Since Time Immemorial: Native Custom and Law in Colonial Mexico
In Since Time Immemorial, Emory University history professor Yanna Yannakakis explores the meaning of a specific word at a specific time – "custom" – and what it meant during Spain's rule over Mexico. As Spanish leaders sought to consolidate control over their new holdings, they found it necessary to acknowledge the continuing legitimacy of indigenous custom even as they asserted the primacy of imperial law and Christianity. This gave indigenous communities some space to preserve the continuity of their own traditions, carving out a space of agency within the hierarchy of the Spanish Empire. All the same, Yannakakis warns against overstating this; the ultimate purpose of custom, as understood by the empire, was to integrate custom within the framework of Spanish law.
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