the conquest of New Spain and the establishment of colonial authority. It traces the historical holdings of the community through Mexican independence and the liberal reforms of the nineteenth century. The effects of the revolution of 1910 and the agrarian reform movement that followed are considered as well. Special attention is given to the contentions and conflicts that have developed between Ixcatlan and its neighbors in the twentieth century.