Ann Fain
September 2004
Political, Social and Economic Oppression
500 Years of Mexican Indigenismo
For the last 500 years, the indigenous populations in Mesoamerica have been marginalized and viewed by first the Europeans and then by the Criollos and modern
Mesoamericans as an inferior, powerless and primitive race. Subsequently, they have been forced to endure extreme social, economic and political inequalities, which originated during the colonial period and persist to present day. Although they have initiated countless protests and uprisings and are arguably the backbone of Mesoamerican economic development, they remain in a subordinate position in society and suffer considerably from the lack of education, inadequate health care, malnutrition and repeated human right violations.
This essay discusses the disproportionate social, economic and political circumstances of the Mexican indigenous population throughout the last 500 years, and the institutions, ideas and attitudes that have persisted in terms of three major stages: the colonial period, post independence and the post revolution era. First, through the ecomienda system, Spanish political sovereignty, and social reorganization, the colonial period established the foundation for most of the oppressive institutions in Mexico today.
Second, the post independence era did not bring sovereignty, equality and freedoms to the indigenous as it did to other sectors of Mexican society, but rather served to propel them even further into the depths of subordination under the rule of an elitist and repressive Criollo class. Lastly, following the Mexican revolution the indigenous did receive some concessions early on in the form of education, healthcare and land redistribution, however those considerations soon ended and toward the latter part of the
20th century revisions to the Constitution of 1917 clearly revealed that the Mexican government was more interested in economic growth rather than providing for its native populations, initiating a violent response from an indigenous group in Chiapas known as the Zapatistas.
During the colonial period, many institutions such as the encomienda system,
Spanish political rule, and a new social system based on a Spanish designed social hierarchy, patriarchal ideals, the introduction of Christianity and ethnic stereotyping became the basis for the economic, political and social inequalities that persist in Mexico today. Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, the indigenous operated on an economic system based on labor, tribute and trade. However, after the initial violent phase of the conquest, the Spaniards introduced the encomienda system, which afforded a Spaniard the labor and tribute, but not land, of one or more altepetl, according to his importance.
The Spaniard would then in turn pay a tribute to the Spanish crown, usually in the form of precious metals, and use indigenous labor to construction buildings, churches and public works projects. For the most part, this is the economic system that prevailed throughout the colonial period, although land did eventually become more valuable to the
Spaniards, resulting in the initiation of laws requiring the indigenous to prove title or forfeit their land. Since in many cases it was impossible for the indigenous to prove land

ownership, they subsequently lost their property, thus allowing for the church and wealthy Spaniards to acquire significant amounts of arable land, while forcing the indigenous to either work as slave or low paid labor or to move to less desirable areas.
Ultimately though, the ecomienda system was based on the already existing indigenous economic institution, the Spaniards just simply exploited it for their own economic purposes. Additionally, the Spaniards employed a hegemonic rule over Mesoamerica, which afforded little opportunities for leadership to the indigenous populations. Before the conquest, the Aztec/Mexica Empire was the primary governing body headed by the hereditary rulership of the Tlatoani and supported by the Teuctli of the altepetl’s teccalli.
Each surrounding altepetl also held the same political hierarchal structure, but for the most part were subordinate to the Mexica Empire. Following the conquest, the Spanish implemented their own legal and political systems structured to give them complete authority, but utilized the existing native governing bodies as local cabildos, or municipal councils, who served as representatives of each altepetl that would interact directly with the Spaniards or encomenderos, but which never regained its previous political power.
Over time, however, there was a decline in hereditary rule and a fragmentation of the altepetls and consequently, native political representation deteriorated throughout the colonial period resulting in an under and/or unrepresented native population.
Further, the Spaniards established a new social system putting themselves at the top of the social hierarchy. This new system also included implementing patriarchal ideals, inter-racial contact, the introduction Christianity and the Christian calendar and the exploitation of native labor. In the pre-conquest period, the indigenous had a very complex sociopolitical hierarchy so the concept of a social class structure was not uncommon to the native population. However, as the Spaniards occupied the most powerful societal positions in the colonial period, the indigenous were labeled as inferior or “barbaric,” and thus were relegated to the lowest levels of the social hierarchy. The
Spaniards reinforced this division of class was by assigning the indigenous specific
Christian and surnames to serve as indicators of their social status. In addition to the social hierarchy, other elements of the new social system included: a division of public and private spheres effectively leaving women out of positions of power and influence; the exploitation of native labor, forcing men to perform all manual labor and women to become domestic servants, sexual partners, and concubines; the adoption of Christianity and the Christian calendar, which violently forced natives to abandon their traditional religion and calendrical system; and inter-racial contact thus producing the mestizo population. In the end, the Spaniards succeeded in assigning the indigenous an ethnic stereotype that continues to plague the native population today. Ultimately, the colonial period was responsible for the formation of many of the economic, political and social institutions and anti-indigenous attitudes that still exist in Mexico today. However, as
Mexico entered the nineteenth century and the era of independence, the new ruling forces had every opportunity to end the inequalities that existed between the indigenous and the
Europeans and bring them closer together, but instead their economic, political and social policies served to drive them even farther apart.
After Mexicans received their independence from Spain, nearly a century of political, economic, and social instability followed. While the post independence era brought new freedoms to many in the social strata of Mexican society, the indigenous

population was thrust even further into subordination. The new Criollo ruling elite had become accustomed to excluding the indigenous from politics, exploiting their labor and keeping them economically dependent on the upper classes. Thus, not only did the indigenous remain in a subordinate position, but due to the civil wars over political power and several foreign interventions, they were thrust even further in the background of society and seen more as a “problem” than as fellow countrymen. The Criollos maintained a negative and repressive attitude toward the indigenous throughout the 19th century preferring to establish Mexico’s new national identity as one of European descent rather than indigenous heritage.
As liberal thought progressed and foreign investment was brought in to alleviate the economic ruin from the independence movement, the indigenous suffered devastating losses when first the Ley Lerdo of 1856 abolished all corporate land holdings, which included all indigenous communal land, and then when Porfirio Díaz established the hacienda system, forcing native laborers to work for minimal pay redeemable only at the tienda de raya or company store, thus keeping them in a state of perpetual debt and servitude. Arguably their conditions were better under Spanish rule where they at least they had their own lands and access to the Spanish legal system. Now, they were treated as slaves, low class uncultured barbarians who represented the “old” and archaic Mexico, and thus little consideration was given to their economic, political or social conditions.
In short, independence was only applicable to the elite and middle classes, while the
Spanish colonial heritage continued to be the standard by which the indigenous were required to live. Yet, in the 20th century, the victories of the political and social revolution at first appeared to offer new hope of rectifying the inequities of the past, however, as economic considerations took center stage toward the end of the 20th century, those hopes were eventually dispelled, and the indigenous were once again faced with the hopeless position of subordination.
In the post revolution era, Mexico again experienced another century of extensive changes. Political, social and economic redemption had been the goals of the revolution and in 1917 a new constitution was signed which promised land reform in Article 27 and pledged labor reform in Article 123, both of which the indigenous populations were desperately waiting to receive. The redistribution of land began to take place in the
1920’s under President Calles, however, no one president redistributed more land than
Lázaro Cárdenas who parceled out more acres of land to peasants between 1934 and 1940 than all previous presidents combined. Along with land reform came the abolishment of the hacienda system allowing for better wages, improved working conditions, and shorter workdays and weeks. Healthcare was also significantly improved and many diseases were either greatly reduced or eradicated all together. Another objective of the constitution was to provide education for the rural and indigenous areas. This task was given to José Vasconcelos, Obregon’s Minister of Education, who trained and employed secular teachers to work in these areas. Vasconcelos also commissioned “los tres grandes,” the three great Mexican muralists of the 20th century, Rivera, Orozco and
Siquieros to paint fantastic and priceless murals in public buildings throughout Mexico so that the indigenous could be educated about Mexico’s history through pictoral images.
Further ideologies that emerged after the revolution were indigenismo, which reevaluated the indigenous past and disputed the negative assessment of the indigenous population and mestizaje, which championed the mixed race society.

Recently, however, in Mexico the newspaper La Reforma reported that Marcos has not been seen and they believe that he has left Chiapas. Shows a similar situation as when the Spaniards took power, although the indigenous are the overwhelming majority of the population, they are illequipped to fight a small military with access to sophisticated weapons. Thus, the indigenous remain in a position of subordination or fight and risk losing part of the population and, if it is possible, winding up in a worse situation than they started with as punishment for their subversive behavior.