Land, Livelihood, and Civility in Southern Mexico: Oaxaca Valley Communities in History

Glossary

glossary 319 glossary Spanish terms are not italicized in the book due to their frequency of use, but those not found in an English dictionary are italicized in the glossary. Zapotec and Nahuatl terms are italicized throughout. Acta de Conformidad. An agreement drawn up by local officials to resolve a dispute between two parties. afuereño/afuerano. Nonnative-born members of a community considered to be outsiders . agencia municipal. Agency or small local governmental unit subordinate to a larger municipality (municipio). agostadero. Grazing land. agrimensor. Land surveyor. alcalde mayor. Spanish colonial official in charge of a district. almud. Unit of dry measure: one-twelfth of a fanega. al partido. Share raising of animals. a medias. A one-half (50 percent) share arrangement. ampliación. According to the laws deriving from the 1917 agrarian reform, amplification was a procedure to expand the size of an original ejido established by dotación or restitución. archiocofradía; also cofradía. Sodality; a lay brotherhood responsible for sponsoring and financing the care and worship of a particular community saint, as well as operating a tanda, or rotating credit association, for members. arriero. Long–distance trader who transports merchandise by a string of mules or burros. Audiencia. Court and governing body under the colonial viceroy in New Spain, or the area of its jurisdiction. aviador. Financier, commodities speculator, money lender in colonial period. ayuntamiento. Meeting place of local community governing council. baldío. Uncultivated or unused land. barreno. Steel tool with oval tip for stonecutting or boring holes in stone. barreta. Steel tool with pointed tip for stonecutting. barretear. To cut quarry stone with a pointed bar (barreta). barrio. Neighborhood in an indigenous community. bodega. Storage place. bolsa. General term for bag made of any material. caballería. Unit of agricultural land in colonial Mexico measuring about 105 acres. cabecera de distrito. Political–administrative district headquarters town. cabecera de doctrina. Parish headquarters town. cabildo. Town council during colonial period. 320 land, livelihood, and Civility in southern MexiCo cacicazgo. Estate of a cacique or cacica. cacique. Indigenous male political leader (female = cacica) campo. In rural communities, that portion of the landscape within their territorial jurisdiction that lies beyond the habitation area proper. canastero. Basket maker. cañero. Sugarcane planter. cantero. Quarryman. cañuela. Forage in the form of dried cornstalks without ears and leaves. capulina. Rain cape made of deerskin. cargo. Post or office in the civil-religious hierarchy. Carrancista. Supporter of Venustiano Carranza during the Mexican Revolution. casa cural. Parish priest’s residence. casco. Central building complex of an hacienda; also the central administrative area of a settlement. caserío. House and outbuildings of a hacienda. chimolera (also molcajete). Stone mortar for grinding chiles and other foodstuffs. ciudadano. Citizen. cochinilla. Cochineal, a reddish dyestuff made of insects harvested from the nopal cactus. cofradía. Religious sodality or brotherhood. See archiocofradía. cogollo. Top leafy portion of sugarcane stalk used as fodder; also young fronds at the heart of a palm tree. colindante. Contiguous neighbor with land abutting one’s property. comisariado ejidal. The head official of a local ejido authority. comitiva. Retinue of officials and citizens typically involved in colonial land surveys. comunero. Citizen–taxpayer with the right to access communal land and the duty to provide labor on communal projects. congregación. Removal, relocation, and consolidation of discrete indigenous populations into one settlement; also the name of the resulting settlement. contribuyente. Citizen–taxpayer. corregidor. Spanish colonial official in charge of a province in New Spain prior to the Bourbon Reforms. corregidor-intendente. Spanish colonial official in charge of a province in New Spain during the period of Bourbon Reforms (late eighteenth to early nineteenth century ). corregimiento. Jurisdiction of a corregidor. criollo. Person born in Mexico of presumed Spanish ancestry. croquis. Map; typically refers to maps of colonial origin that show a settlement’s location and lands within its territorial jurisdiction. cuadro. Street block; also framed picture or painting. cuota. Fee or surcharge. defensa social. Armed militia organized at the local community level but under regional command. desamortización. Disentailment as part of the 1857 Laws of Reform. glossary 321 desmadre. Slang expression meaning “fucking mess.” destajo. Piece rate or piecework. día de plaza. Market day, usually on an established day of the week for each town. diligencia. Act by which a judicial ruling is carried out. doctrina. Parochial jurisdiction or its administrative center. dotación. In accordance with the agrarian...