The Afromestizo Population of Coyolillo

Situated on the Actopan ravine, approximately nineteen kilometers in a direct line in relation to the city of Xalapa, Coyolillo ² is one of the few communities of Veracruz that, due to its socio-cultural and phenotypic characteristics, can still be considered "Afromestizo."

It is very likely that its formation results from the diverse economic components whose Spanish colonial roots created a strong African slave labor force in the region of Xalapa. Its geographical proximity and the close socio-economic relationship with the sugar mill of Our Lady of the Conception (The Concha), which sustains this community, and with the former ranch and mill of San Miguel Almolonga—both created in the last decade of the nineteenth century (Bermúdez, 1988: 68-69)—suggest the existence of relevant historical connections between those productive centers and the formation of Coyolillo. A mill in close proximity to San Miguel Almolonga, San Sebastián, became operational at the close of the sixteenth century and from then on was occupied by manual African slave labor until at least the middle of the seventeenth century (Ibid, 70). On property belonging to this ranch, even now in the twentieth century, the common land of the people ³ was formed, having as its town center, or nucleus, San Nicolás, a neighboring community of Coyolillo.

The important presence of African slave labor in these productive areas and some present-day characteristics of the community are able to provide us with clues regarding its origin. At the same time, many interrogations are created in that it deals with conflicting explanations concerning the events and people of the land.

In this respect, there exists data that can serve as signposts about its foundation. On one hand, the oldest available data show that in the last decade of the seventeenth century (1695, to be exact), there already existed a ranch with the name Santa Rosa of Coyolillo (García Mundo, 1985: 97). Additional information indicates that during the eighteenth century, the town of San Carlos (known today as Úrsuo Galván) was founded as a result of the migration of "blacks" from the Pensacola military prison that rejected North American nationality when that territory was passed to the United States after having been in Spanish possession. Its descendents were later dispersed throughout La Antigua, Mozomboa and Coyolillo (Ramírez Lavoignet, cited in García Mundo, Op. Cit.). Toward the last three decades of the eighteenth century, in the full decline of slavery, the presence of free blacks was very visible, not only in the community that we are discussing, but in diverse locations of the Actopan ravine like Omiquila, San Nicolás, Chicoasen, and Rancho of the Souls, among others (Parochial Archives of Actopan. Sacramental. Bautizos, 1796-1833).

One of the oral testimonies resonating between the inhabitants of Almolonga and Coyolillo attributes the foundation of Coyolillo to the mythical idea that the slaves of the mill traded a treasure they had found in exchange for their liberation. As with other tales of origin and foundation, this explanation seeks to describe how those black laborers came to inhabit the space where Coyolillo is located.

Although it is possible that its first settlers had, as a place of origin, San Miguel Almolonga (which was one of the closest properties in proximity), it is also possible that these settlers had been enslaved to the service of the proprietor of the farm Santa Rosa. This proprietor, both before and after the decline of slavery, received the demographic contribution of the localities and settled productive centers in the region of Xalapa. In addition, one cannot overlook the other possible explanations which reflect the experience of runaway slaves (Winfield, 1984). It is noteworthy to mention that the people of Coyolillo, when making reference to a person who is shy and unsociable, still frequently use the word "runaway."

This information suggests that the formation and development of this community has been conditioned to a...